An Account of the Career of " Bully Hayes." (Alta California.)

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2110, 16 January 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

An Account of the Career of " Bully Hayes." (Alta California.)

Among tho distinguished chnracters who havo marie tlicir headquarters in San Francisco in tho pnst, uas ii gentleman wlio-e baptibmal namo appear-) to have been William Hayf" 1, but who was populnily known among his associates by the endearing titlo of " JJully H lyes ' This individual, who deserves a place in the history of tho Hmo.s :i* tho last of the pirates who formerly infected tho high seas, and who was probably tho most •■hining example of iniquity that ever trod the earth, was a quiet, rc-cal, who presented tho apjeirance of a fttll-flc'lgcd Methodist par-on vi tho olilf.nhioncd type, ami wis in many respects a model to his compatiiots. Although the most useful and moit Jictiv© poition of his life was '•pent as commander <-f various sea-goiug ci«ift-<, Hotnetitues oeoupyinff thii proud position with tho routent of the owners, but oHcncr by gentle methods of poi.sunsion prcnli irly his own, and exercihed with a fine scoin of tho laws which are Mippo-ed to protect human pn>2>erty, ho wa» never known lo chew tobacco, to (Link, or to give utterance to an oath ; and ho was undoubtedly tho perfon whom tho groat dramatist had in view when he penned tho oxpresaion: "The mildest-manneicd man that ever scuttled ship or cut a throat."

r.EGIN'NIVfI Oh' HIS CAKKKR. William Hayc-i bo<ran Jii- c.ucer a-< tlic skipper of a schooner on the lakes, regularly plying between Cleveland and Buff ilo, and. was a- very excellent officer, making many friends by his unhersal courtesy nnd gepi.il manners. Ho wis a man of great originality of character, and his first piratical exploit, which m irked )iu plunge into crime, committed at this stigeof his interesting career, was unique in its nature. A prominent and wealthy gentleman of Cleveland, having- a ten-year-old nephew in BufiHlo for whom he cherished an inordinate affection, conceived the ide<i of sending the boy a viluablo gift through the medium of Skipper Hayes. He therefore purchased a fine riding pony, a blooded animal of srreat beauty and fair price, and had him pLiccd upon the schooner to bo delivered in Buffalo when the boat had reached its destination, along with a note which he consigned to Captain Hayes. Moved by that instinctive curiosity which generally animates tho masculine mind, Skipper Hayes peeped into this epistle, and found that it lead as follows :—: —

My Pk\k Nkpiii;\v : I send you a pony by Captain Hayes. I hope you will enjoy riding him. Your affectionate Unclk. Observing that the word " pony" was used in this letter, and remarking u on tho brevity of the note, Skipper Ha-yes perceived his opportunity and was not slow to avail himself of it. Upon his arrival in Buffalo he proceeded at once to a toy store and invested in a fine wooden hobby-horse, which he deliveied to the Lid along with his unclc'd note. Then he haatpned to a horse market and realised a goodly sum upon tho handsome animal he had in tow. A week or so later the boy's uncle came up from Cleveland, and one of his first inquiries was after the health and w hereabouts of the hoiso. " How do you like the pony ?" he asked his nephew with interest ' Oh pretty well," said tho boy with an indifferent air. " Whore is he ?" pursued the uncle. " Out on tho front veranda," returned the lad, a little impatiently. Now front verandas are not <rencially used for stable purposes, especially in Buffalo, si city famous for the propiiety of its inhabitants. The donor of fhe horse hastened to the place indicated and a striking tableau ensnpd. Explanations quickly followed. As may natiualFy bo supposed, the next inquiiy w.is after the whereabouts of Skipper Hayes. But he hid vanished from the Inkes, and the deck of that particular schooner nevermore echoed to his honest tread. JIo liternlly skipped the country, ttuein more senses than one to the title ho bore.

HIS LIKt, I.V SVV FRANCISCO. During the few years th.it followed therein a hiatu3 in the career of this remarkable man. Whenever he was, it isfair to suppose that homebody pai I dearly for his presence, but the iecor<l» nve silent upon the subject. Ho next turned up in San Fiancisoo, and now he steps upon the stage in all the glory of his new title of Bully Hayes, a, namo w Inch he won by a consistent course of conduct, and which always afterward clung to him. He set sail for the South Seas and became actively engaged in a peculiar pursuit known as " blaukbirding," whereby a man usurps the prerogative of Divine Providence in disposing of the bodies of the islanders, not always asking their permission or fulfilling the demands of social etiquette, but tumbling them indiscriminately into a dark hole and setting sail for a profitable market. He conducted this enterprise with such success that his famo became noised about, and certain vessels of Her Majesty's Government, which lie in wait for malefactors in that locality, closed in upon him, so that he was prone to betake himself to the China seas. But his th-ifty commercial instincts again got the better of his discretion, and at Mocao he made a contract to land 230 Chinamen in Sydney, New South Wales, at £40 a head. Now at that time, some fifteen years having gone by, the good peopie of Sydney, realising the evils of Chinese immigration, had established an import duty upon every Chinaman who landed on their shore, in thf sh ipe of a hi ad tax of £50, and in order to biing his .speculation to a profitable issue it was necessary for Skipper Hayes to use some finesse, a delicate quality in which lie was never found wanting. He set sail at once for his destination, and six or seven weeks later the watchman of the Coast Guard at North Head, Port Jackson, adjacent to Sydney, telegraphed at drawn that a brig was lying off the mouth of the harbour with her yards all a cock-bill, her sheets unrove, and pumping bright water. The largest of the two Government tugs anchored in the harbour at once put out to save life. When the tug came alongside the brig they found all hands turned to at the pumps. The captain jumped on the toprail and hailed the tug.

I A CLEVBII RUSE. "You must save life. I have two hundred and fifty passengers on board." Forthwith two hundied. and fifty Cliinamen with their scanty luggage, were tumbled over the side into the tug. The captain of the brig said that he could keep his vessel afloat until they could send another tug for him, whereupon the tug put back. As soon as the tug disappeared inside the Heads, Skipper Hayes stopped pumpin ', squared his yards, rove his sheets, set sail and was off. In the course of an hour his topsails disappeared below the horizon. As soon as he was weP under way he sent a carpenter down below to reef in a big hose which he had dropped through a port and connected with the bottom of the pump. The captain of the tug did not fare as well. When he got to the Circular Quay in Sydney he attempted to land his quarter of a thousand Mongolian passengers, but the officer of Her Majesty's Customs refused to accept them without the payment of the stipulated head-tax ; and thus the tug was forced to lay off for several days, supporting the Chinamen on Government fare until the Legislature could be convened to pass an enabling Act to allow them to be landed. The consignee of the cargo was never known, but he undoubtedly got immediate possession ot his human freight, and Bully Hayes received the stipulated sum, and for a time lived in clover. This ingenious pirate next turned up in Fiji, at Levuka, where, strange lo say, he had no ship, no money, and was, in nautical parlance, " on his beam ends." But a man of hia enterprise could not

long enduie «.uch a hmnilating condition of nli.iii.-5, and in oidcr to get a ship he took a shore boat one night and pulled out to a scliooik r \\ Inch lay off the harbour. Alone and unaided he over came arid tjagged the crew, which consisted of thice or four Polynesian boys, and put them in tb" foiecastle, but finding th.it he could not make them woik for him, he put them ashore, and n.ivi irated the schooner alone for tlnee d.iys until he i cached Simoa, wheie lie got a new ciew and went oIT to the Line Mantis.

CAPTUKhJ) AM) If \N«JKI». Tln'io lie had the niistottune to run afoul of the fii-riuaii man-of-war Hy.cne, which captured him, kept him for three fl.iys in the prison bnjj, then hiought him to tn.il foi his various misdeeds He confessed that his name was William Iliyts, that he h.id beenasLue trader, and that ho had lohhud .and nmidercd upon the high seas, thereby acknowledging tli it he was :i pir ito. Con% iction folloWi'H closely upon this t\ idenco, and as .1 p'lui'.limiMit for th»M> jin«l nriny other crimes which he hid not tuken the tiO'ible to confers, ho was haii^id oa the fnii' yardarm of the ship, and whit was iiippo-i'd to br> tho li-t mental relic of Skippfi H ivos rcpovd on Citr.il lilan'ls, under tl>o lino. Hi\ m^ar' l o>;ipli«hed thiH i lcdif ible dtod fdi the lelicf ot Mifforiujj ni'iukind, the liv.uio continued on her c'our-50, and ten d iys later put into the port of Aipu.i, in Simo.i. But bcfoio she could draw up to the wbaif hlio ivib met by the (}<•?»! m Consul of that i>oit, \v}io cam' 1 ilymy out in lih hfpam l.iunch, and told the captain of tho Hyieno, in vigorous lingua^c tint he inu>t not come into port, but mii'st set out at oiu c in puriuit of Uully Hayc-", who hid left the port thirty-MX houti before, having .stolen a v homier and her cicw. The c>ipt"iiu of the fhe'ene bwore that ho had hum? Bully Hayes on the foroyard aim of the fehip ten days before, but the Consul stoutly mnint. lined thar tlie pit ate had left the port of Aipciii but thuty-six houiH pieviously, and tho Hyjuao was forced to f-et out in search of a r.iscal whom it had u^od its best eilorts to conveit into a " croaker " nearly two weeks bofore.

His CLTIMATT DKATH. Skipper H.iyes evaded ins pursuers, and next turned up in Sin Fr.inci«co, sick and penniU'N'i a^ u-^ial. He levived old acquaintances and made new friends, and ficiiilly wis introduced to :i gentlemm quite prorninrnt in yacht in cr circles. Thi-s individual, who is pos^es-od of abundmt means, had .sufficient f.iitli in BuUy Hayes and tho island trade to give the latter command of the tweuty-five ton schooner, epuipped for a commercial voyage. H.vycs engaged a mate, who wa-. a married man, took the man's wife along asa f-tew.udesH, and &t.ut*d off for the island. The next news from this bold buccaneer \v.is> th.it ho hid been killed by tho mate and tho schooner whs hove up on the beach of ono of tho Marshall Islands. The gentleman who had equipped the pirate for the voyage Bent a schooner down to the island* to investigate and verified the report, learning thit the mate, in expressing his disapproval of an affront offered to hia wife by the skipper, had used some very forcible language. Bully H.iyes' only comment had been to say, in a quiet, unconcerned, matter-of-fact way: — "Very well. I guess I'll go below and get my gun and t-hoot you.'' The mate had leplieJ, in just as quiet and unconcerned a manner :: — ■ "Then I reckon I'd better kill you now," and thereupon he caught up tho boom-crotch and stove in tho skipper's head as ho was going down the companion - way. This was five years ago, and as the Pacific has been comparatively quiet and safe for travel since that day, it is morally certain Bully Hayes is dead, beyond the possibility of another resurrection. At any late, a local life insurance company was so well convinced that it paid a policy of 5000 dola. to the wellknow n capitalist who fitted the pirate out for his last voyage. It is said that Hayes left a wife and family in every individual inland of the South Pacific, to mouin his tin>ely loss. The most mysteiious circumstance connected with his caieer is the fact of his double death. The unn who was hung for him on the foie-yaidaim of the Hy.ene was un doubtediy another person, hut travellers who are schooled in the iniquities of South i?ea life declare that tlieic was but one other man on the face of the earth wicked enough to see any chance of belief in confessing to the sins of Bully Hayes, and that was Bill Macdonald, who was afterwards wrecked on the west coast of Australia.