24. Kidd, Captain William , 1645 - 1701

A privateer was a private person (a civilian not in the navy) who was given a commission to attack the King's enemies at sea and traditionally there was always a thin line dividing privateering from piracy . In 1695 William Kidd, a Scotsman who had emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, was given a commission by William III to arrest all pirates and also a commission to act as a privateer against the French. He fitted out the brig Adventure and in 1697 sailed to Madagascar, the lair of many pirates at that time But instead of attacking the pirates, he joined forces with them and began capturing merchant ships and plundering local trade. He deserted his ship and went to New York, offering treasure to the governor and claiming to be able to explain his actions. However, he was arrested and sent to England for trial where he was hanged in 1701. About £14.000 of treasure was recovered from his ship and from a hiding place near Long Island, though there is still supposed to be a lot of Captain Kidd's treasure waiting to be found.

Explain the meanings of the underlined words and expressions

25. Lindbergh, Charles Augustus, 1902 -1974

Kidnapping, which means the taking of a person - sometimes a child - by force and asking the family, friends or even employers of the person for ransom

177

(a) money in return for his or her release, has always been regarded as a serious crime One of the best known kidnappings of modern times took place in America in March 1932, when the nineteen-months old son of American aviator Colonel Charles Lindbergh was taken from his New Jersey home wftile he was asleep in the nursery. Charles Lindbergh was the first man to fly ^me Atlantic non-stop singlehanded in 1927 and a great American hero. A larg^{e sum} of money - $50,000 - was demanded by the kidnapper and this was eventually paid over by Lindbergh in April. However, the boy had already been murdered and his bod\ buried under leaves and twigs in a wood only four miles fir°^{m tne} Lindbergh home As a result of the Lindbergh case the crime of kidnapping was made a Federal instead of just a State offence (b) with the passing of the "Lindbergh Act" (federal Kidnapping Act) in 1933. This allowed the FBI to become involved in the search for kidnappers and their victims (g), щаК'^п§ ^аа arrest so much more likely. The kidnapper of Lindbergh's child, Bruno Hauptmann, a carpenter from New York, was finally arrested in Sepi^^em^^er 1934 after a massive search, and executed (d) in 1936. The publicity which followed the kidnapping was so great that the Lindberghs eventually ^^e^ America to live in England and continued to do so until 1939.

Complete the following sentences using the underlined words from the t^ext *ⁿ the appropriate form

1. The____of the earthquake were a young married couple.

2. The criminal was charged with a serious____.

3 He was for murdering his wife.

4. The family had to pay a big had been kidnapped.

for the freeing of the child who