The Washington herald., 1908-06-07

The famous pirate chief Of Tonkin, de-
Than. is dead at last. He had his period
Of activity. and it was a bad time for
the French colonial government In Ton
kin.
After he had become a subdued and
chastened ex-pirate Commandant Perot
wrote book about his exploits. the dance
he led the French soldiers. and his final
submission, with his forehead in the dust.
Since that day says the New York Sun.
he had lived On a French pension, quiet
and harmless, but. perhaps. his old enc
mics are glad he is gone.
All Tonkin was at peace in 1897 ex-
cepting a little mountain region in the
heart OF the country. to the northeast OF
Hanoi, the capital This district. Yen
The. was the stamping ground OF de
Than He was usually doing something
interesting
! He had never submitted to the French.
He had kept them out Of his country and
ne plundered the surrounding regions
whenever he felt Ike It. In 1897 he was
especially active. His mountains were a
center Of outlawry and rebellion. The
French decided to clip his wings.
His advantages were that he had COM
plete control of HIS men. knew every
/ inch OF his land. and was full Of willy
strategems. Besides this. his district was
almost imPenetrable on account OF the
dense forests and swamps that cover it.
| The French decided that the thing to
do was TO give him no rest. day or night.
/ They sent against him 1000 men-9OO
/ French and 500 native sOldiers-divided
/ into five bands. One or another Of these
/ bands was to be constantly on the move
De Than had only about 100 fighters. but
! they were we'll armed. were dead shots.
and had all the other accomplishments OF
/ buccaneers.
AIwayE Beating the Bush.
] Two OF the French bands would be IN
the field two days and two nights beat
/ ing the bush and lighting when they had
a chance. and then would be relieved by
: the other bands for the same period. and
/ something was doing all the time
The French did not understand travel
in the dense vegetation and knew moth
/ ing Of the secret passages leading from
/ each Of de Tham's settlements or the
/ traps he had ready for his enemies
|
any effective work. excepting that one or
another OF their bands was usually on
the pirates trail They kept him and his
men moving so necessarily that they were
nearly worn TO death by sleeplessness.
one day the French reached a stock
| ade in the forest where de Than and
/ thirty Of his men were resting. Two
! Frenchmen crawled so noiselessly to the
entrance that they bayoneted the senti-
| mel before he could sound an alarm A
lot Of the men entered on hands and
knees. and found themselves IN a long
passageway, which they slowly wormed
/ along.
Near the further end they saw an open
space and men scattered over the ground,
some apparently asleep and others eat
ing. Little dreaming that their presence
was now known, the whispered order
went along that they must crawl a little
nearer and then rush into the open,
ready TO fire.
Bomb BurSts in PaSsREewRy.
Suddenly there was a fash OF a gun
powder trail, and bomb burst in the
passageway. Frenchmen rushed over
dead and dying comrades into the open
space, but not an enemy was in sight,
though dishes, food. and accouterments
were scattered around. The rebels had
vanished into the thickets. and not a man
Of them was caught.
At another time the French knew that
they had de Than and his band COM
pletely surrounded There happened to
be a great deal of dry vegetation. This
was kindled. and soon there was a ring
OF fire as we'll as Of Frenchmen and their
allies around the enemy
The encircling lines Of soldiers drew
nearer and nearer 20 the center until
movements were seen in the thickets
into which rife vOlleys were poured But
it was French killing French. The ring
OF troops had grown smaller till their own
men were the targets OF their fire.
Not an enemy could be seen. though
there was plenty of evidence that the
pirates had just been there. The case
was inexplicable, and the French never
understood il till after the surrender.
when de Than told them that he had
escaped through an underground passage
without the loss OF man. The fact was
that the willy pirate never halted any
where except in places where he had
provided means Of escape in case Of sur
prise.
On another occasion the French had
de Than and a part OF his force hemmed
in between themselves and the shore Of
lake. They knew they had driven him
down to the shore and that the TANKS
Of their party We're on the shore TO the
north and south OF him; but ne disap-
peared and could not be found
They knew he had not broken through
their line. but nothing could be seen out
in the lake. Here was another mystery
the solution of which came later.
Solution Comes Later.
De Than and his men had plunged into
the lake. They walked so slowly along
the bottom that they made no disturb
ance Of the surface, which was a foot or
two above their heads Each man had
a short bamboo pole, one end in his
mouth and the other above the water.
Afr was obtained through the bamboos.
On the other side of the lake they clam
bered leisurely into the overhanging
thickets. Not a sign Of them had been
seen. They We're all proficient in this
practice, and it saved their lives al this
critical time.
The game OF trap and pitfaU, ambus-
cade, and surprise was kept up for
months. but the odds were too great even
for the resourceful de Than. Every day
some Of his handful OF men were per-
ishing OF bullet. exhaustion. or starva-
ton.
The pirate chief could scarcely stand
on his feet when he sent word one day
that there was only one Frenchman IN
whom he had any confidence. and his
name was Perot. II PerOt would take
his submission and promise that the lives
Of himself and the few men with him
would be spared he would surrender. II
Perot would not do this. then they would
fight on Tor the few days they had yet
TO live
With his face to the ground, that brave