, 1876-10-07

advances 10 planters, and large credits TO them,
in material costing the merchant ready money,
followed by a season of bad crops, which rem
ders the planter unable TO pay his debt.
Under the pressure Of a single disastrous
season small firms are liable to go down, but
even tie largest are forced to feel it keenly
when one crop failure follows another. 1t is
affirmed that if one had a record of Connect
cut failures in the West Indies trade, it would
he at the same time a correct record of the
bad crop years. At present this traffic is in
the hands Of H. TroWbridge Sons, l. W.. q p.
Armstrong, and f. PhippS, who IS the successor
under the old name, however, OF the firm OF
Z. TOwner & Co, While New H4ven capital
still controls the trade, vessels are now general
~ consigned to New York by the first mention
ed Of these three firms, and frequently by The
other two. Each will probably average the
receipt Of one vessel per week the year through.
with a cargo of the mean value Ct about $4,000.
Rum, sugar, aud molasSes a-e The principal sta
pies for return cargoes, with Turks Island salt
in the off months of summer aud autumn, when
the products of the cane crop are Mt in season.
A considerable amount Of cocoa is also brought
from Trinidad, and captains, as their perqul-
sites, with which the owners have nothing to do,
often bring from 10000 to 10000 Porto Rico
oranges at a time. These oranges being the
largest, sweetest, an d iuiciest, that reach this
country, it would seem that owners might
deem it worth while to DO something with
them, but they do not, preIerring to stick con
servativeIy to less prrs1tble classes OF mef-
chandise. In tamarinds, gu1ya jelly and many
other delcacies Of which one would naturally
expect large impor atoms from the West Indies
Islands, there is actually nothing done, IN
what is properly known as this trade, these
things coming only from Cuba.
So much for the legitimate West Indies
trade but who shall ever Tell ia foil the story
of the smuggling which once formed SO large a
source of revenue TO many of the dWeIiers
along the shores of Connecticut and Long
Island. And that was not so long ago bur
that one can get to-day in New Haven and
Woodbridge, and various other places In the
vicinity, abundance of liquors which have never
paid duties not even SO long ago but that
quite young men remember as a recent acquaint,
anc9 the old fisherman who lived down on
Lighthouse Point, who was supposed to be but
half.Witted, and whose Winning O precarlous
living from Holsters and CLANS, was always
a puzzle to many people; but who was, by
certain persons, known 10 be- one OF the dettest
and most cunning "shore men" who ever saved
q struggled package, and who strangely dis
appeared suddenly, for the simple reason that
he was r.oh enough, and chose to go somewhere
else to spend his money.
Going out, the principal smuggling ever
done into the West Indies was in "Iocotoco'
matches, in 1887. These were then worth
$3.50 per gross in New Haven, and found
ready sale for SO per gross to an old negro
who used to come off from the shore, 10 the
dark, at Santa Cruz. Owners issued the
|strictest orders against the carrying Of matches
by either officers or sailors, but that, said the
forbidden parties, was simply from a design 10
keep all that lucrative branch Of smuggling IN
their own hands. Orders amounted to nothing
however. Officers and men used to 60 on board
with matches in their kits, matches in their hats,
matches in all their pockets aud their bread bags ;
matches, in fact, wherever they could conceal
them from observation. until they almost walk
ed humpbaoked with their Weight of "locofOoo'
matches. Toeu, having made money by SNUG
Cling one way, they were not slow to take
chances for doubling their capital by keeping
up the practice on their return. Did vessel
owners aud West India traders themselves
encourage and practice smuggling That is a
delicate question to answer.
"You Struggled on your " account, and
got rich at it, did you not" asked the reporter
of an old captain.
He leaned back in his chair and laughed.
Then be swallowed another run punch in an
easy habituaI way, aud replied There are
lots of fellows about here, | suppose, wbo