[953] in Daily_Rumour
Moon Over Bourbin Street News Event
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sean P Ningen)
Sun Oct 1 15:11:16 1995
To: rumor@MIT.EDU
Cc: rome@MIT.EDU
Date: Sun, 01 Oct 1995 15:10:53 EDT
From: Sean P Ningen <spningen@MIT.EDU>
Here is some more in-game news. You can expect to recieve more mail like this
as pregame events happen over the course of the upcoming week.
New York Times, Sunday February 12th, 1928
US Navy Ponders Action After 8th Attack On Gulf Shipping
Unknown Pirates Compared to "Maritime Poncho Villa"
News reached the mainland yesterday of yet another attack on merchant shipping
the the Gulf of Mexico yesterday. The Coast Guard reports that pirate craft
attacked two ships just off the coast of Louisiana, sinking one ship. The
Baron's Castle, a small craft registered out of Galvaston, Texas was the first
attacked, apparantly by two ships flying Mexican flags. The Baron's Castle
fled, and had enough speed to put some distance between herself and her
persuers, suffering only minor damage. The Streamer, a larger boat registered
out of Mobile, Alabama was also in the area. Apparently, the Baron's Castle
fled directly into the path of the Streamer, at which point the two
persuing craft turned their attention on the bigger, slower boat. The
Streamer was sank. SOS calls recieved by the Streamer indicate that the
attackers were not interesting in intercepting any cargo, as they attacked
and sank the Streamer without making any attempt to board her.
This is the eighth attack on US shipping in the last seven months. The
attacks are starting to cause panic among US shipping officials. Last month
the Hostman shipping company of Boston announced that it would no longer
send ships into the Gulf, as it could no longer afford the insurance premiums.
Other companies are expected to follow suit soon. Several companies from
the Gulf Coast are rumored to be near bankruptcy, as insurance companies
across the country raise premiums with each attack.
The situation has reminded some of the attacks of Poncho Villa during the
Great War in Europe. Mr. Villa, a Marxist revolutionary from Mexico,
led a band of bandits along the US-Mexico border that continually crossed
the Rio Grande River to attack American properties. Eventually, the
US was forced to send the Army to hunt Poncho Villa.
In Washington, the mood is similar. A number of Congressmen have begun
calling for retaliatory raids against Mexico. Cooler heads still point out
that despite the reported Mexican flags flown by the raiders, there is
no evidence to implicate Mexico. No agency has claimed responsibility for
any of the attacks, and the general relations between the US and its southern
neighbor are good.
The most recent attack has provoked the US Navy into action, however. The
Navy announced yesterday that it was assembling a task force of several ships
to hunt down the raiders, and that it would be increasing patrols of the
Gulf and Caribean Sea. The US Navy also asked Latin American nations for
help in finding the raiders.
