The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-10-30
He Was a Pirate Because His Grew
Made Him One,
AND HIS FAMOUS GOLD WAS DUG
UP SOON AFTER HIS DEATH.

ana Cne Cfuel taa6 TO Wn1cn h1S
Voyage Led Him.
The New York Mail and Express pub
fishes the following:
1t is possible to say something of a
palliatory nature about Capt. Kidd be-
sides what his brother in-law recorded in
his last will and testament, as set down
in recent Saturday issue of the Mail
and Express. The original Wall Street
pirate got what he deserved-a stretched
neck on Execution Deck Here was the
case.of.a man whose. deserts overlook him,
after his career was complete But many
OF his follows, whose exploits merited no
less vigorousl treatment, died peacefully
with their boots off and their virtues and
public honors are carved upon the head
stones of ancient New York grave yards.
Capt. Kidd was not great man, nor a
bold man, nor very bad man. Com
pared with the pirates of fiction he makes
but sorry figure in the matter of blood
| shed. His sole homicide is chronicled in
| a single verse of q once famous ballad,
which Is made to contain, without much
difficulty, the whole OF, his other desperate
deeds:
l murdered William Moore,
And left him in his gore,
Not many leagues from shore,
AS / sailed.
| Neither do the circumstances of this
| crime combine to suggest cut-throat
captain. The unlucky Moore was gun
| ner who grew impudent in liquor, and his
wrathtul commander SHE'D bucket at
him with fatal effect. Elsewise Skipper
Kidd appears to have been as mild man
| as ever scuttled ship.
AS pirate, Kidd was no more than
sparrow hawk. The credit of his widest
deeds goes to those other honest but
| nameless gentlemen of the forecastle who
locked their doughty captain in his cabin
whenever they meditated anything
piratical.
1t has been said that Kidd expiated the
faults of other New YorKers. The remark
will be better understood when it is re-
called that very large proportion of the
trade OF New York in the generation fol-
lowing the English occupation was either
piracy, out and out; privateering, which
as Ihackeray observes, was 'uncomnfonly
like piracy" the slave trade with Africa.
which speaks for itself, and the Red
Sea Trade, which, as Thomas Janvier
says, was "a sort Of vioarious piracy a
cross between running q fence and
sneak thieying on the high seas
Another characteristic incident of old
New York, and then the thin practical
record of Capt. Kidd may be narrated.
1t has been aid that the Red Sea Trade
was considerable source of revenue to
this port. This trade was carried on
chiefly with avowed pirates. and NADIA
gascar was the clearing house for the
merchants of New York and the free
hooters of the Orient seas. The former
would carry to this rendezvous a cargo of
| strong waters, guns and cutlasses and
other merchandise suited to pirate gentle
men, which they would exchange for the
rich stuffs of Arabia, tho spices of India
and the gold dust and ivory of Abyssinia
| taken by the pirates from the defenseless
vessels of all nations. Being stolen goods.
big profits were insisted on by the West
ern merchants and a single successful
voyage meant riches
1t befell then that William Kidd.
| mariner, was fitted out with the galley
Adventure at an expense of $25, 900 By his
noble backer the Earl of Bellamont, the
Duke of Shrewsbury, Lord Chancellor
Somers and the Earls of Romney and Ok
ford. Th profits of the expedition were
to come from the effects captured from
pirates; one.tenth was to go to the King,
the major part to the above-named gentle
men, and the remainder to Kidd and his
crew.
Putting to sea from London with q
partial complement of men, he dropped
into this harbor in July of 1896 with
thirty guns and $50 sailors and began the
serious task of Furnishing the royers of the
sea. In this capacity he soon overhauled
and looted French privateer for which
he got the thanks of the Assembly. That
was the last piece OF good luck that came
to him legitimately.
The Captains antecedents were those
| of an honest sailor, who had struck hard
/ l,JoSzrs for hiS KING INIT he Tnnsf have had
as rascally crew as ever sailed the wave.
When he got upon the pirate highways to
the east of Africa and had cruisedg about
| in a futile quest OF water thieves for a
| while. his men, who were hired under
| that unlucky contract of mo spoils, no
pay concluded that it were pleasanter
and more profitable to fill their treasure
chest from the bins of merchantmen.
| They gave him the option of walking the
plank or raising the black flag.
Thenceforth for about year the reluc-
| tant pirate and his holder crew followed
| the ancient vocation of sea stealing.
When the backsliding of the captain was
learned in Europe there was tremen-
dous buzzing. 1t was said that the King
was cognizant of the purpose OF the expe-
d1tion and q prospective sharer in. its
profits. To set the rumor at rest he sent
a squadron after Kidd and issued pro-
clamation Offering clemency to all pirates
VIZ WOuiU surfenuof, eACopVll'S oAls
Kidd. Meanwhile that worthy, unwit-
ting Of the tempest he had stirred up had
hoisted sail for New York, hopeful to
make his peace with Gov. Bellamont, as
other pirates had with Fletcher. On his
return voyage he captured the Moorish
vessel, Quiddah Merchant, fourth, last
and richest of oil his prizes.
The Captains defense was twofold.
First, he declared that he had been only
reluctant and involuntary pirate; SEQ
ond, he offered to divide with the Gov
ernor-General spoils to the amount of 49,
COO pounds. The best safe conduct he
co1ld get on this defense was the promise
that il he could clear himself all would
be well. Tinorously then he came to
| Boston, where the Council decided that
bis plea was too himsy for consideration
and clapt him into chains. His trial was
in England. where for political reasons
he was marked for the shambles. There
was q hanging on Execution Dock, May
H. lT0l, and that was the end OF Capt
Kidd, the ferocious sea rOhter OF ballad
and the reluctant knuye of history.
The Captain was reputed to have laid
up treasure in earth, peri APPS with the
suspicion tha6 none awaited him else