HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1948-04-01, Page 6Site of Meeting—On April 2nd, Prince Minister Mackenzie -ung and President Truman will
meet at the College William and Mary in Williarnsburg, Virginia, and will probably have an
opportunity to discuss the troubled world situation. The university will confer honorary degrees
on the two political chieftains, also on Viscount Alexander, Governor-General of Canada. Above
is the Sir Christopher Wren building before which the outdoor ceremonies will take place.
Richer
flamed
By
MICHAEL TIFF
Melissa Finch would have fainted
from shock if Joe Sutton had told
her she was a pretty girl or even
smiled at her. His pa, Jake, did that
right along, which was fair enough.
But Joe did like her cooking.
Otherwise she'd have gone away be-
fore this; but today was definitely
her last day as housekeeper for Jake
Sutton and his son, Joe. Melissa
hoped she had taken at least a part
of the place Joe's ma had left some
six years ago when she had passed
beyond. She knew that Joe lived with
the memory of his ma; acted as
though she were in the next room.
Melissa had never lost the idea of
being an intruder.
"l'nt leaving today," announced
Melissa. Joe kept moving toward the
door. "!'nt leaving today," Melissa
repeated. Joe stopped, and she could
sec his great fingers clench.
Melissa went back to the pump
and sink. She began washing the
dishes. Ot the same time she remem-
bered that this was her last day.
Three years ago she had started in
this house of the Suttons—Jake Sut-
ton and that son of his, Joe. She had
nothing against Jake because Jake
bad the sense to look at her as if she
was a human being. But that Joe—
he was a born woman -hater if ever
she saw one Then she considered—
wiping the damp towel over the
plates—that Joe had lost his ma.
She watched Jake come in for a
packet of carrot seeds. Jake didn't
glance at her as he rummaged in
the seed pile.
* * *
"Reckon as how Joe an' that Bios-
som Appenzeller gonna be hitched
come fall," Jake announced quietly.
Joe wouldn't marry any girl, not
even Blossom with her fancy ways,
Melissa thought. And, as for her
self, she had stood about all she
could. If Joe hadn't noticed her for
three long years lie sure wasn't going
to change overnight.
* * *
Her suitcase was packed and she
sat down on it to close it tight. Then
she wondered what Joe was doing.
She could see him through the win-
dow plain as day. She had to admit
that he looked mighty like a pian as
he heeled that tractor round the
field, i-te'd make any girl a provid-
ing husband.
So Jake thought Blossom Appen-
zeller was for Joe. Maybe Blossom
would have liked to nab Joe but Joe
had no eye for painted -up lips and
chalked -up eyes.
* * *
That blue dress on her suited her
blue eyes. Melissa stood straight up
in front of the dresser glass. Her
hand halted midway to her face
powder box. She wvae looking at
Joe's ma, an old photo encased in a
frame of glide(' wood, For the first
time, though she had seen that pict-
ure every clay, hfelissa could see
why Joe remained aloof from girls;
how could any girl cone up to Joe's
uta?
* *
On her way down, carrying the
suitcase, she wanted to cry for sob-
bing eased that sickening feeling of
departure As she came out into the
afternoon sunshine she could see Jake
looking at her from the chicken
yard.
"Joel" Jake shouted. "Ain't you
goin' to say good -by to Melissa?"
And then she saw. Joe stop the trac-
tor and turn to stare at her,
K * *
Melissa felt another lump in her
throat as Joe stood near her, like a
great pine tree, She was awfully
small; she was a speck of dust that
had blown here by the wind and now
was being blown away.
Why don't you look at nue," he
said, very low, and his voice came
from a distance. She looked up and
winced because he was aloof. "1
wasn't certain," he said, "but Now 1
know. It's the way you kept house.
Ma had a blue dress like that. You're
like her."
He took the suitcase from her.
Without ]mowing it, she walked at
his side, back to the house. The sun
was hot on the fields, a white butter-
fly floated toward the cabbage patch,
and Joe's arm felt good around her
waist.
Pretty, Pretty
"So you were in hospital ten
weeks? Must have been pretty i11?"
"No, pretty nursel"
*
IN OUR TIME
By Howie Hunt
.Scouts •g . .
A new Boy Scout Troop is being
organized at Tulcoyaktuk, North of
Aklavik, on the 'Arctic. Ocean, The
Scoutmaster, who is ..iso the Guides'
Captain, is 'Miss Dorothy Robinson,
and the Scouts, three in number, will
he Eskimo boys attending the new
school. Up until now Canada's most
northerly Scout Troop has been at
Aklarik.
Awarded Scout V.C.
For having undergone great suf-
fering in an heroic manner, Scout
Peter Bullock of Ste. Anne de Bel'
1etue Troop, ,lontreal, has been
awarded the Corn% :ll Badge, the
Boy Scouts' Victoria Cru -s. fele is
suffering Pram Leukemia follow -
in an accident in September, 1946.
Jackson Dodds, C,B,E„ Domin-
ion Scout Commissioner, present-
ed th- award to Scout Bullock in
the Royal Vi :oria Hospital on.
March lith. Two clays later Cana-
da's Chief Scout His Excellency
Field \larshal the Right Hon.
Viscount Alexander of Tunis, K.G.,
made a special trip to the hospital
to visit the 15 -year-old Scout.
Alpine Club Invites Scouts
Olcler Boy Scouts from British
Columbia and Alberta have been
invited to take part in the climb=
ing camp of the Alpine Club of
Canada next July at Peyto Lake,
about 25 miles north of Lake
Louise. Scouts from 16 to 18 years
old will be selected for the two-
week camp,
Marking the first time Boy
Scouts will be mountain climbing
• under the direction of the Alpine
Club, the venture will be one of
a series of exploration trips now
being planned for older Canadian
Scouts this summer.
This invitation is also being ex-
tended Saskatchewan Scouts.
War Criminal?—Sliizuko Tsut-
sui is the first woman charged
with tear crimes atrocities in
Japan. The 31 -year-old former
chief nurse at Kyushu Univer-
sity Hospital is accused of per-
forming experimental opera-
tions on captured Allied pris-
oners.
*
All Three
Gipsy. "You want to know about
your future husband, beautiful lady?"
Visitor: "No, I want to know
something about .the past of my
present husband for future use,"
Piracy Is Big Business
Complete Story
By Cdr. THOMAS WOODROOFFE, R.N.
The oniy part of the world where
piracy is still a recognized profes-
sion . is in the South' China -Sea,
along that curving piece of, coast
that runs front Shanghai to Can-
ton -- and
an-ton—and the latest piracy in those
waters took place about a month
But the rich cargoes which flow
back -and forth between Shanghai,
Swatow, Amoy, Canton and the
British port of Hong Kong have
attracted pirates for more than a
hundred years.•
'The modern pirate is 430 swash'
buckling "walk' the plank" ruffian
with a patcli over one eye, breath-
ing'rum-laden oaths as he lays his
ship alongside a victim he has en
countered by chance. The twentieth-
century variety, just as cruel and
ruthless, is infinitely more subtle,
He does no boarding; he 'swaggers
on board •as a passenger and cap-
tures the prey from within. And
the man who carries out the actual
piracy is, only an employee of a
huge organization with its own in-
telligence service and a. staff of
planners, -
. Behind the „Steel Grille
As a means -of .protection every
'coasting steauter,has its bridge cut
off front the rest of the ship by a
heavy steel • grille, with another
barring off the steerage passengers, ,
and these grilles are guarded night
and day by armed Sikli guards. But
in spite of all precautions the pira-
cies go on.
When a ship has been Marked
down, a few pirates, disguised as
passengers, will travel in that ship
far wweeles until they know every
nook and cranny,
Word reaches the high-ups that
on a certain date the ship will be
carrying gold or silver bullion or
silk. At a Chinese port the rest
of the pirates come on board in
disguise, their weapons are snuggl-
ed with them, and one night the
guards are overpowered. One gang
makes for the bridge and officers'
quarters, a second for the engine
room, while a third looks after the
passengers,
1f all has gone well, the officer
of the watch and the captain of the
ship on the bridge are being threat-
ened by armed pirates, while that
charmiag.old Chinese gentleman of
the first class is watching the com-
pass with a revolver jammed into
the helmsman's ribs: Down in the
engine -room more pirates are see-
ing to it that the .engineers obey
the orders from the bridge, which
now emanate from the pirate in
charge.
Off With Rich Booty
The ship steams through the
night until a ghostly shape ahead
resolves itself into a Chinese junk.
On go the ship's arc lights, the•
hatches are opened and the rich
cargo is soon in the junk. One
steamer, S.S. Jade, was robbed of
£20,000 worth of bullion in this
way.
In the meanwhile the passengers
have been lined up and relieved
of their caste and valuables. The
pirates board the junk, taking with
then a few of the richer -looking
passengers as hostages for ran'
som, the junk fades silently into
the darkness to land booty, pirates
and hostages at Bias Bay, and the
ship proceeds, wondering how much
the insurance companies will have
to fork out.
The booty disappears into the
interior, and after a while letters
find their way by devious routes
to the relatives of the hostages —
letters which hint at the fate of
these people if ransoms are not paid
quickly. These are not idle threats.
A Chinese shopkeeper in Hong
Kong, who has only one ear, will,
if he knows you well enough, open
a small red lacquered box with a
golden key and show you his other
— a black and withered object. He
had been captured by pira(es and
his relatives tried to evade paying
his ransom. But when an ear ar-
rived by registered post they paid
at once, and the shopkeeper re-
tuned to his counter, demanding
his ear from his relatives.
Piracies do not all run accord -
to plan, In 1926 the intelligence
service reported that the British
S.S. Sunning would shortly be car-
rying a million dollars worth of
specie in gold and silver bars.
When she sailed from Shanghai,
thirty of her hundred Chinese
passengers were .pirates, although
there was nothing to distinguish
then. At Amoy, a Chinese port,
where the supervision ashore was
slacleor bribed, arms were smuggle
ed' on board,
The Bridge Captured
She 'sailed after lunch, and when
she was well out to "'sea at four in
the afternoon, just as the guard
was changing on the grille, the
pirates rushed and captured the
bridge. They caught most of the
officers in their cabins. Then'
they• looted ,.the. vessel, .but could.
not .find, .the'. treasure. .By mere
chance the specie had not been
shipped, '
The pirates looted the passengers'
luggage and the ship altered course
for .Bias Bay. But the officers were
not being idle. While the unsus-
pecting pirates lolled against the
rail outside the officers' cabins wait-
ing for the brown coast of Bias
Bay to show up, the second and
third engineers; William. Orr, and
Andrew Duncan, were 'secretly col-
lecting arms which the pirates had
overlooked:
Looters Smoked Out
At one o'clock in the morning
these two young Scotsmen killed
two of their guards and recaptured
the bridge. ' At once all the other
officers collected there while the
pirates, using the unfortunate Chief
Engineer as a shield, advanced
along the boat deck from aft.
Blit the scheme failed and the
pirates retreated. They then set
fire to the ship under the bridge and
things -looked bad for the officers;
but as the Hames spread, they
steamed into the wind and the
pirates aft were being smoked out.
By three a.m., when the ship was
heavily on fire, the pirates lowered
a boat and seventeen got away,
leaving a number of their gang to
c'be burned to death.
At this moment searchlight piers=
ed the darkness, lighting up the
billowing smoke and the panicking
Chinese passengers who thought
another calamity had arrived. But
it was the sloop H.M.S. Bluebell,
on an anti -piracy patrol, which had
been attracted by the blood -red
glare on the horizon.
She picked up the boat With the
seventeen escaping pirates and res'
cued the crew of the Sunning and
her passengers. The ship was a
total loss, but the casulties were
one European killed and the Chief
Engineer wounded, though not
seriously. The pirates were hanged
in Victoria Jail, Hong Kong.
It was the Royal Navy which
brought off the most amazing res-
cue, on October 21st, 1927. S.S.
Irene, under the Chinese flag, car-
rying six officers, 84 crew and 150
passengers, was bound from Shang-
hai to Amoy, One morning seven-
teen pirates disguised as passengers
overpowered the guards, surprised
the officers as they were sitting
down to breakfast, and seized the
bridge. Then they shaped a course
for Bias Bay, dipping the ensign to
several British warships on the way.
When the Irene arrived at the
entrance to the Bay the pirates or•
dered the officers to lower the ships'
boats. The falls were screeching
as the boats neared the water, when
a searchlight suddenly lit up the
scene. This lie• . was from H.M.
Submarine "L.4", which had sur-
faced nearly alongside. During the
daylight she had thought there was
something fishy about the course
this ship was steering.
Caught 1 the Patrol
The pirates rang down "Full
ahead," but the "L,4" put a shell
through the ship's side into the en-
gine -room, The Chinese passengers,
Alphabetical Speech
If the present abbreviating ten"
dency persists, one will soon be
talking of a morning to a friend
as follows;
"GOB, HAY?"
"F05. HY?"
"FAD. WYG?"
`MOOC, AY?"
"SOP. WAW."
"WIBSY"
"SLOT-:"
"SLOP." .
Tra' station: "Greetings, old boy.
How are you?" "Fine, old fellow.
How's yourself?" "Fine and dandy. -
Where you going?"
"My office, of course. And you?"
"Same old ; p' e. Work, always
work I" "Well, Iva" be seeing you."
;`So,,long, old top„' ,"So long ,old ,• • •
pirate.” •
Ontario's First
Settlement — 1780
The first actual settlement in Om
tario was on the shore of the Niag-
ara River in 1780, when Governor
Haidimand proposed that persons:
should be encouraged tq settle
around the forts there. His aim was
to produce for the use of the garri-
son. By December, 1780, four or •
five families had settled and built
themselves houses. The large immi-
gration did not come until 1784, but
by the end of that year 10,000 United
Empire Loyalists had entered that
part of Canada which lay west of
Montreal. A new British colony had
been formed, The American Revo-
lution and resultant Loyalist immi-
gration changed the official attitude.
in their panic, began jumping over:
board because the Irene was now
burning.
The crew of the "L.4" led by theit
captain, Lieutenant Halahan, R.N.,
dived over the side repeatedly, res-
cuing
escuing frenzied Chinese—and Chin-
ese can panic when they start.
During the night, the cruiser
Delhi, the sloop H.M.S. Magnolia,
H.M.S. Stormcloud, a destroyer,
and another submarine, the "L.5,"
appeared on the scene and took off
some 230 dripping people from the
"L.4's" tiny deck. All passengers
and crew were rescued by H.M.
ships during the first time in his-
tory when pirates have had to reck-
on with a submarine,
Mystery Village of Hovels
• Bias Bay, the pirates' base, is just
an indentation in the brown coast-
line, sixty-five miles from Ilong-
Kong. Ashore there is a mean vil-
lage of hovels whose inhabitants
stoutly maintain they are only
fishermen — and Bias Bay is in
China, in the territory of a Sover-
eign power. The ships of the Roy-
al Navy cannot follow the pirates
who are Chinese subjects and only
liable to International law on the
high seas. Once when things got
too bad we landed, caught a stray
pirate or two, burned a few houses—
but the ringleaders and the booty
were far inland, beyond those dis-
tant blue mountains,
Chinese General's Haul
After one outrageous piracy of
S, S. Ning Shin, the general at
Canton asked us not to land a force
at Bias Bay, saying he would round
.up the pirates if we left things to
him. We had to agree—it was
China, after all.
Ile rounded up the pirates and
a lot of the booty, but released the
men after they had paid him large
fines and he stuck to the booty him;
self. We did not again asic for as-
sistance from that general,
The struggle against the pirates
goes on, the Royal. Navy being
the force which upholds law and
order on the high seas. "That we
may be a security for such as pass
on the seas upon their lawful oc-
casions," is what we pray daily
in the Royal Navy.
ROLL YOUR OWN
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10200" .0,10
n kv '/r:,0b IG RETIE T' BACCO
JITTER.
FUDDLE, GET METNAT
CORRESPONDENCE ON TNM
ACME ACCOUNT!
By Arthur Pointer
WELL, YOU nowt- HAVE
TO THROW 1T AT ME!
•