The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1899-02-10

/ kine~ the : ZIP As'" v As Reduced
and Finuils ,r.arttd.
A series ~ - l,los by Frank X.
Htocktcn on "4ea buccaneers of Our
Coast" Is crp ~ tho safures If st.
Nicholas Ar stockton T. ils # the adj
ventures II hnihulehy Portuguez.
who, with srall cf,w "a small yes
sci. captured \ hrgc Isrish merchant
man In the ,aiilu' an sea Mr.. stockton
says: TLe liile pirate s:il,G bcldly to-
ward the tis SraAi1 3, and the latter
vessel, utterly asinrished ut the audac-
ity Of this attack TIC pirates flag
was flying lay To-. bead 10 the wind,
and waited. the 9urners standing by
their cannon. When the pirates had
come near ,uough To see and understand
the size and power # the vessel they
had thouA ol attacking, they did not.
as might We been expected, put about
and sail away at the best Of their YES
sells speed. hat they kept straight on
their course. as il they were about to
fall upon great, unwieldy merchant
man manned ly common sailors.
Perceivins the foolhardiness of the
little vessel, the Spanish commander
determined 10 give it lesson which
would teach its captain to understand
better the relative power of great yes.
sells and lifrle ONES, so as soon as the
pirates vessel was near enough no or
dered a broadside fired upon it. The
Spanish ship had great many people
on board. liz had crew of 20 men, and
besides these there were some passen-
gers and regular marines, and. know
ing that the captain had determined to
fire upon the approaching vessel every
body had gathered on deck to see the
little pirate ship 90 down.
But the ten great cannon balls which
were shot out at Eartholemy's little
craft ali missed their aim. and before the
guns could be reloaded or the great ship
be got around SO as to deliver her other
broadside the pirate vessel was along
side of her. Bartholemy had fired none
Of his cannon. Such guns were useless
against so huge foe. What he was aft
err was hand TO hand combat ON the
deck of the Spanish ship.
The pirates were all ready for hot
work. They had thrown aside their
coats and shirts, as if each Of them were
going into prizefight, and with their
cutlasses in their hands and their pis-
tolls and knives in their belts they
scrambled like monkeys up the sides Of
the great ship. But Spaniards are brave
men and good fghters-there were more
than twice as many Of them as there
were of the pirates-and it was not
long before the latter found out that
they could not capture that vessel by
boarding it. So over the side they tum-
bled as fast as they could 60, leaving
some of their number dead and wounded
behind them. They jumped into their
own vessel, and then they put of to a
short distance to take breath and get
ready for different kind of fight. The
triumphant Spaniards now prepared to
get rid Of this boatload of half naked
wild beasts, which they could easily do
if they took better aim with their can
non than they had done before.
But to their amazement they soon
found that they could do nothing with
the guns. nor were they able to work
their ship so as to get it into position
for effectual shots. Bartholemy and hir
men laid aside their cutlasses and theii
pistols and took up muskets, with which
they were we'll provided. Their vessel
lay within very short range Of the Span
sch el nd xrha ~.
seen through the portfolios or showed
himself in The rigging or anywhere else
where it was necessary to go in order
to work the ship he made himself tar
get for the good aim Of the pirates. The
pirate vessel could move about as it
pleased. for it required but few men
to manage it. and so it kept out Of
the way of the Spanish guns, and its
best marksmen, crouching close to the
deck, fired and fired whenever Spaa-
ish head was to be seen.
For five long hours this unequal con-
test was kept up. 1t might have re-
minded one Of man with a slender rod
and long, delicate line who had
hooked big salmon. The man could
not pull in the salmon, but, on the other
hand, the salmon could not hurt the
man, and in the course Of time the big
fish would be tired out and the man
would get out his landing net and scoop
him in
Now. Bartholemy thought he could
scoop in the Spanish vessel. So many
of her men had been shot that the two
crews would be more nearly equal. So
he boldly ran his vessel alongside the
big ship and again boarded her. Then
there was another great fight on the
decks. The Spaniards had ceased to be
triumphant, but they had become des-
perate. and in the furious combat ten
Of the pirates were killed and four
wounded. But the Spaniards Jared
worse than that. More than half of the
men who had not been shot by the pi-
rates went down before their cutlasses
and pistols, and it was not long before
Bartholemy had captured the great
Spanish ship.
! 1t was a fearful and costly victory
he had gained. A great part Of his own
men were lying dead or helpless on the
deck, and Of the Spaniards only 40 were
loft alive, and these it appears from
A L.. u ~