The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1905-07-26
THE PIRATES OF TODAY
,.,,rEs OF THE WORLD KEPT
RUsY CHASING THEM.
,r,,.v shiploads of Slaves Are Carried
-9 Persia and Sold in the Markets
of Asiatic Governments.

Persia and Sold in the Markets
of Asiatic Governments.
rrare are still a good many pirates
,s4 on the seas of the world, and in
ana way and another the navies are
,sr- busy chasing them. Only few of
these modern pirates, however, follow
,os old forms of piracy; that is, to at
tack vessels and plumber them.
a5out the only pirates that are left
~. this class are those of the Malay
and Chinese waters and few daring
SLOWS who hide in the smaller sea
,qssages of the eastern part OF the
Mediterranean and along the northern
coast of Africa. There is nest OF
nirstes along the coast of Arabia near
Adam also. These fellows do not at
tack large merchant vessels usually,
1,,r wait for some ship that is disabled
and then pounce upon It,
only few years ago the pirates OF
fine Arabian coast plundered a big
steamship that had gone ashore there,
and they did not cease stripping it till
British warship steamed to the place
and tired on them.
3lt if there are not many pirates OF
rra old school left there are plenty of
+b5 modern kind, and they are fully as
daring. if not as bloody-minded, as
the old buccaneers were.
Most of them have fine steamships
that are fast enough to give a good
run to any of the small cruisers and
Gun boats that patrol the seas where
r0ey operate. One reason that they
are not captured or sunk more often
Than they are is that these pirates OF
today do not 90 into the great ocean
hignwavs. Their business is in the
lonely and untraveled parts OF the
oceans, and it does not pay any gov
eament to send it's swift, big cruisers
there. America, Germany and Great
Britain content themselves with keep
ing gunboats in those waters, and
most of the time the pirates not only
know how to keep out of the way OF
these little ships, but they can out
steam them if they happen to meet
them.
A great many of the pirates are IN
the slave trade. Though all the
big powers have agreed to stop the
Shipments of slaves there are still so
many nations in Asia that buy slaves
that it is a great temptation for men
without conscience. Many shiploads
Of slaves are carried from Africa to
the Persian Gulf, whence the poor
wretehes are sent to the great slave
markets of Persia and other Asiatic
governments.
These slavers are liable to capital
punishment, because the business has
been declared to be pure piracy, and a
number of men have been punished
that way in recent years.
Another daring pirate is the seal
poacher, who fits out in the northern
Japanese ports to steam into the ST.
berian waters belonging to Russia to
kill seal. Many ships are lying in
Vladivostok today and their crews
are doing terms in the Siberian pris-
onS for stealing seals, and many more
have been sunk by shell fire from the
Russian Behring sea patrol.
There are japanese, English and
Americans among these pirates. They
4 don't consider themselves pirates, but
they know full we'll that they will be
punished as pirates if they are caught,
so they will do anything to avoid cap
ture. One American poacher actually
rammed a Russian patrol vessel and
smashed it SO that it barely got back
to port.
The American parts of the Behring
sea are also pervaded by these seal
pirates, most of them Japanese and
Canadian.
Ihe Japanese in turn are bothered
oy English, German and American
pirates, who sneak into their pearling
grounds and steal the pearls. Among
upe most daring of the pearl pirates
are the Australians who come up from
Dl5 Great Barrier Reef with all APP
P1ances for diving after pearls and fill
'1elr ships almost under the noses OF