Ensign Merrill

This issue of Ensign Merrill by Lieut. Lionel Lounsberry, published by Street & Smith in 1893–1899, begins an adventure narrative set in Shanghai's foreign commercial district. Two American tea merchants, Bevins and Rollins, convene with other foreign traders to address piracy plaguing merchant vessels across the Yellow Sea. Pirates operating from islands north of Formosa have repeatedly attacked their ships, including the Emma Boyd, Ocean Foam, Betsy Bevins, and Stork, with government intervention proving ineffective. The merchants resolve to form a private, secret company and equip a steamer—costing half a million dollars—to eliminate the pirate gang. They select Ensign Mark Merrill, a young U.S. Navy officer serving on the USS Trenton, to command the expedition. The narrative hints at Merrill's distinguished record at the Naval Academy despite his humble origins as a Maine fishing-village youth.