The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-09-25

ing to do except sit around on the
grass lawns in the sunshine, watch the
ships go by on the Kill Won Kull, and
spin yarns.
This is what you have at that state
~ institution on Staten Island called
Sailors Snug Harbor, where the
finest possible material for the sea
stories of a hundred Marryatts and
Michael SCOTS and Clarke Russells
and Fenimore Coopers is running to
waste.
They are real deep-water sailors of
the old type. Many of them look as il
they might have sailed with Paul
Jones or commanded a venture for
Mistress Warrington of Virginia.
Many of them actually did fight for
FaTagut, sail in the famous old tea
clippers and the Blackball packets, and
lay their ships yardarm to yardarm
with pirate junks in the China seas.
Fragments of Thrilling Stories.
If you listen to the talk of half a
dozen of these deep-water veterans
for a few moments, you will surely
catch such remarks as the following:
when l was in the bark Mary Per-
kins, out o Frisco in 70, we put into
the port OF IudyQulis dH lntI6 WAS
a revolution going on along the levee,
an the bullets fell on our deck just
like hail"
when we was down to Greytown,
Nicaragua, we caught big ground
shark and cut him open, and what
dye suppose we found?"
Body of a MANI"
"Lady's earrings?'
"Ye're wrong Mebbe We won't be-
lieve me, but it's gospel truth we
took out six dozen milk tins, three
dozen soup and bully tins, three old
dust pans two brooms and a mari
ner's overcoat How did they get
there? Why, the shark couldn't tell,
and"
80 hanged they was-hanged by
the neck at the yardarm; and there
warn't no more piracy in them waters
for
But the king O. that ere island
cottoned to me something amazin'.
Day after the wreck he offered me the
pick o. his wives-handsome huZzies
some of 'em was, too"
Like the patrons of Fultah Fishers
boarding house these sailor men at
Snug Harbor lie fearsomely about
1.-THE purple seas that gave them
scanty bread" If you want a story
about sea serpent with seven heads.
you can get 1t from any one of half
0unuT6Q marine MuncUduSenS. but
there are more veracious chroniclers
who spin yarns which are at least
credible, if not always strictly true.
A Brush With Chinese Pirates.
Such a one was an old Scandina-
Wan mate who told an exciting story
of Chinese pirates.
In 81 l shipped as mate aboard the
Boston bark Cedar bound from New
port to Honk Kong. At that time lots
of Chinese pirates used to put out in
junks, pretending they were honest
traders or fishermen, and wait for the
ships expected at Hong Kong.
we sighted three of these craft
when we lay becalmed about a hun
dred miles from port. Their decks
simply swarned with men, and they
had lots of the queerest looking guns
you ever saw, with mouths just like
grnning dragons.
I'VE lay there, unable to move, and
the Cinnamon came down on us
mighty quick, rowing with long
sweeps. Two of them attacked us on
the starboard' quarter, and the third
held off for a few minutes to see
where she could do us the most harm.
'In those days merchant ships that
did business in the China seas used to
go well armed. 1t was necessary.
We had two contemporaries aft,
and we poured shot from them on to
the decks of the two junks as they
came up on our starboard quarter.
We let them come close, and simply
swept their crowded decks. Scores
of Cinnamon fell dead or dying. and
there was the greatest confusion on
both of the junlxs. Half the men at
the sweeps were killed, and it was
some time before they could get under
way again and sheer off out of range.
Meanwhile, the third junk tried to
create diversion and give them a
better chance to get away. Her skip
per noticed that both of our eighteen
Founders were aft, and he figured that
we had no guns forward, so he tried
TO run his junk across our bows. But
we had two old six-pounders there
which we had not fired, and we raked
him with them, until he also was
obliged to sheer off.
The Chinamen's guns were of little
use. They were lingals, loaded with
rusty nails, stones and any old thing
that came handy. But, like nearly all
guns in China, they had been kept in
wretched condition. and were more
dangerous TO those who fired them
than they were to us. One OF them
burst on the deck of the junk that
crossed our bows, and killed a number
of men. Only two of our crew were
wounded and most OF the enemys
shot went high and simply tore holes
IN our sails, that were Tapping idly
in the breeze.
THE junks soon had enough of It
and rowed away out of range of our
guns. If they could have got along
side and boarded us. we should have
been DOOMED. for their crews
outnumbered ours by at least ten TO
one.
Next day a breeze sprang UP, and
IN the evening we cast anchor at
Hong Kong. There was a British
man-o'-war there, assigned on special
duty suppressing pirates. She used TO
change her rig every week or so i'm
order to fool the pirates. Sometimes
you would see her rugged fore and aft
and next time you saw her she would
be q brig. one week she would be
painted white. the next week black
the third week red. Il was a good
scheme. which entrapped scores OF
junks during her period OF service on
the station.
"Well, our skipper went aboard and
told the British captain what had
happened 10 us. He weighed anchor