The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1912-10-21

ried aboard a ship EEhRY tloR6AH
bound for the
West Indies. He was taken to Bar.
BADGES aud there sold to planter az
slave
The boy was Henry Morgan. He |
began his career as penniless, i'll
treated servant by sheer ytllainy he
rose t. wealth and rank, Some writ
ers say he ended his life in misery.
Central America and much of the
neighboring territory We're under /
Spanish rule Greedy governors and |
heartless soldiers wrung vast treas. |
ure from the Indians and in other |
ways amassed untold fortunes for |
themselves and for Spain Galleona /
would come from europe with pro !
visions. clothing, etc and 60 homo |
laden with precious metals and gems !
OF course, these treasure ships at.
tracted pirates as sugar attracts flies, |
and the Spanish Government kept |
powerful fortresses and warships In
the New world to protect their
wealth The clash between Spain and
the buccaneers was everlasting.
The word "buccaneer" means %
dricr Of beef" The buccaneers used
to make living by butchering and
selling wild cattle. until the local
Spaniards made life unpleasant for
them Then they took to the sea and
proceeded to revenge themselves upon
their tormentors by looting every
treasure they could lay hands on.
They were not, at first. common pi-
rates, though "pirate" and "buccaneer'
came afterward to mean much the
8ame thing.
Morgan, escaping from slavery, fed
to the island Of Jamaica There he
Joined a crew of buccaneers. BY ge-
Mus and cruel cunsing he quickly be-
came their captain Then he joined
his crew to that of powerful buc-
cancer who called himself Admiral
Mansfield Mansfield soon afterward
was Killed; and Morgan was at the
| head Of all the neighboring freeboot-
ers. His real life-work had begun,
He persuaded some Of his compan-
I ions not to throw away every penny
of their gains on drink, gambling and
/ finery, as had been their custom, but
! to save it for the expenses of 4 great
expedition Thus he quickly found
himself in charge Of the largest,
| strongest pirate feet ever seen in tho
! Spanish Main The Spaniards had
grown overcautious about rsking their
! treasure ships in such dangerous wa
1 ters So Morgan decided 10 attack
them By land He swooped down on
one rich fortified town after another,
destroying its defenders or holding
! them for heavy ransom and Selling
{ their treasure In this way he soon
became very rich.
Panama was the foremost treasure
| city in Spain's New World posses
sons, 1t was strongly fortified and
lay far off the pirates track. To
reach it miles of poisonous jungle
and Indian-infested forests must be
passed. The place was deemed safe
And there many millions Of dollars
worth of gold and jewels were kept.
/ The hope of such wondrous plumber
! was enough to make Morgan try to
! do what every one had declared i'm
possible. He turned from ravagiug
Cuba and the American mainland and
on Jan. 8. 1870, set out on the terrible
! rlver.and-jungle trip to Panama.
The spanards mad word OF his com.
ing, All food supplies We're removed
/ from the route The forests were
alive with hostile sayagea The har,
dy buccaneers endured daily starva,
ton. fever and battle, but pushed on
fearlegssly until they came before the
walls of the treasure city. Panama.
There they thrashed a Spanish and
Indian force more than three times
the size Of their own and rushed In.
to the city. The mass Of treasure was
seized the town burned to the ground
and hundreds Of captiyes held for ran.
som Each buccanecr received only
about $500 worth Of plumber. Nor
gan kept the bulk Of the hoard for
himself.
As a feat Of daring and Of military
genius Morgans dash to Panama ex-
cited the wonder of the world, Nor
gan, however, was summoned to Eng
land to give account of his crimes he
went without fear. For, on England's
throne sat King Charles Has great
backyard as Morgan himself The
pirate chief arrived in London, had q
private interview with the King, and,
It Is said, clipped goodly share OF
his Panama winnings into the royal
pocket. Thereupon, instead OF being
punished, he was made a knight and
was sent back to the West Indies as
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ct Jamaica and
ommanderin-chief Of the British
forces there lie married and lived a
life Of luxurious ease, sternly con-
demning to death these Of his old
comrades who were brought before
him on piracy charges, and playing tho
rich aristocrat ~ perfection He Gied
Ia 1863 at the age of flfty.thrae.
|
Genuine Human Touch.