The Wichita daily eagle., 1903-07-19
REAL PIRATES
STILL On SEAS
Chinese Rob Many a Good
Sailing Shin
BL0ODFL0WS FREELY THEN
How Junket Once Ran Into
Naval Boys.
BLOOD FLOWS FREELY THEN

New York, July 13.-The pirates Of the
old school have vanished quite away. but
piracy itself has by no means disap-
peared The principal field for pirates
today is in the Indian Ocean and the
China Sea. So common is piracy out there
that the P. & o. steamers ond the YES
sells of the French Messageries Maritimes
and other lines expressly stipulate in their
bills of lading that they are not RESPONSE
bic for ''piIlage and piracy.
Only the other day pirate junk sank
a French merchant ship in Chinese waters
and a French man-of-wsr caught and
sank a pirate in the Pacific.
Not long ago some Chinese pirates cap
tured a steam launch and heavily laden
lighter almost within sight of a British
gunboat The gunbost Ssndpiper was con-
voying the launch and her tow along the
coast when she stuck on a sandbar. A
heet of pirate vessels had been lowering
in the distance. watching for an opportu-
nifty 20 attack the launch, and as soon as
the gunboat struck they came swoopins
down The launch was some distance be-
hind the gunboat and WAS concealed from
her sight by projection of land. The pi-
rates swarmed aboard. and when the pilot
offered resistance they killed him and
threw him to the sharks. The supercargo
begging for his life was bound and thrown
into tho cockpit Of the launch. The others
on board were natives. who offered no re-
sistance and so were spared.
! The launch and lighter were looted and
the valuable cargo which they had on
board was transferred quickly TO pirate
| tunks. which then hoisted their great,
creaking sails again-those funny sails
like butterfly wings, with bamboo yards
and were Of for the open sea.
When the Sandpiper finally got of the
bar and steamed down to the pillaged
launch, not sail was to be seen on all
the broad expanse of waters.
A welI-known case of modern piracy on
a big scale was the capture Of the steam
| ship Noama few years ago. She was
| good-sized liner, and was on her way
! from ports on the Malay Peninsula TO
Hong Kong, with valuable cargo and 2S5
passengers. five of whom were Europeans
and the rest Chinese.
Among the Chinese passengers were sew
/ eraI rich merchants returning to their
homes with fortunes which they had accu-
| mulated in the Straits Settlements. OF
| this fact the pirates who haunt the Malay
seas became aware. for they have their
agents in all the principal ports who in
| form them when an especially valuable
I prize is about to sail.
! The Naoma carried a native crew. AT
/ the first stopping place of the steamer the
pirates induced the regular crew, by brioet
and threats, to desert. Then fifty of ths
/ pirates left their feet in a secluded inles
and presented themselves to the Naoma's
captain as honest sailors looking for
| job.
They were hired and the Neoma sailed
away, the captain little thinking that his
crew of the best native sailors he had
ever seen was almost entirely composed OF
murderers and robbers.
The Neoma had .een FIVE hours to sea;
the evening was falling over the calm
tropic waters. the passengers were at their
evening meal. and the lookout had just
given his cry Of Hum deckty hai'' (''Im
looking out'O when a tumult arose on deck
and the fifty half-naked pirates appeared
from below. shouting hercely and waving
cutlasses and revolvers.
They fired a voIley into the passengers
seated below in the dining hall, killing and
wounding several, killed the captain and
wounded the first officer, and made the
second officer prisoner.
The surviving Chinese passengers were
too terrified TO make any resistance, and
the Europeans were locked up in a tiny
cabin while the pirates took charge Of the
ship and steered her for Pinghai on the
China coast.
OF Pinghai they met their own pirate
feet. and. transferring all the loot which
they had found on the Naoma to these yes
sells. they abandoned the steamer and
sailed away after damaging every bit Of
machinery which they could conveniently
get at
When the pirates had gone the Euro
peans broke out OF the cabin where they
had been confined. repaired the machinery
and navigated the steamer to Hong Kong.
The British government took such meas
ures about this affair that the Chinese
government. which is not. as a rule. very
energetic in hunting down pirates. decided
70 do something about X, and thirty-four
OF the fifty who had seized the Naoma
were captured and had their heads
chopped Of. Al least the Chinese officials
who presided at the execution said thar
the thirty-four we're members Of the pi-
rate company. but there was considerable
doubt about it az the time
II was whispered that the Chinese gov
erumeat. rot being willing or able 70 cap
ture the real pirates ard al The same time
wanting TO please the English had trotted
out ,hirty-four criminals who had been
condemned 10 death anyway and cut their
heads OF as pirates while the real Grimm
ais went free and are perhaps. lurking to
6ay about the Esste-n seas looking fer
other ships 70 pIuuder.
one OF the mistakes of the Yellow rovers
% the China Sea was when ley attacked
a British training ship thinking shs vas
a merchantmen. declares the New York
sun The training ship had 2 crew 81
BOYS learning 10 b sailors She was
sailing vessel and as she forged along with
her ports closed. she looked very Ike a
harmless merchant craft big ard prosper
out and NJ for iooting-
Suddenly a feet of pirate 5unts bore
down upon her and the navy captain with
his guns shotte6 and his crew concealed
behind the high bulwarxs. calmly awaited
their coming The Chinese paint great
eyes on the bows OF their tunks for they
say: NO gos eyes how can seer But ths