Los Angeles herald., 1905-08-27
TALES Of PIRATES
TERRIFY BR|TONS
MYSTERIOUS BLACK YAWL IS
ONLY A HOAX
STORY SPREAD BY PAPERS
EneIlshmen Take Practical Joke Of
HumorIst Seriously and Gather
In Crowds to Witness Ex-
pected Battle
STORY SPREAD BY PAPERS
Special crbie to The Herald.

Special Crbie to The Herald
LONDON, Aug. 26.--some one with
money, taste for practical Joking and
time to carry It out Is enjoying himself
hoax was started by the spreading of Il
report about the mysterious dolngs
upon a mysterious yacht, in various
parts of the Mediterranean, the only
apparent object being to trick news
papers and alarm the marine and coast
population.
The last development is the publica-
tion in English newspapers of a chal-
lenge by the alleged owner Of one yacht
to another to meet at certain place
on certain day and there receive per-
sonal chastisement. Late in April the
Wiener Mittags zetung alarmed the
northern Adriatic by its tales Of a mys-
terlous vessel cruising there. 1t was
seen first near Flume.
1T was built like yacht, was long,
lay low in the water, was painted black,
and on the back was a crowd of men
and women in fantastic attire, feast
ing. 1t bore no name and carried no
flag"
Kidnapped Peasant Girls
Circumstantial details were added of
peasant girls being persuaded to go
on board. put into rich dresses and re-
tanned for some days, then being re-
leased with handsome rewards" also
that fishermen declare they will blow
up the mysterious craft on their first
opportunity" The opportunity never
occurred, because the whole thing was
a myth Exhaustive inquiries were
made by the authorities at Trieste, who
satisfied themselves that no such flying
Dutchman had been. Since then news
of an unknown and unnamed yacht has
crept into English papers. Recently
there was a paragraph telling of
strange boat anchored off a port in
northern France with a fantastic figure
on deck taking potshots with revolvers
at people on the beach. 1t never hap
pened.
Threw Scare Into CoWes
Just before Cowes week and the visit
of the French fleet the Daily Mail re-
ceived a letter from an unknown cor
respondent stating that Luigi Caro- was
bringing his yacht to Cowes and in
tended to cause trouble there. 1t was
trouble of a mysterious nature that also
never happened.
In the columns of several London
newspapers on Tuesday appeared this
fierce challenge:
IF the person speaking bad Italian
with an American twang, owning an
unnamed black foreign yawl and CIV
ing his name as Luigi Caro- has the
courage to meet me in Cowes this week
will convince him he cannot commit
acts amounting to piracy with I'M
punity. OWNER OF THE IRENE"
There are number Of yachts regis
tered as Irene and one was off CoWes
last week, but the bold, bad pirate
never arrived and If people swept the
horizon with their glasses not a glimpse
did they get of the skull and cross
bones farce.
Curious Waited in Vain
It was carried a stage further on
Wednesday by the publication of the
following reply
Luigi Caro- has sufficient courage to
meet the Irene's irate owner, notwith-
standing the threat. He will encounter
him on Clarence pier, Southsea. mid
day Thursday. Irene's owner take
warning. You will be thrown.
LUIGI CARO-"
But the crowds who visited the
southsea pier in expectation of sem
sation were foredoomed to disappoint-
ment