The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-03-18


Flower at Manila-Ind1a Swarm.
With Adventures Whose Enter
prise Would Not Pass Muster
From the Moral Standpoint.
. Nothing could be more erroneous than
TO suppose that romantic crime was at
an end when pirates and buccaneers, who
swore frightful oaths, were stolen gold
lace and carried daggers between their
teeth were driven off the seas. There
are thousands of Capt. Kidds living and
thriving to-day. If anything, they are
cleverer and Drawer than he Carrying
rifles to a tribe at war with the British,
over mountains or along marshy rivers
In tropical country is every bit as try
ing work as was running down a mer-
chairman and boarding her when you
had all the advantages of arms and num-
'bers your side.
In Manila we shall have the modern
pirate in the full flower of his perfection
for Manila is near Hongkong and Hong.
kong is sort of a general headquarters
for all the pirates Of the Far East There
they can live between times when they
are not on the warpath, and, enjoying the
luxuries of "a white mans hotel, hatch
out new schemes Of adventure.
Though he f1ourishes best in the coun-
tries where white men govern savage
races, we have the pirate at home. There
is a suggestion of him lin every cowboy,
and he fourishes grandly in the neighbour
hood of the Mexican border. In most of
the revolutions in the South American re-
publtcs he has played "a star part, says the
New York Press. If he is we'll paid he
will serve under the banner of law and
order. though he prefers the other side.
He has been "a paid employee Of the gov
ernments of the great European powers
again and again, and we may have use
for him In the Philippines.
You Will find groveling towards enough
In Hongkong who have ever false word
on their lying tongues. The eS>the
agents and go-betweens. The s,eal pi-
rates who have physical courage do the
work and take the risks.
In all, it is estimated that of the popu-
lation of the great civilized countries five
millions live as parasites, pure and SIM
pie. These are pOachers. thieves SNUG
glers beggars and the like. Those who
take great physical risks are comparative
ly few. They are the gentlemen of the
calling. They play for big game, and.
as rule, they would no more be guilty
of petty crimes than a banker.
Like the pirates Of old, they may bury
their treasure. but they seldom retire.
Their life is as fascinating to them as the
stage to an actor. One of the exceptions
is a man living in Paris to-day on the in
crement of the money he earned in TO-
menting rebellion against the French in
China. He is q most patriotic French
man. He holds many government bonds,
and he believes in the army and in hang
eprr yf,,c o,1c TIn ic thok !,
is not a member of the chamber of depu-
tvs.
eff I were poor again I could make a
fortune in two years." is one of his favor
lite sayings. "All it requires is a little
spirit"
LIE Clerc. who recently died. was good
example of European adventurer who is
up to date. Capt Kidd led a humdrum
life beside his. 1t was amazing that he
lived to be fifty, and that he carried only
four bullet wounds ut the time of his
death. BY birth he was a Belgian. In
his early voyages with his father, trav.
cling salesman. he learned most of the
languages Of Europe and developed the
tastes OF the wanderer. His career as
grand adventurer was begun as a spy for
the Germans in the Franco-Prussian war.
Toward the last he came near being shot
OIL the charge Of playing both sides for
what they would pay him.
'Sir," he said to Won Moltke, II have
been the victim of an unfortunate chain
of circumstances. 1t can easily be proved
if am false to you. I will show you the
weakest points in the Notifications Of
Paris which have been constructed since
Sedan. If what I say turns out to be un-
true after you have made an assault, I
submit"
LIE Clerc knew what he was talking
about and Won Moltke was gratified at
the advantage it gave him. Nevertheless,
,,ti 70
him in prison in Germany until the war
was over.
During the war lie Clerc met a half
Drained Russian who had plan with
millions in it. He proposed to fit out an
expedition for gold mining in Northern
k'hina, where rich placer deposits are
known to exist. The pair got a ship in
Hongkorg and disembarked at Valdivo-
stock, in Siberia. The Russian officials
}winked at their endeavors They gathered
up another hundred Adventures, with
the hundred they already had and started
}on their way.
lie 'Clerc had a great gift Of talk, and
fhe made friends with a mandarin, who
told him TO go ahead on the basis that
TO per cent OF whatever he got was to
he ;t1uned in to the government, the gov
eminent being the mandarin, of course.
The mandarin had a great deal of gold
and great many precious stones In his
palace and LIE Clerc's plan was to take
him by surprise, rob him of all he had
and leave the country by forced marches.
The mandarin's idea was to make LIE
Clerc and his followers feel perfectly at
home and then massacre the foreign
devils. The result was a bloody fight.
The Russian was killed and so were most
of LIE Clercs followers. But LIE Clerc
managed to get to Valdivost0ck alive,
though he had lost a piece OF one of his
ears and been shot in the arm. He had
enough gold with him to take him to Con-
stantinople whittier he was attracted by
the Russo-Turkish war. He soon had
made a contract to blow up the ;Yhole
Russian army by an ingenious plan Of his
own. some Belgian firm furnishing the
materials. contrary to the laws of neu-
trality. The sultan gave him the neces-
sary money, and that was the main point.
His explosives never reached the Darda-
nelles and he got out of Turkey in time
to save his head.
To tell the story of his life with any de
tail would require volume. In his time
he was in all parts Of Africa and South
America. He was in the capital of NADIA
gascar when the French army arrived
He had furnished the rebels with arms
and ammunition and the queen had paiC
him for them. He wept tears of JOY
when he saw Gen. Duquesne, commander
OF the expedition. He told the genera
that all his efforts had gone toward dis
suading the rebels from making any fight
and even spoke of sacrifices he Shad made
and dangers he had incurred in Frances
behalf.
He went to Madrid during the late wal
4 20 see If he could not do some secret rerv
Ice work for the Spanish government, ant
died in his hotel there of heart disease.
~ India swarms with such adventures