The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-12-17
ATLANTIC PORTS WE'RE
 LIVELY IN DAYS
 OF THE PRIVATEERS

srhe.privateer,, Hke~the apirate@ship, haseEanished from the seas Mod ex1n.nations have decreed thabepr1va- teerinEs the right@given9 9tozprivate in tifxSdxa1sv to ditsDut EesseIssin time of vvFsscus and eeize-a and. plumber the ships uf uf8heaeuemyssds hut 9 species of epi- eacx~sssnd uofisAoe1D 1Deetolerated by+civ- uSze6neop1esS It wassuot, SO ~a''cen- kurve ago Hhen AmeEican and Brit fss7 7z1rfuafearaz the Atlantic, EnAzufreu Eeturned tosport@BVith rich' rrrTzesrR rRF1zR made even the thumblest nanihers of the. urAE1 ,romparatively Heh. HadEfax Eas theprincipaF.port rdlfnashttEug ol1tFtngltsh ptiVateers, and n1uthe disrnsaA. of prizes The fHa.l-, EtxyC CRaunic1ae of As~century ago to- EfSE4a .Snec. Izs as1Sa contained "a, mo- EGsna afhes dIstEIbu ion 4prizesmon-a essa asesszEzede efron Ghe ea1eaof twenty Haa- Au1ex5can ships and cargoes. sspGhen1r r4Ere Chesapeake. which lad &aen captured by the shannon Hfber sAz1u1emorable battle a few szEont thabefore. SaIt4scoa1s wine, rum, bottom. saEt3euware, sugar and mo- sasses weRe amoaE the merchandise kakenmfuonn the caRtnred American shipss Among naAtwenty-fve ves-. sers weraHseveraA AAmerican privateers, whose crews were made prisoners
 The American prfvateers were rnuchs mors numerous than those fly ing the English flag. There were about 250iin all, and of these 1S4 hail.
 Do New York, Salem and Boston. Ports- mouth. N- Ill., Philadelphia and Char 1sston, S. G. fitted out a number of privateers. The fsBa1timore clippers were the fastest and most successful of the. American privateers. They were schooners with raking n1astss quite piraticaI in appearance, and 1suaIIy carried from six to ten guns, with a single long gun, called Long Ton,'' mounted on swivel in the center. The average privateer crew was composed of about fifty men, be- sides the officers, and they hNld com E7issions or 1etters-of. .marque author King them to ''burn, sink, and de- stroy the property of the enem7, eith- CT on the high seas or in his ports.''
 
 and the United States, from 1872 to 1914, the American prtvateers captur- ed over 1,5OO British merchantmen, while the English irrfvateers captur- ed about a third that number of American vessels. Of the prize mon ey. one half went to the government. and the other half was distributed among officers and crew, according to rank,
 Halifax. Baltimore, Salem, Boston Rnd other -privateer ports were lively places in those days, and the mer- Ehants shared in the profits of the privateering trade. It is recorded Ihat one prfvatee1. operating out of Salem brought in no less than eleven rich prizes within a period of three weeks. In many instances the pri- vateer commanders found it difficult to get=crews, and the papers abound ed in advertisements addressed to young men and appealing both to Rheir cupidfty and their desire for ad- venture. The Halifax papers of 1S13 hbounded in such appeals as this:
 scAH tight lads who are willing to serve His Majesty in a fast-sailing, ex- seIIent sea-boat, now fitting out for a short cruise, to protect the trade of The British Provinces. and pick up a lew struggling American Bordeaux men, will meet with an honest, hearty welcome from a sai1oFs- friend" An other advertiser asked for ga few joI- ly spirited fellows ''who may all fairly expect to dash in coaches on their return, as well as other foIks!'' In 1856 the European nations aboI- shed prfvateering, and in 1871 the United States concurred in the aboli- lion of the practiee3.ezrF