Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1916-03-03
The Unarmed
Pirate
How She Piundered Was
q Mystery.

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Lieutenant Wickersham. In command
Of the United States gunboat zac
Taylor. cruising in tie Malay archi
pelagO. received a wireless order from
the admiral TO look out for pirate
vessel that had been doing a lot Of
damage to shipping in the South China
sea. No well defined location for tie
pirate was given, since 1t was not
known. Probably the order was sent
to every United States vessel cruising
In that region.
The second day after receipt Of the
order the watch ON the Taylor report
ed to the officer Of the deck that a ship
was to be seen on the starboard quar-.
ter. She was changing her course
very frequently. She did not look at
all like pirate, but ON account OF her
mysterious actions the watch thought
II his duty to report her.
The commander Of the Taylor order
ed the ships course changed toward
the vessel in question. No sooner had
this been done than the other exhibit
ed clean pair of heels, evidently in
flight. When the gunboat came close
enough to the fugitive to discern what
she was like Wickersham was sur
prised to see very ordinary looking
vessel. as unlike a pirate as possible.
There were no ports for guns or any
other evidence OF a capacity for fight
ing About dusk the stranger ran
close into shore She was still too far
for those Oh the gunboat to see what
was doing on beard Of her, but since
the anchor chains could be heard rat
tling In the hawse pipes Wiekeishan
did not give himself any uneasiness as
to her getting away from him.
By the time the Taylor had come
near the vessel night had fallen, and
since the latter craft showed no light
the gunboat felt obliged to stand of
However, Wickersham. suspecting tha
she might escape him under cover OF
the darkness. sent boat in command
Of Ensign Throckmorton to recon
noiter. The party was gone an hour
When it returned Throckmorton made
very singular report.
He had found the vessel deserted
On her were all sorts of plunder, show
ing that she was undoubtedly pirate,
There was no cargo unless about 8
thousand barrels Of oil might be con
sidered such. but it seemed rather that
this might have been for fuel. And yet
the furnace was constructed for coal.
Of which there was scant supply.
Wickersham was puzzled. Never had
he heard Of pirate unarmed, un-
manned, before. Nevertheless there
was abundant evidence that the vessel
was the one he had been ordered to
look out for. The fact that she had
fed when he gave chase was alone suf-
flcient to condemn her As for her
crew, they had doubtless gone ashore
under cover of darkness.
It did not seem that there was any
need to take further action till morn
ing. The anchor of the pirate being on
the bottom. there being no crew aboard
to raise 1t ard the shore to which they
must have gone being eight or ten
miles distant. the lieutenant decided to
let the matter rest for the night and
the next day 90 aboard the craft him
self and make a personal examination
So he turned in. leaving the executive
/ officer in charge.
I When the first faint light appeared in
the east the commander was awak-
7 ened to be Informed that the pirate had
disappeared. jumping out of his bunk,
he put on a dressing gown and slip
pers and hurried on deck. The vessel
certainly was not where she had been
the night before. but the day had
broken, and the man in the crows nest
reported her or a vessel very like hel
on the horizon. Wickersham, after
bringing a glass to bear on her pro
nounced her the pirate and gave orders
to get up the anchor and make chase
Immediately.
The pirate was standing eastward
along the tenth parallel of latitude. ev-
identity making for the open sea. The
gunboat managed to keep her in sight
and make a small gain. During the
day the lieutenant made inquiries
among the crew to learn if any one h9t
heard any sound during the night One
man said that he fancied he had heard
an anchor chain being carefully slip
ped through hawse pipe. He had
called the attention Of the officer of the
deck to 1t, but since the officer had
heard nothing himself he paid no at
tention to the mans report. Neverthe
less Wickersham made up his mind
that the pirate had slipped her anchor
and sailed away without 1t.
The mystery worked on the men
some of whom were ignorant and su
perstitious, and knots were constantly
gathering to discuss the strange craft
the opinion being occasionally express
ed that the ship was a phantom. Bu
this did not reach the ears of the com
mander, who would have taken mean:
to quash 1t.
During the day a wireless message
was flashed by the admiral asking i
the Taylor had seen anything of th'
pirate. Wickersham asked for infor
nation as to the vessel that he was or
dered to capture. The answer was
that ,be admiral had no description O.
her. 1t had been reported that severa
vessels due at Chinese ports had no
come in. The weather had been fine
therefore there was no suspicion tha
they had been wrecked by storm. 1