Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-11-09
sharp cutlass in the hands Of . des.
perate coolie would be q wicked

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perate coolie would be q wicked
weapon.
''Down With you, lads. and prepare
to defend the ship with your lives"
called the captain, and every man re-
sponded with alacrity.
AS we had no firearms of any con-
sequence, everything which could be
used as a,missile or weapon was speed
lily gathered, and every utensil in
which water could be heated was
placed on the stove in the cooks gall
ley. We opened the midship- hatch
and broke out of the cargo lot Of
pressed brick which had been ordered
by contractor at Singapore They
weighed about FIVE pounds each, and
we piled up thousand or more at
different points on the deck. We were
still handling the bricks when the Chi
nese suddenly remembered the three
sailors in the rigging OF the brig, and
eight or ten started aloft after them.
The sailors called out to our captain
for Gods sake to come to their relief,
and he answered them tha our own
position was SO full of peril that he
did not dare send off boat. The
coolies were very agile fellows, and as
they drew near the sailors we saw the
LITTER were preparing to leap into the
sea. The idea was appalling, not only
on account of the great height, but
| those wicked dorsal fins were cutting
the water about the brig in way to
make us shiver. The moment finally
came when the first sailor dropped
from the end of yard, and he was
speedily followed by his companions.
Each struck the water with an awful
splash, went out of sight, and nothing
further was seen of them. II they
were stunned by the fall SO much the
better.
1t was about II o'clock when the
coolies made ready to attack us. The
brig had three boats which they could
get at, and each boat was crowded
with men. They had muskets, cut
lasses, capstan- bars, Delaying pins
and other weapons, and while they
were making preparations they kept
up yelling and whooping which
would have done credit to Indians.
Those who were to remain aboard
defed and taunted us and evidently
considered us certain victims. l don't
think any man of us felt what people
call fear as we saw the three boats
leave the brig and pull toward us, but
we could be forgiven for doubling
whether we had strength to beat them
of. The boats kept together, and it
was evident that they meant to board
on the same side. This was the better
for us. Our bricks and other weapons
were hastily moved, and while we were
at this work the captain stood on the
rail and shouted to the coolies and
warn ed them to keep Off The answer
to this was a shot from musket, and
head that he lost no time in getting
off the rail. We saw that we had got
to fight, and we were as ready as we
could be when they laid us aboard
Fortunately for us they had no STRAIT
egy about them, but the three boats
pulled together for our bows and
hook ed on in a crowd. The bark had
very high bulwarks. and the Chinese,
even with their muskets, could do us
defend, and score of brick bats and
couple OF pals of hot water took the
sand out of the crowd pretty quick.
In three minutes after getting under
our bows they realized that they had
cut out larger job than they could
manage, and they were a well-scalded
set as they let so and pulled to the
bHg.
Ihree-ffths of the crowd had been
left on board, and the failure of the
attack was greeted with such yells as
mortal man never heard before. The
boats were not hauled up at all, and
the beaten coolies were no sooner
aboard the brig than terrific fight
took place, which did not stop until %
or 30 had been knocked on the head
and flung over to the sharks. About
midni yht the boats were filed with
men to attack us again, but there was
great jabberng and gesticulating,
and the plan was finally abandoned.
At, l O'Clock the calm was broken,
though the breeze which reached us
was u light one. The captain weighed
all the circumstances in his mind, no
doubt, and he came to the conclusion
that it was the best way for us to con-
tinue our voyage and hope to fall in
with cruiser. The coolies set up
howl of vengeance as we made sail,
and that we could not have made
friends with them was proved by the
fire of musketry which they kept up
until we were out OF hearing. The
brig was turning roand and round
on her keel when last we saw her, and
some of the fellows were aloft trying
to loosen the sails. Thirty hours
later we met H. NJ. s. Defiance, and
gave her captain the briggs bearings,
but it was full year before 1 learned
any further particulars. After cruise
of week the man of-war found the
craft bottom up ut sea, long way
from where we left her, with never a
sign of human being, dead or alive,
in her vicinity. She had probably
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