The Chief Engineer, Mr. G. Cov-mack; the only European casualty, aid that he was on the bridge, when whistles blew and stots rang. out. Immediately pirates made their pearance and held up the officers on the bridge. There was cothing to] do but submit and in an astonish. ingly short space of time the ship was in absolute control of the pirates. For a time confusion reigned but later the officers of the hip, Mr. Lapsley ani the Russi Indy' passenger, were assembled in the mate's room, pirates standing guard over them.
"Towards midnight," said Mr, Cormack, "it was decided to make a desperate fight for control of the ship. And they did, with two jvolvcrs and 150 rounds of ammuni-ti The bridge was rushed while he was in the engine rom. Then at dead of night he was taken by the pirates and pushed along the gangway towards the bridge. When he} came within sight of the bridge shots rang out and he was wounded in the thigh and chest—by the shots from the "bridge. The pirates. retreated and he was able, with the help of fireman, to get out of the line of fire.
Firing was, spasmodic all Tong, every Chinese coming within sight of the bridge being picked of. Bad marksmanship on the part of the pirates accounts for the fact that there were no casualties among the gallant defenders of the bridge.
The Ship Fired Tt was not long before the pirates realized that loss of control of the bridge meant loss of control of the ship. They therefore set fire to the superstructure on the main deck in the starboard corridor, evidently in the hope of smoking the bridge do-fenders into submission. The fire raged for some hours but the wind fortunately kept the flames from spreading rapidly" towards the \ge. During the night the officers took toll of every pirate who dared show his face and in the morning when help arrived it was found that ten were dead.
When the flames were high and the position looked serious some of the pirates decamped in the ship's lifeboats. It is estimated that at least a dozen made their escape in this way with jewellery and money from passengers.
The boats on the starboard side amidships were burned and the after boat on the port side also but, while buckets of water from the bridge kept the flames from the remaining boat she was lowered to the water with the third engineer, second officer, wireless operator and the Indy passenger in her, with the idea bringing her t"'the bows for others to escape in if necessary. However, the painter was partly burned through and failed to hold and she drifted away out of right.
The Rescue With the approach of daylight the position on the bridge became serious, for the flames were rapidly approaching. Just as dawn broke they sighted the Kaijo Mara, whic went alongside and exchanged signals, sending messages back Hongkonz. 'Then H.M.S. Bluebell have in sight and an' armed guard came on board.
Foreign Passenger's Disappearance Mr. W. Orr, the Second Engineer, after telling of the recapture of the bridge, said that the passenger Lapsley with two pirates had previously gone to the chart room under the bridge and the skipper and second officer proceeded there, but found no one. The disappearance of Lapsley just before this move was last seen of him by the officers.
The other officers, with the exception of the Chief Engineer, were in a cabin under the bridge and by means of a skylight they, together with the lady passenger, were hau! ed up to the little citadel formed by the bridge. The pirates made repeated attempts to storm the bridge, but the marksmanship of the officers ed. was too good for them and they had nasty time. The pirates returned hot fire, but without effect.
An Astounding Incident Towards morning occurred the} most astonishing incident of that terrible night. Not long before dawn, said My. Orr, the welcome lights of another ship came into view. 'The Sunning was then blaz~ ing fiercely. 'The strange ship: eame up within about three "miles; -her'
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.