Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-01-12

Captain n>LDoK SMITH.
WRITTEN BY CAPT. HALDoK SMITH
Vessel. Il. G. Slnde.
he ION b .Is aidH5 Smith
Captain Haldor Smith late master Of
s h @hiih a Mss sunk a LIN ,bs sesss T.
Talaft Seeadier In N Pac!hc Ocean fse
and held pr.s%nsr 'f fsr a5S@Fa ne Fa ..r
forced 10 witness tho siMkins and iuf Ssiis
ihnaliy ESCAPED from small SCUM sou'n sea- SEA-
ssesea and shs a,h The h4 seea ss n.y
made a l.eoo-in!l. dash In an open boa,
1:een tf'enay port, sss'4a sf 1
wrote the .tory OF his experiences
1t Is strange meetings seararers are
accustomed 10, and yet one would never
had suspected. hve years ago. when
Captain Peterson and l met in Aber-
deen-he was in command Of the Hugh
Hogan then-that we would next CLASH
hands on German pirate In The South
Pacific.
In those hrst hurried E!impscs OF the
Sccad!cr there was a good deal 10
learn; signs OF dissatisfaction among
TIA men. Of stern measures on the
part OF the officers. OF the domineer-
the commando. Graf Won Luciner
We were treated courtcously. how
ever. Like Captain Peterson, OF the
johnson. and Captain Southland, OF the
Manila. who was to join us later.
vas given a stateroom by myself and
our stewards were assigned to US as
wallets. There was a special mess for
the three Of us. Our mates were given
q VI bc
tween decks.
We sat up late that night, Captain
Petersen and I. and many were the
things he told me which proved OF value
the next morning and later.
II was then that for the first time
got peep at tho doings OF the
Seeadler: word. a glance, hint
such things told OF the ma raudlngs o.
the pirate, in the Atlantic as well
as the Pacific. with more sharpness.
for me than the fuller details. ] man
aged TO corkscrcw from officers and
petty officers and men. by hook and
crook.
On the same principle as had
finished my dinner during the pursuit
by the Seeadler. 7 got what sleep was
to be had that night. and at in the
morning. when daylight had just be-
come full. came the word TO return
TO the Shade and TO pack up.
The American colors had been hauled
down by that time, though some OF
the prize crew. as we went over the
side, looked sheepish at having spent
the night under the cncmy's Gag
Then began little game played by
pirates. the game Of loot.
had an ace up my sleeve.
Take your time" Captain Petersen
had told me. They'll tell you you have
so long TO get your things, and they'll
come and worry YOU and call you
out with messages and fret you all they
can. and pack you off in the end with
most OF your buds left behind. That's
what they did 10 me. And they took
what left"
Not only the sailors and petty off,
GERS. but the officers. too. he said, had
helped themselves. The masters of
both the Johnson and the Manila lost
most of their clothes and shoes, and
a good deal bcsIdcs-stolen by their
captors.
But l didn't. They'd come to poster
me with questions. Where was this?'
AND where was that?" I waved them
aside and told them TO ask the mates
meanwhile losing not moment in
getting my personal effects together,
and so in tho end I was the best Oft
OF the three of us.
The men got their dunnage together
without much loss OF time. But when
It came to the chest. they didn't have
a chance, even IL they had been for
It. y raggedcr crew than the Seeadler's
II would be hard to imagine.
The men in the prize crew swarmed
about the chest like flies to sugar and
they cleaned it out like an army of
ants.
AS they went about their tasks on
the raider, day by day, they looked
like scarecrows or men in funny
theater play. Hardly one of them had
more than a single piece OF uniform
for such times-one, a jacket; one, a
cap; another, a pair OF pants. and the
rest any clothes they had been able to
get from the long list of vessels they
had sent down.
But for Saturday. when there was
a parade every week. they had a dres,
outfit. and then alone they look like
naval men. lined up on the dirty deck
OF the rusty old tub that flew the Ger
man battle nag.
Tho ten in the prizc crew were no
better than the rest, and they remind
cd one Of nothing SO much as pirates
of the Kind we used to read about when
we were kids while they began tho
work that was to leave tho Sladc moth
ing but name crossed Off the ship
ping records.
Preiss directed them-and IT. must
be said he did workmanlike job-as
they bored augerholes in the masts.