The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-06-17
Pirates 9 fbe China Seas.

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From China came brief dispatch the
other day saying that an American ship
had been attacked by pirates in the Yang
tse-kiang river and that the pirates had
been driven off by the crew The present
unsettled state of affairs in China has
given fresh impetus to the ancient
Chinese diversion of piracy. Piracy has
never been suppressed wholly in the
China sea- and constant vigilance on the
part Of foreign men-of-war has been I'M
able to prevent merchant steamers from
being captured by the Oriental successor
of Capt. Kidd. So common is piracy in
Eastern waters that the Fl. and O."
steamers, the French Messagerles Mari
times and the other principal Oriental
lines of steamers especially stipulate in
their bills of Iading that the COMPANY
is not responsible for "piliage and
piracy"
Two of the chief hotbeds of Chinese
piracy are al Annoy and Macao says the
New York Press. Here the pirates lie I'm
wait until their many spies, who are
scattered about all the principal ports,
bring them word of the sailing of a rich
ly laden boat Immediately the sail
out TO sea In their shallow draught junks
with the intention Of intercepting the
vessel near some shoal water. over which
it would be impossible for a chastising
cruiser to follow them lii case oC detec-
ton.
faVorite device is to ship several Of
their brother cutthroats in the guise OF
seamen These gentry pose as harmless,
hard working coolies until their COM
rades' junks come in sight Then, all in
a moment, they show up in their true
colors. All opposition speedily is stunned
or knitted, and the few remaining Euro
peans or loyal natives are only too glad
to hold up their hands in token of sur
reader rather than incur the fate Of their
slaughtered brethren.
NEAR BRITISH GUNBOATs.
On Jan l. of this year. British launch
was captured by pirates in the Chek-
Hueng Shan district, almost within sight
of British gunboat. The gunboat-the
Sandpiper-had stuck on a bar and the
pirates saw their opportunity. They
swarmed aboard the launch, killed the
Pilot made a prisoner Of the supercargo
and looted both the launch and the
lighter which she had in tow. Then they
took to their juuks and disap peared
! This sort Of thing frequently has taken
place almost within pistol shot Of Brit
ish gunboats In the Hong Kong dock
yard.
| well known case of the capture of a
! merchant steamer by Chinese pirates was
| that of the Namoa. which occurred in
! November, 1890 This vessel was a good
sized liner, and carried five European and
| go Chinese passengers. Among the lat
| ter were several rich merchants. who
| were returning 20 their homes from the
! Straits Settlements with their carefully
! boarded savings.
! This fact becoming known to the pI-
rates, fifty Of them took passage In the
| vessel. She had barely been five hours
| at sea, and the majority of her peace
/ fully disposed inmates were comforta bly,
| settled at their evening meal, when fifty
yelling savages, armed with 1evolyers
and cutlasses. suddenly appeared on
! deck.
Carefully covering the officers quar-
| ters. the villains started to fire upon the
! passengers below. In 50 doing they killed
! the captain. wounded the first officer and
made the second officer a prisoner. Then
! they looted every possible article Of value
in the ship. They shut the surviving
! Europeans III Tiny cabin and naYigated
/ the vessel back to Plnghoi.
! Here they were met by a feet Of pirate
/ junks, into which they speedily transfer.
red their pluEder They abandoned the
| vessel after damaging every bit Of hel
| machinery which they could readily
! reach.
Eventually the imprisoned European.
! burst open their prison house. repaired
the damaged engines and made the bes
of their way back to Hong Kong
The sequel was eminently satisfactory
as things of this description go. Out o
! the half-huEdred cutthrOats thirty-foul
! subsequently were captured and behead.
/ representations Of the British govern
! ment. Even here, however there wa.
| an element of uncertainty. Cinnamon are
| VIGOROUSLY similar in appearance, and tn,
| Chinese government does MOI stick a
! trities. IL is certain that there were
! thirty-four executions. however
Recently a launch belonging TO a Brit
| lSh naval officer was appropriated by ri
rates while she was lying peacefully a
| her nooring in Canton harbOr, right un
| der the guns of the responsible port Of
| ncials. The pirates took the launch uI
the river and held up every promising
! looking merchant vessel they met Wher
| they had filed the launch with booty un
I'll she could hold no more they ran hel
ashore, landed the spoils and made of.
The natives OF Achin. on the north
! west coast of Sumatra. are as notoriou!
pirates as the Chinese.
A WOMAN'S ARMAMENT.
| In July 1885, the steamer Pegu stoppe,
at the East Indian port OF Erid. one o.
| the places where pepper IS taken in A
| that port the steamer was boarded by
i eleven Achinese men and one woman
! Capt. Ross. who commanded the steam
| er. searched the men for weapous as 4
! customary when taking natives on b0art
| merchantmen The men were found [,
| be uuarmed, but the woman. as after
| wards was learned, had concealed liaIel
her clothing 4 fine assortment Of MaldJ
knives. When the captain and the chic
| engineer. Cragie. were at dinner 81,
| armed Achinese burst into the cabin an,
| attacked them with great fury. The OF
| hcers defended themselves with chairs
! and. though badly slashed. managed I,
reach the deck Cfagie ran u the N
CINE room and locked himself iH, but tn