Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-05-06
REAL PIRATES STILL TODAY.
Found on tho Indian Ocean and the
China Sea-.

China goa.
The pirates Of the old school have
vanished quite away, but piracy itself
has by no means disappeared. The
principal field for pirates today Is In
the Indian Ocean and the China Sea-
So common is piraey:out there that the
P. & o. steamers and the vessels Of
the French Messagaries Maritimes and
other lines expressly stipulate in their
bills Of lading that they are not respon-
sible "for pillage and piracy" >.
Only the other day a pirate junk
sank a French merchant ship in Chin
ese waters and a French man-of-war
caught and sank pirate in the Pacific.
Not long ago some Chinese pirates
captured a steam launch and heavily
laden lighter almost within sight Of a
British gunboat. The gunboat Sand
piper was conveying the launch and
her tow along the coast when she stuck
on a sand bar. A fleet Of pirate ves-
sells had been lowering in the distance
watching for an opportunity to attack
the launch, and as soon as the gunboat
struck they came swooping down. :.
The launch was some distance be-
hind the gunboat, and was concealed
from her sight by a projection of land.
The pirates 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 the cockpit or
the launch. The others on board were
natives, who offered no resistance ana
so were spared.
The launch and lighter were looted
and the valuable cargo which they had
on board was transferred quickly to
pirate junks, which then hoisted their
great, creaking sails again-those fun
ny sails like butterfly wings with bonn
boo yards-and were off for the open
sea.
When the Sandpiper finally got on
the bar and steamed down to the pill
laged launch not a sail was to be seen
on all the broad expanse Of waters.
A well-known case Of modern piracy
on a big scale was the capture OF the
steamer Namoa a few years ago. she
was a good-sized liner, and was on her
way from ports on the Malay PENN
sula to Hong Kong with valuable
cargo and 255 passengers, five OF whom
were European and the rest Chinese.
Among the Chinese passengers were
several rich merchants returning to
their homes with fortunes which they
had accumulated in the straits settle
ments. OF this fact the pirates VINO
haunt the Malay seas became aware,
for they have their agents in all the
principal ports who inform them when
an especially valuable prize Is about
to sail.
The Namoa carried a native crew.
At the first stopping place of the
steamer the pirates induced the reg
ular crew, by bribes and threats to de-
sert. Then fifty Of the pirates left
their fleet in a secluded inlet and pre-
sented themselves to the Namoa's cap
tain as honest sailors looking Tor
job.
They were hired and the Namoa
sailed away, the captain little thinking
that his crew Of the best native SAIL
ors he had ever seen was almost en-
tirely composed Of murderers and rob-
bers.
The Namoa had been five hours at
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' Q'm looking out)
when a tumult arose OH deck and the
fifty half-naked pirates appeared from
below, shouting fiercely and waving
cutlasses and revolvers.