New-York tribune., 1911-02-05
Chinese Pirates Cruelty Use Capes Held for Heavy Ransom
of the Unhappy Details of
"Wa" Were but ihout Considerable Difficulty

lowing morning. There after an hour o.
so Of negotiations with the hospital people.
the interview was arranged I am setting
down here as a very brief narrative what
took about two hours Of incessant ques-
tioning and requestioning to draw out from
the nerve shaken and broken spirited young
woman. | have kept as nearly as possible
TO the language of the interpreter. an Aus
tralian-born Chinese. who spoke good Eng
lsh.
/ Il was born in the Yeng Kong district
of Kwantung province, and am now
twenty-one years old. was married TO
my husband when was sixteen years old.
and a child has been born TO US each year
since that time. and | was again 10 have
become a mother in the eleventh moon. My
husband a fisherman, and with his
father and mother and our four children.
who were two boys and two girls, We lived
on his junk, goin out to sea and ioing
our fishing with nets One morning in the
sixth moon We had just got our nets set
when We sighted some black boats, without
sails, being rowed swiftly in our direction.
"Only pirates use this kind OF boat. and
as soor them were so fright
ened that we cut loose our nets and started
TO sail away. There was a very strong
/ breeze. and IL we had had our canvas sail
| instead Of our old mating one. which was
! full of holes ani very rotten. | think that
We could have got back TO our village In
safeIy. But my husband had been using
! the canvas sail to dry little hsh on. and
although I had told him that very morning
that the old sail was not safe he had
laughed ard told the proverb about women
and drunken men seeing things which did
not exist"
This little human touch OF Ip Sees hsv-
ing "told HIM so" would have been rather
amusing had not the sequel of her hus-
banu's negligence been so tragic in It's re-
suit
The wind was in our favor" continued
Up Sze, and until the sail split open we
were keeping well ahead Of the pirates.
After that. although even my old father
ln-aw and mothor-in-law worked at the
oars. We were quickly overtaken. The old
man was the first one to try TO stop the
pirates. lie knocked one of them into the
water with a small oar. Another Of them
raised his revolver 70 shoot my father-.n-
law. ard his wife throw herself I'm front
Of him and received the bullet. The next
shot wounded the old man but I know that
! he was not killed right off. because heard
| him calling 20 Us after they had thrown
! him into the water The old woman was
dead right off
! MY husband tripped up in some pieces
/ Of ret and was easily tied up. and I had
all ny children holding on to me. AMI so
could not fight The old people were
thrown into the water and when my hus-
band saw this and knew that he would
never he able 20 bury them his grief was
so great that saw him trying to choke
himself 10 death by pressing his neck
against the edge OF a box"
! | mad some difficulty in drawing this out
so that I could understand it. but think
the point is that since almost the worst
thnG that can happen 60 a Chinese is to
fail to have opportunity to give his par
ents proper burial. the young man had
tried to kin himself upon seeing his father
and mother thrown into the sea.
Several pirates were left in our Junk
to take care of it," the story goes on land
my husband. children and myself were
taken into the pirates boat. Before we
had gone far my baby was born. When
4
pirates made great fun about 1t. and said
that they wodid raise the baby and make a
pirate of it: but when they found IT was a
girl they took it and threw it into the
water. heard them say that shark took
it, hut think they said that just to make
me more unhappy If possible
After rowing long time we came to
| village where the people were friendly TO.
| the pirates and after spending a night
| there we were put on a large junk with
/ several other people who had been captured
! like ourselves. and sailed for two days 10 a
| place of which my husband knew moth
| ing. but which We learned later was Colo
wan.
The pirates took tho names OF all our
! relatives, and sent word 10 them that our
release could he bou2ht for 100 taels Our
relatives are all very poor. and were ua-
able 10 furnish 30 much money and when
the pirates learned OF this they decided 10
sell us into slavery Buyers were coming
and going all the time at Coowan. and
had the grief Of seeing each OF my four
children sold TO a different man Because
! was young and good locking they wanted
200 taels for me. and after suffering much
bodily abuse / was sold 10 the keeper OF
house Of III fame. The bargain was hard
~ arranged however. before tho ilst at
tack of the Portuguese soldiers was made
upon Macao and my purchaser abandoned
ne and fed.
Because they thought that we were
friends OF the pirates were harshiy
treated even by the soldiers our hands
were tied. and we were driven roughly into
their camp. and il was not until several
hours after our arrival there that | had
anything to cit We were better treated
after the ofiic rs had talked with Us, but
il was not unt our arrival In Macao that
the ropes we.e taken from our wrists.
There | was net long in proving. through
a relative OF my husband. that ! was not
a confederate Of the pirates and after that
| was very kindly treated.
Three days ago my husband. who sue
ceeded in gaining hts freedom after he was
sold found me here and came 10 see me.
When ! am a little stronger he is coming
again TO take me back % orr home village
But ! am afraid that life VIII be very
hard for us for our junk. which was our
home and our means OF making hvinS,
is gone: my husbands father and mother
are Gcad. and, because they are all so very
young there will never be any hope OK