The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-04
FOUGHT MONKEY NUFNEURS,
TWO DAYS STRUGGLE FOR LIFE
on THE LOWTHER CASTLE.

tragedy Of the Indian Ocean WING Nee
Discens q Noble soul ReincaFnats
in Chang Fierce Revenge for ths
Murder Done by . Needless BlIl0w,
There was mutiny on board the steam
ship Lowther Castle, which arrived here
YESTERDAY from far Eastern ports. mutiny
that lasted two days and two nights. Be
fore il was Quelled and the mutlneers were
safe in the hold fourteen Of them had paid
the penalty with their lives and their
bodies were thrown TO the fishes.
When the Lowther Castle, Capt. William
Lightoller. flying the British flag. sailed
from Yokohama on June 80 with a Chinese
crew the officers did not believe that there
would be trouble. All went well until
after the ship left Singapore on August 10
and was out in the Indian Ocean well on
her way to Port Said,
At Singapore the bumboat men and other
traders had come alongside with monkeys
many monkeys, both large and small.
Monkeys are cheap at Singapore, and when
the vessel sailed there were fifty Of them
slowed in the hold, to say nothing Of two
fine ringtailed simians that Wing Kee, the
cook. had in a cage in the galley. Wing
Kee bought his pair from the Malay servant
of a Chinese merchant who lived In the town
of Diokjokarta, which Is In central Java.
these monkeys are q bargain said the
Malay, but in order that you may UNDER
stand them l will tell you that at home
they have a happy little family to which
they were much attached"
Tell me, then, why your master is part
ing with them2' said Wing Kee.
MY master does not know, but that Ia
neither here nor there between u.s. replied
the Malay, and soon the monkeys were
covering in the cage which the cook placed
in the galley.
A few days later Wing thought that he
saw in the eyes OF the female, which he
had named K XII, a piteous appeal for lib
erty, so he opened the cage door ever so
little and let her out. XII XII romped about
the decks happy as a lark, If monkeys ever
get that happy, but always at meal times
she was TO be found near the galley pettinR
her mate, Chang, through the bars.
One day the cook decided that there
would be no particular harm In letting
Chang lave his hberty-so Chang joined
XII R and the two climbed all over the
ship.
On the night OF August "a there came a
tvphOon from out of the south and the
waves rolled high on the bosom Of the
Indian Ocean.
The gale increased; so did the fears Of the
Chinese crew and they burned fireworks to
frighten away the storm devils hat were
pursuing the ship. The noise OF the fire.
crackers and the glare OF the Roman candles
frightened poor little XII XII and she bounded
from one side Of the deck to the other in
terror. Finally she leaped on the port rail
Just as a huge sea came over the port bow.
Wing Kee, seeing the danger 70 his pet,
ran from the galley to ave her. But he was
too late; the ring tailed one was caught on
the crest Of the wave and carried away.
Chang from his cage top in the gallery
saw HI HI go overheard, and rushed to the
side. He gazed at the trouble waters
and then vent to the cook. He caught
Wing by the trousers and seemed TO be
trying to ask him to ave HI HI.
The next day the storm abated. Chang
would eat no breakfast and climbed to
the foremost head. There he sat the en-
tire day, looking out over the sea and chat
tering to himself. Night came and still
Chang chung to the fore truck. One OF
the crew ven after him, but returned
to the deck minus part Of ais cherished
queue. Another tried to get the monkey
down and was frightfully scratched.
The morning OF the third day Chang
was not to be found and it was thought
that during the night he had jumped into
the ocean where his mate had gone.
At midnight Second Officer Donohue
bDph Nit AAAkC al wan NAACb E&NO AoA
the throb OF the engines and the mutHed
football of the lookout on the bow.
Then there was heard a terrible noise
below. A rush rs Of many feet, a chatter
ing as of many tongues, and fifty forms
rushed from the hold up the after compaI-
ionway and on to the deck.
Forward they rushed, tumbling over
one another in their eagerness to be at the
front.
What the hell is the matter there''
yelled the second officer.
The Monkeys" screamed the bos'n.
They have escaped"
And before the bOs'n could say more,
they had bounced upon him and felled
to the deck.
The struggles Of the bos'n, combinedwith
the cries Of the second officer and others Of
the watch, brought all hands on deck.
As the captain hurried from the cabin
and the Chinese scurried from the FORE
castle, they were met by the monkeys, |
who seemed bent on mischief.
Delaying pins, carstan bars, marlin
spikes INC all other such playthings with
which mutinies are guelled at sea, we're
brought into Tlay. The smaller monkeys
soon put out OF business, but the larger
ones went at their nemies hammer and
Jngs and many of the crew still show the
of the battle.
Time and again the monkeys were chased
10 cover Only to return to the attack, and
for the next two days almost the entire
crew we're fighting for their lives against
a willy foe.
When fourteen of the larger monkeys
had been killed, the rest were cowed and
secured in their cages, from which they
had been liberated by Chang.
Chang himself went back to the foremost
head and gazed tow ard the sea.
You may not believe it, but l do" said
Lightoller, when he had finished his
story, but that Chang let those devils loose
because he though his mate had been killed
by the cook"
Through an interpreter Wing Kee de-
clared that he would carry Chang back to
Singapore and deliver him to his rightful
owner.
Surely no monkey could show such love
FOR his mate we're there not within him the
reincarnate soul Of some noble being said
the cook.