Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1907-11-21

Billingham, Wash, Nov. g.
We. of this Puget Sound ccas'
country are so accustomed t.
seeing so many different crafts
on the waters, ranging all the
! way in size and Importance
from the small agile canoe Of
the 'ative Indian to the mos,
palatial steamship; from Z
fisherman's tiny smack to q
large fleet of sailing vessels
1.-THE whole feet engaged in
catching fish) from a small
freight boat to the largest car.
: go vessels in the world; from a
small torpedo boat to Uncle
Sans monstrous war dogs, etc.
So you can see why it is that a
Z strange boat in the harbor
excites so little comment OF
awakens so small an interest,
!. for such are coming and going
all the while.
Such being the case a great
many people no doubt missed
seeing one Of the most wonder
full sights that ever dropped
anchor in these waters land a
sight which in all probability
will never visit this country
again, the old PIRATE CHASER
Of the Yellow Sea, the "Whang-
Ho," which by the way means
Yellow Sea- This vessel was
for many years engaged in ex-
terminating the pirates along
the Chinese coast, and had
many executions on her deck.
She is built of teak wood,
camphor wood, white mahog-
any, singapore, ironwood and
Chinese pine. She is over 40
years old and has just COM
pleted one of the longest voy-
ages possible to sailing vessels.
AS we approached her from
the wharf we were much
pleased to see the many, many
different flags floating in the
breeze; flags Of every nation on
the globe, and over all floated
our own dear old ssstars and
stripes"
The exterior cf the boat has
nothing in the way of beauty
to commend it, in fact had it
not been for the gaily painted
stern with it's funny drawn
characters and its queer shape,
we would have passed it by as
a pile of old rubbish. With it's
old, gray, unpainted, weather
beaten masts, deck and sides, it
certainly looked it's age and was
a queer sight indeed.
The boat is about 1875 feet
long by so feet wide. For the
sum Of 25c each we were
allowed to go abroad.
The "Whang-Ho" has but one
deck; there was a lecturer
abroad who told us about the
many interesting things which
she carries.
The first thing we noted was
that on this deck were stationed
at equal distances apart, eight
Of the queerest looking, rusty
old cannons, used in capturing
the pirates over 100 years ago.
Oar attention was called next
to the center mast which looked
like any old weather beaten
pole, but we were told by the
guide that this particular mast
was the largest piece of mahog-
any ever brought to this coun-
try, and in proof of this state
ment he called our attention to
a portion Of the mast that had
been polished and it showed the
beautiful grain and color of the
genuine mahogany. This mast
was IS feet tall and % feet
square and is valued at five
thousand dollars. We were
shown the sails, which were
made of rice straw; how queer.
We were next shown the
different appliances which
China uses for the torture of
her criminals. First among
these was a starving cage. This
is about 2x2 feet square and
about 6 feet high, made of
! strong polished poles, set about
six inches apart; into this the
wrong doer is placed and kept
until he starves to death. On
the third or fourth day Of his
confinement, food IS placed just