Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Dec. 14, 1950, edition 1 / Page 12
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PAGE TWELVE ACTION OFF OCRACOKE By WILBORNE HARRELL and HEYWOOD ZIEGLER, JR. WHAT HAS HAPPENED Jonathan Banks, a merchant of Edenton who died in 1766, left a 1 diary which has recently been found. In the diary he tells of his adventures at sea and how i he meets Blackbeard; how Black board meets Anne Bonney and falls in love with her. He tells how Blackbeard accepts King’s Pardon and pretends to settle down at his hideout on the Pas quotank; how the people of Caro lina become aroused and how the Governor of Virginia sends Lieu- ' tenant Maynard to capture Black beard, when the Governor of North Carolina refuses to act. Blackbeard then flees to his ren dezvous at Ocracoke. At Ocracoke, Jonathan Banks and Blackbeard go ashore under cover of darkness to learn what news they can of Lieutenant Maynard. Meanwhile, Maynard, having trailed Black beard to his lair, is lying outside Ocracoke Inlet. Learning wha; they can, Blackbeard and Banks again board ship and prepare for the terrific battle which they know will take place the next day, when Lieutenant Maynard sails through Ocracoke Inlet and comes to grips with the pirate craft. Blackbeard 'knows he will be fighting for his life. As noon approached, we noticed un due activity aboard Maynard’s ships. The die was about to be cast—May nard was coming through! He was navigating treacherous shoal waters, and he had placed in the bow of each vessel a man with a sounding line. Maynard was working his way, inch by inch across the shoals. Blackbeard lowered his glass and barked an order. Men sprang to ropes and guns, and others took up battle stations at strategic points of the deck. They were prepared to make it hot for Lientenant Maynard, if he approached close enough to get his grappling hooks in the Revenge. Bedlam broke loose aboard us. Now that the motley pirate crew knew that a fight really impended, they released pent up tension with yells and curses. Blackbeard s plan was to remain steady and allow Lientenant Maynard to bring the fight to the Revenge.. Onward Maynard came, slowly but surely working his vessels through the Inlet. Apparently his failure to secure a pilot was not going to deter him, for with dauntless stubborness he was inexorably bringing the matter it's bout FOR KEEPS! IN the difficult years ahead, that new truck of yours will have to put out more— and take it longer. So there are many reasons you’ll be wise to choose a GMG! You’ll get the constant dividend of GMC’s greater pulling power truck-built horse power with greater sustained torque than other engines. And with that power goes the greater stamina of GMG’s rugged truck-engineered frame. 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The Lieutenant could be seen among his men, directing the slow, steady move ment of the sweeps. Blackbeard remained quietly but tensely at his post. His eyes meas ured the gradually lessening distance that separated the Revenge from May nard’s flagship. In another few moments she was so close that her name, Pearl, could be read on her bow. We were slowly, but very slow ly moving under half sail toward the Pearl. Maynard’s men stood immo bile, tensely waiting, with gun apd pike and grappling hooks. They were ready. ISo were we, aboard the Revenge. Suddenly Blackbeard lowered his glass and issued quick, staccato or ders to his men. Sailors sprang to obey; gunners stood ready with light ed matches. Anne Bonney had dis appeared from her positipn beside the rail—she had evidently sought safety below. Blackbeard cupped his hands and hailed the approaching vessel. May ■ nard had now withdrawn his sweeps ■ 'and was allowing the momentum of - the tide to bring his craft to the Re > venge. , “Ahoy! Aboard the Pearl! Come ino closer or we fire!” Blackbeard • shouted. His answer was a chorus 1 of derisive shouts. Now the crews of both vessels were shouting and I cursing. Further parley would be fu s tile. Blackbeard shrugged and turn '■ ed toward the forward" gun crew, ! standing alert with smoking matches, - and dropped his arm in signal. Then •| he drew his cutlass. s Instantly from the Revenge’s for | ward battery billowed smoke and fire. r | We had fired the first round, a broad ■ side that raked the deck of the Pearl. 1 (Splinters and bits of wood and rope • and canvas filled the air as our shot i took telling effect. When the smoke 1 cleared, we saw that the men who had lined the rail of the Pearl were ; seriously decimated. Some we knew i were dead, and others were grievously »I wounded. But the remaining answer '| ed us with defiant yells and a fusil sj lade of small arms fire, and sprang '.to the shrouds with cutlass and pike THE CHOWAN HERALD EDENTON, N. J., THURSDAY, DBGEMBER 14, i 960 in hand prepared to board us the moment our sides touched. The sides of the Revenge and the Pearl touched, a straining, grating, ominous sound. Someone yelled, “Re pel boarders!” and instantly the crews of both ships commingled in a vortex of sweating, yelling, cursing, fighting men, slashing with cutlass, stabbing with knife, and pistollin wherever they could. A haze of smoke and smell of burning powder filled the air. The cries of the wounded and groans of dying men were heard on all sides. Some died in their tracks, some threw down their weapons and cried for quarter. Others jumped overboard. Amid the struggling mass of fight ; ing men the red head of Lieutenant Maynard weaved back and forth, as i he hacked and slashed with his sword and slowly worked his way toward Blackbeard. Blackbeard was a raging maniac. • A bloody cutlass in one hand, a pistol in the other, he fought; and as he ■ fought he yelled obscene curses and shouts to all and sundry about him. I Men fell before him like flies and i gave way to his furious onslaughts. His swinging cutlass had woven a ring of steel about him which no on° could i break down. Men died as they stood before him, or limped or dragged > themselves from his raging fury. Blackboard’s black hair fell from his ■ forehead in wild, unkempt array, giv i ing a ferocious and terrifying aspect ■ to his countenance. His black beard, which had mingled with blood and 1 grime, had become matted, and sticky. From the hand of a dying gunner i Blackbeard snatched a Still lighted ’ match and stuck it in his beard; then from his coat he took several more matches and lighting them from the s already lit match, stuck them also in I his beard. The smoke and flame i swirling about his face gave him an i eirie, gruesome look, his isCce becom -1 ing a veritable dancing skull, a grin ning death head. The red head of Lientenant May , nard broke through the ring of men , about Blackbeard. For a moment i Blackbeard paused in his savage ferocity and glared at Maynard. They ■ stood, facing one another, the wild • eyed, black-maned Blackbeard and the ■ grim, redheaded Maynard. Then with a yell Blackbeard raised i his cutlass and rushed at Maynard. ; Maynard neatly parried and his ■ riposte thrust his blade through 1 Blackboard’s coat. ISteel rang on i steel, blades flashed and thrust and parried. Stepping lightly and fight ’ ing warily the two men circled. A slash of Blackboard's cutlass not quickly enough parried drew blood ; from Maynard’s arm, which flowed i down his hand and reddened his flash- Tocco-hardened crankshaft, airplane-type bearings, and Lifetime Weathersealed cabs. 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They Jhrew down their weapons and cried for ( quarter, which Maynard granted. Prisoners, they were shackled and DEPENDABILITY o DAYTON LEE, Inc? WHEN the declaration of In dependence was signed, there were but few newspapers. People depended on the town crier to spread the tidings ... which he never failed to del . We can depend upon those i whom we nave served to spread the tidings of our un , failing dependability. Con > scientious planning and expert i supervision result in ceremon ies of unmarred beauty. IWILLIfORD PHONL23KDLNTONN.C THE- HOME OFTHE AIBFMARLE MUTUAL BURIAI ASSOCIATION l I f Save regularly I Saving is easier and more successful when 1 I it becomes a habit. It requires little effort to put aside small amounts regularly, and they soon mount up to a substantial total. * ** mi A Savings Account at The Bank of Edenton provides safe, convenient banking facilities and encourages systematic thrift. Open your account now and build it up with regular de posits. * BUY UNITED STATES SAVINGS' BONDS 1 I THE BANK OF EDENTON I ’ EDENTON. NORTH CAROLINA |j| Safety for SavinyA Since 1894 MEMBER FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM | | MEMBER FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION j |j hurried aboard the Pearl, to be car ried to Virginia and rftand trial for piracy on the high seas. There was only one foregone conclusion to their collective fate—they would all be hanged. t . True to his oath that .he would bring back the head of Blackbeard, ; Maynard struck off the grisly me memto and stuck it to his masthead. And in this manner he sailed from | Ocracoke Inlet And now, as I write these last words •—1 I If You Need Money To Finance or Re-Finance . Your Farm at Low Interest Rates... SEE r. W. JONES Edenton, North Carolina Representative of One of tkt Nation’s Largest Insurance Companies TAKE UP TO 20 YEARS TO REPAY LOANS in my diary, I come to the end of my narrative. I ana sitting up in bed with a pillow at my back; a candle gutters at my elbow, lighting these pages as I'write. My life draws to a close, and I now make known here in this diary a disclosure which I have kept well, and have sedulously guarded through out the years. Only one other man, the Governor here in Edenton, has known my secret; but for reasons best (Concluded on Page Nine)
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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Dec. 14, 1950, edition 1
12
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