Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-04-17
ft the PACIFIC
Despite laws. cables
and warshiPs. adventurer
continue piracy in the
South Seas
~oNNoo~~~

oouth Seas
oo0
Within few weeks the Pacific has
yielded two stories Of pirates, at time
when piracy was generally believed to
have become one of the lost profes-
slons. Developments have shown that
the black flag, metaphorically speaking,
still flies over craft in the Pacific
Ocean, although the times of those cap
tivatlng gentry who secured the Span
ish Main of the Atlantic have indeed
passed away forever
Compared with the Pacific Ocean, the
Atlantic is narrow body of water, but
the Pacific, the romantic old South Sea
famed for financial bubbles" and for
the adventurous who have sought it for
their country's good, Is almost bound
less in Its extent. The combined navies
OF the world could not properly police
the great Sea, and 1t has innumerable
Islands, charted and uncharted-spot
of land which appear and disappear in
the immense depth of its waters in the
most erratic and unexpected manner.
But the commerce on the Pacific is
considerable and constantly growing.
Great ships. some of them the equal of
the transatlantic "greyhounds," with
the regularity of suburban train, ply
between the continents. Rich materials,
bullion, money, are coming and going In
the ships. Millions Of money are al
ways being conveyed upon Its waves.
Here, then, is the scene prepared for
the pirates All that Is necessary is
the buccaneer himself.
China the Lair of the Pirate.
He is there too. Generally speaking,
he Is a Chinese. But there are men
from the Occident willing ito take a
chance" to turn the golden flood roll
Ing their way.
Almost every port on the Pacific has
Its quota of Adventures. Most of them
must have grown tired of their own
names, for they use Others and usually
their means of support are not osten-
tatious. These human wrecks are to be
found from San Francisco to Sydney.
The Hawaiian Islands are not free
from their presence; they can be found
upon the beach at Apia, but In the
treaty ports Of China they congregate
In numbers.
AT Shanghai is collected the fotsam
and jetsam Of the world. There are
many mysterious Englishmen, Amerl-
cans and others stranded there. The
secret of their means of existence is
shown occasionally in the consular po-
lice court. They keep dives, they
league themselves with notorious ma
tives In smuggling transactions, and
now and then during dispute with a
Chinese whom they were endeavorlng
TO cheat In dubious business scheme
somebody Is murdered. The lawless,
the embezzlers, the welchers who have
been forced to abandon connection with
their home towns find refuge in
Shanghai, where Something always is
turning up" for man who rises su.
perior to his conscience.
These modern buccaneers are "cap.
tains of industry" They organize
raids, plan piracies, but 1t is the willy
native who is entrusted with the exc
cution of the schemes. Most of the
master minds do not care to risk their
precious lives, while there are plenty of
disreputables in the native quarters
willing for few dollars in silver TO
cut throat or lead an attack upon a
liner. Some Of the adventurers live by
blackmail, others by giving tips to ma
tive pirates and robbers of where loot
may be found.
Hongkong, Macao, Nagasaki and Sin
gapore all have their quota of these
cosmopolites. The japanese seal nj
rates who were killed or captured by
the United States revenue cutter Nc
Culloch, while they were making a raid
on the seal rookerics on st. Paul Island,
one Of the Aleutian chain, are said to
have been organized by one of the
most notorious of modern buccaneers.
Red" or Alexander, Mclean, who has
operated boldly in the Pacific for sew.
ernl years and has been engaged in SO
many desperate enterprises that he has
been nlcknamed "the Sen Wolf"
Red" Mclean has all the qualities
romance usually bestow upon Its ficti-
tious heroes. He Is a tall, powerful
man, with the figure or an athlete and
the voice Of bull. He has the black
est of black hair, heavy black mus
tache and piercing black eyes, which
are small but magnetic. His specially
has been seal poaching, and to capture
the fur-bearing amphiblans he has sail.
ed at different times under American.
British and Mexican flags, thus cffec.
lively maintaining his anonymity. In
his time he had been chased by cruis-
ers, menaced by mutineers, threatened
by gales. but he has the courage and
abandon Of corsair. With deter
mination that nothing appears to be
able to break, he has been operating in
Boring Sea ever since the United States
passed the act intended to preserve the
seals from extinction.
Latest Act of Piracy,
In Chinese waters coastwise steam
ers are never safe from pirates The
latest act of piracy was the capture of
the British steamer Salnam by Chi
nese, near Canton. The buccaneers muir.
dered the Rev. DR.. Macdonald. four In
dian watchmen, while the commander,
Captain Joslln, was seriously wounded
and Chinese named Ho was cut SO
badly that he had to be sent to WI
chow. AS usual the band of pirates es.
capped, taking with them about $4,000
and some ammunition.
The robbery was planned with great
skill, and appears to have been organ
lied by some one well acquainted with
what was going on In the provincial
treasury. In turn, some one connected
with the pirates must have warned the
provincial authorities.
In some manner tile news that the
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