The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1899-02-14
ILLEGAL PRIZES.

ILLEGAL PRIZES.
One morning in May, 1904, small
brig named the Harrington, command
ed by Mr.. William Campbell, sailed
out between Sydney heads before stiff
westerly breeze bound to the island of
Masafuera, in the South Pacific, to
procure sealskins Although SO small,
the vessel carried a crew Of about five
and twenty men and, being letter Of
marque, was armed in the usual man
ner of the Australian whalers and south
sea traders of those days-haf dozen
9 Founders and plenty of muskets and
cutlasses. The Harrington had for some
time been employed by her owners
Chace & Co. of Madras in trading be-
tween Madras, the South American
ports and Sydney On the last occasion
of his leaving Madras Campbell had
taken care to provide himself with a
letter of marque from the presidency Of
Fort st. George against France and
Holland.
The result of the sealing expedition
was fairly successful, but Campbell
himself was not satisfied. At least he
found he was not satisfied when he one
day fell in with an American whale
ship, the captain of which told him that
war had been declared between Eng
land and Spain. How the American
captain had learned the news Campbell
did not inquire He quickly returned
on board the Harrington, held a brief
consultation with his mate, and altered
the ships course from west by north
for Sydney to due east for the South
American coast.
81 don't want to waste much time, I"
he said, "but there is no harm in our
running along the coast for week or
two. We are pretty sure to pick up
something"
The mate concurred, so did the crew,
and week later Campbell did pick up
something wit, two Spanish prizes,
a merchantmen and a man-of-war
From the Sydney Gazette we learn that
the merchantmen was ''named St.
Francisco and St. Paulo She was being
conveyed by the cruiser, which was
named the Estremina, commanded by
Don Antonio Jose del Campo, ensign in
the Spanish navy, out of the ports of
Coquimbo and Caldera on the coast Of
Peru.
In spite of his long name and title
and the traditional bravery of his race
the don does not shine to advantage in
this affair, for as soon as the plucky lit
tie Harrington bore down upon him
and his convoy he put his helm down
and steered for the shore, then but a
few miles distant. Campbell, burning
to bring him to, crowded on all sail in
pursuit but was unable to prevent
both the Estremina-a brig of four
guns-and the convoy from running
ashore Then, setting fire to both YES
sells, Don Antonio and his gallant men
ran away inland with great unanimity.
But the Harrington was so close that
Campbell, lowering his boats, soon
boarded both ships, and his men extin-
guished the flames before any material
damage was done, and in few hours
he had succeeded in floating both yes
sells again. After putting prize crews
on board, the industrious Campbell went
on shore to see if there was anything
else worth picking up, and discov-
cred quantity of copper bars-a very
valuable commodity. These he secured
without firing a shot, and then he and
his merry men said goodby to the Span
iards, and with the two prizes in COM
pany set sail for Sydney, highly pleased
at the result of their adventure.
In due course the Harrington sailed
into Port jackson, but the level headed
Scotch captain came in alone-the prizes
were not visible. The following day he
was requested by Governor King to
produce his log, and appeared greatly
shocked when the irate governor told
him that he had committed breach Of
neutrality. War with Spain was not
declared until Dec. IL, 1904, and it was
not till January, 1905, that the British
government granted letter of marque
to any ship, and yet here was this dar-
ing merchant skipper committing an
act of war on his own account in Oc-
tober
Now, singular to relate, Campbell
had only been doing on a very minor
scale the same thing as had been done
by the orders of the British cabinet or
a very large scale in the same fashion
in another part of the world, though,
of course, neither he nor the angry gov
ernor knew it. The incident is a nota-
BILE one in naval story Admiral Corn
wallis (the government having at last
awakened to the yelled hostility Of
Spain, and 6he energetic Pitt having
succeeded the peaceful Addington) was
directed to dispatch some frigates tt
intercept and detain until further or
ders the Spanish treasure squadron Oh
its way from Montevideo to Cadiz
The interchangeable, A, the Lively, 49,
Medusa, 40, and Amphion, 40 guns
were sent away as quickly as possible
and, cruising near Cape st. Vincent
fell in with the Spanish feet on Oct,
and ordered them to bring to. o.
course the Spanish admiral (Busta
mente) would not submit to be de
tanned and cleared for action. The bat
tie lasted barely 30 minutes and result
ed in the blowing up Of one Spanish
ship and the capture Of the rest. The
English feet lost two men killed ant
half dozen wounded. The Spaniardl
lost nearly the whole of one ships
company, besides about 100 killed ant
wounded on the other vessels. Ther
Spain declared war
But King, knowing nothing of thii
and feeling very wroth with Mr.. Camp
bell called upon him to furnish salts
factory replies to the following queries
First. Whether be had any knowl
edge of war with Spain at the time O.
capture?
Second Where were the two prize
he had takenf
Third What letters of marque die
he possess2
To the questions Campbell replied
that he had been informed by an Amer
lean whaler that England and Spail
were at war that he had sent hi
prizes off ON their way to India afte
refreshing at Norfolk island, and tina
his authority to privateer was his com
mission in the East India company AS
captain of marines.
Governor King said he did not con
slider this satisfactory, and after taking
counsel with other officers of the settle
ment decided to detain the Harrington
until the home government could b
communicated with. So Campbell wa
ordered to unbend his sails, strike hi
topmasts and lower yards and unshil
his rudder
Campbell protested, saying that hi