Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-01-05
ny CAPTAIN HALDoR SMITH.
Int Muster of the American Sailing
VcR~SI Slnd~.

tcrnational News Eurcau)
(Captair IIaldor Smith. late master
of the San Francisco sailing vessel.
Il. c. Sladc, which was sunk by tho
German sea raider Secadler In tho Pa
cific Ocean few months ago, was
taken aboard the raider and held 2ris-
oncr for many weeks. beinG forced to
witness the sinking and burning of
many other American vessels He final
ly escaped f-om q small South Sea
island on which the Sccadlcr was final
1y wrecked, and with three other Ameri-
ems made thousand mile dash in an
open boat to friendly port. The
Times Dispatch herewith presents the
first installment Of "Raiding in the
Pacific" the serial written by Captain
Smith describing his experiences with
and on the German freebooter Secadler
in the South Pacific.l
want to say first OF. I'm not much
OF hand at writing. The sextant il
good deal easier for me to handle
than the typewriter. or the pencil
either. for that matter. But / guess
that after all these years Of practice
can write a log. and maybe that iE
all that is necded to act tho facts down
shipshapc so you will know the truth
OF the business as we'll as l do. who
went through it,
There are many things to tell: thinss
which wouldn't have seemed poseible
TO me not long ago. though I've seen
good bit Of tho Pacific and know its
ways and those of the men on il, 1
want to tell you why I'm positive the
Germans. after their comman der had
put out from Mophea Island. destroyed
Nat
would come quicker; l want TO tell
about the dissatisfaction among the
German sailors. that were near mutiny
many a time. and never left the brig
OF tho sea raider empty, and how
but mustn't set ahead OF my story:
going into all that now would get
things cskew.
There have been statements made
which aren't exactly SO, and a good deal
has been left unsaid. and it seems TO
me that the American people. and cs-
pecially the readers OF this newspaper.
have the right TO know just what did
occur and how.
So here goes TO give you the straight
OF It. and hope won't run afoul Of
any censor, for there's been no pratique
given for this account.
HAVE LITTLE CONJUNCTION
ABOUT HANGING ANY ONE
II it's a log that's being written
now itl be like many another log.
with the words filled in long after the
event, in spite of the way they should
be. at the time. But the reasons good
enough: you can't write long. detailed
accounts. even il they're needed. when
threescore or moro OF the enemy have
h;,, Nat
they don't like such writing. and prob
ably wouldn't have much conjunction
about hanging you to the yardarm.
II these piratical terms that come
occasionally seem out OF place, l can
only ask your indulgence. II isn't
any love OF book words and book
thoughts that brings them up, but We
who make our bread on the waters call
pirate a pirate. I haven't much use
for school mastery words. but there's
one that stands for thing l have
less use for. and that's euphsmsm.
You can call a German ship a sea rover.
IL you want to; that's a good enough
term for landsmen. But all the quib-
bles Of international law that ever
were can't change the fact that the
Secadler was a pirate and nothing
short Of il.
LEFT on ISLAND TO STARyE
AFTER SHIP WAS FIRED
Go through what I've sonc through.
sec your ship fred and sunk. see an
old friend come over the side OF your
captor after you've watched gunners
fire she'll after shell at his comma nd,
see men by the score swarm over a
little French schooner with Kannka
take from L ell con-
TO masthead. be left without even an
oar on a coral island no moro than five
feet above the sea at it's highest-go
through that. ard then tell me II any
thing less than pirate (and I'll leave
out the adjectives here. though IL any
one would like to hear them, I'll be
glad to express them In private) II
any softer term will do.
BY the grace Of God here I am
again. with my little boy making a
holiday from school of papas home
coming, and he no happier than my
wife, but looking back 1t is easier
to see now than at tho time how fire.
auent and how close were the narrow
squeaks.
However. what's past is past. and a
miss is as good as mile. That's only
part Of the days work In times such
as these.
To the log.
Iis is, In n fashion, "a real log that
is beside me to rcfreshen my memory:
and the days went so fast with ex-
element and din, or dragged so long
In fear and tedium at once. that with
out the little book it might be i'm
possible to trust to memory.
It's a Scry little hook for the good
reason that a big book would have
aroused suspicion where that wasn't
the thing to do if you valued your life.
Here, on the inside OF the covers. there
is a calcndar--for 1903 and 1904-and
the criss-crosscd leather OF the bind
ing Is pretty shabby. There's the name
of a tailoring firm on the outside, and
unless you have good memory you'll
get an odd little sensation from the
telephone number that's printed In
small gilt letters: Mint 681. It's a good
many years since n San Franciscan
aska6 cenfra1 for copnnotfo, <hro,1b