CHINESE PIRACY

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21198, 23 June 1934, Page 13

CHINESE PIRACY

A Popular Oriental Pastime FAMOUS CASES OF THE PAST (SPECIALLY WRITTEN FOR THE PRESS.) [By R. R. BEAUCHAMP.3 Piracy has always been a popular Oriental pastime, and one with which I have had a good deal to do, for I was once lent to the Hong Kong Government for a year to work on piracy prevention measures. The case of the ship Shuntien led me to look up old papers from which I describe cases to show the methods employed.

Up to the coming of steamships piracy was conducted in the good old ship to ship manner. Here is the official account of the capture of the schooner Privateer near Hong Kong in 1846. "At 3 p.m. on June 17. when four or five miles north of Lintin island, a fishing boat with lines of nets over her weather side was overhauled. According to the evidence of a seaman named Todd, the only European survivor, the helmsman of the junk waved to the schooner to pass to leeward. There was little wind at the time and the Privateer, coming under the junk s lee, lay becalmed while the two ships drifted closer together. The captain, seeing this, signed to the junk to keep off, but she put her helm hard up and bore down on the schooner. 'The captain fired a pistol, and in reply at least 50 spears were hurled into us. Before I could get up the muskets, stinkpots were thrown, and the oirates were aboard,' said Todd. With the cook, a European passenger, and a Manilaman, Todd took refuge in one of the berths, an uncomfortable retreat, for the pirates cricked at them with long bamboo spears from the deck, forcing them out. The passenger was then killed, but the other two were spared on condition they did not iake the schooner back to Hong Kong till next. day. The pirates then left the shin, accompanied by most of the Chinese crew, taking with them a valuable haul of opium and four-guns. "The evidence of Reynaldo Goncalves, a Manilaman, indicates the fate of those of the crew who were not in league with the pirates. After the captain fell mortally wounded by a spear, Gonsalves and the mate were thrown overboard, but were picked up by the boat towing astern in which there were already three Manilamen. They cast off. but were pursued and reeantured. About midnight they were brought on deck and thrown overboard one by one with their hands bound. The witness alone managed to free his hands, and after several hours in the water was washed ashore."

A Change of Method But with the coming of steamships, methods were altered to meet the times. The pirates went on board as passengers with arms concealed in their baggage. River and coastal vessels continually fell victims. However, the pirates did not always get their own way, for in 1914 a well-cganised gang tackled the ship Tai On. In Captain Weatherall they met their match. Here is the story. The ship sailed from Kongmoon with three British officers, four armed Portuguese guards and about 500 Chinese passengers. At 10 p.m., when the ship was clear of the narrow delta channels and was crossing the wide estuary of the Pearl river, the chief officer, who was on watch, heard shouting and shots. The captain, coming out of his cabin with a loaded gun, shot a Chinese who was attacking the chief engineer. The ship's bridge was divided from the rest of the deck by locked steel gratings, in accordance with the regulations then in force. The officers and the two guards on duty found themselves within, and the pirates were without, and so unable to obtain control of the steering gear, though they had possession of the engine room. This was a serious matter for them, for Captain Weatherall was busy sending up rockets and blue flares and other ships were fast coming up to see what was the matter. The pirates, realising that unless they took the bridge they would be caught like rats in a trap, made desperate rushes; but the defenders, firing from behind the steel dodgers at the sides of the wheelhouse, held them at bay. In despair the pirates set fire to the ship and then it was every man, pirate, and passenger for himself. Only 180, including the captain, were rescued. It was obvious that the rescued included pirates and passengers alike, and on return to Hong Kong a searching investigation was made. Six wounded were sent to hospital, and eight other suspicious cases were detained, as they had no clansmen or business friends to speak for them. Ten of the 14 were finally held on suspicion of being pirates. Two of these died of wounds, and the remaining eight were sent to the Chinese authorities at Canton, where they "confessed" their crime. One of the popular picture postcards still on "sale when I first went to Hong Kong showed these eight unfortunates kneeling in a row—five with their heads off and three still on! The gallant defence which the captain of the Tai On put up taught the pirates a lesson, and there were no cases of importance for eight years. Then in 1922, the Macao steamer Sui An, bringing back a load of holiday makers, was snapped up one Sunday evening. Ineffective Precautions The question of prevention bristles with difficulties. In Hong Kong we tackled it by elaborate piracy regulations which compelled coastal ships flying the British flag to turn their bridges and engine rooms into strong points capable of being defended by officers and armed guards carried for the purpose. But there are duplicate keys to the strongest of locked steel doors (especially in China). The enemy may have confederates amongst deck hands or firemen and, as the watch is relieved, the open gate is rushed. If I remember right the Shuntien was fitted with all the grilles, gratings, bolts and bars that could be devised; I probably had the job of inspecting and passing her myself. But in spite of all our efforts the w\\y pirate seems to have brought it off again.