The sun., 1916-11-06
YANKEE KIDNAPPED,
THEN SUMMARIZED
Frederic Smith. Sea Rover for
His Health. Tells of
Shanghaing.
FOOLED BY BIG WAGES
His Frcighter Bombed in Bay
Of Biscay While Ending
Voyage From Australia.
FOOLED BY BIG WAGES

Frederic Smith. n tall. spare Yankee
sea rover with n long gray mustache OF
the lambrequin type that interfered at
times with his utterance. which was dis
tinctly Connecticut. arrived last night
by the American liner st. Louis.
He asserted that he had been "shang-
haied" at this port to go as third en-
gineer board the British freight steam
ship Midland. sent to the bottom Of the
Bay of Biscay by n German submarine
on the night OF October 20 while on the
way from Australia to Havre with 4
cargo of grain.
Tho shanghaing. he said, was not done
IN the regular way. by persuading him
to 90 into a waterfront saloon. doping
him and permitting him to wak up ut
sea the text day. He declared that Il
was a purely scientific and up to date
shanGhaing. without any rough stun.
Smith was informed last March. he
0ays. that the Midland was bound for
him and would not enter the war Zone.
At st. Lucia, where the Midland touched
for coal on her long voyage. he learned
that she was bound for Russia. Then
he put up a'"holler." he said. and they
persuaded him TO stick by calling his
attention to the big wages ne was going
q draw.
BeGins 10 Get Nervous.
The Midland landed munitions at vlad.
Ivostok n then proceeded to Australia.
where he took on a big cargo OF grain
Tor Havre. The third engineer. who has
been going to sea, coastwise and other
wise. for more than thirty years. began
to get a bit nervous His British shp-
mates played tricks on him after he got
within a few days Of the coast Of France
by frequently announcing the appearance
of submarines. At last. on the night II
October 20. when the Midland was enter
ing the Bay OF Biscay and CT the Island
OF UshAnt. the submarine of the testers
came along.
Smith had turned In and was playing
cards In his room with n shipmatc when
he heard IA shot. He paid little atten-
ton to It. Another shot brought him out
on deck and six more shots convinced
him that he wac in for a shipwreck.
There were thirty-threc In the ships
company the engineer said, Eight
white men and the rest Chinese and
lascars. and an ugly lot they were. The
captain of the submarine ordered all OF
us into the boats. | went with the skip
per, Capt. W. X. Bennett. the chief en-
eineer INC the second officer into the
%starboard boat with eleven OF the yellow
men.
1T WAS a dirty niGht and the seas
washed into the boats 81 that for some
time We had to keep bailing to prevent
swamping. THE German submarine.
which was half submerged. took all Of us
aboard and used the boats to bomb the
Midland. placing the bombs In the lower
hold. After the bombs had been touched
Off the ship rolled over and sank and we
were put back aboard the liceboats.'
The only American.
II was the oniy American on the shin
and they o mighty good care Of me.
must say they We're very g~entlemanly
In every way. They had n man make
fast to my leg so | would not fan over
board while the submarine was rolling
In the trough. He held on until all got
back in the hfeb at. could not tell
you the number OF the submarine. as she
was under water and the skippcr did
not mention IL.
They sct us adrift. wishing us good
luck. We rolled in the nasty seas
twelve hours. shipping "a lot Of water,
so that most of the time B.! was we, up 10
the knees. In the carly morning a
French fishing boat s,ah,rd US and bore
down, taking ali hands aboard.
They treated US fine. but they were
no potter than the skipper IF that Ger
man submarine. wNo actually said, when
he O our lifeboa,s to blow up our
ship. We are sorry. but we will have
TO borrow you boats for n while"
Smith aid that he and his shipmates
were received with generous hospitality
at st. Malo. where the French fisher.
man landed them, and that he also had
a fine reception at Liverpool, where he
donated "A part Of his wages to the Red
Cross fund. He believes ne will not seek
more sea adventure in the war zone
unless the wages are pretty big.
The engineer is a bachelor and says
that when he was a young man with
q t~ubercular tendency a Yankee doctor
told him he could save himself by going
10 sea and staying there and tina lie
supposed he would still have TO follow
the physicians advlcc. But the next
time. Smith %reckoned, HI would And ou,
where he was going before shipping
To-day he intends to go to the shipping
agent and make a few remarks on the
theme Of s~hanshaiing a guileless Yankee
veteran.