The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-04-05
Shanghaing Seamen.

There seems TO have been a general
impression for some time that the in
famous practice of "Shanghaing"
sailors is no longer carried on in this
port, until numerous complaints were
of late made by captains and owners OF
the loss of sailors through the induce
ments offered by "Shanghais" to de-
serters. A reporter who investigated
the subject yesterday found that the
practice prevails to a remarkable eX-
tent, and, in fact, is INDUCED in almost
as extensively as during the war.
A well known captain said to the re-
porter that Front and Second Streets
are full Of sailors boarding houses that
employ runners or ''Shanghais. The
method of procedure in ''ohan@haing'
is simple and very easily explained.
The runner usually gets aboard a vessel
the crew of which he knows to contain
foreign sailors who are strangers in the
port. A great deal of caution has to be
observed, however, and night is gen
orally selected as the time forthe secret
VISIT because captains feel justified in
using a marlin spike or pistol on Il
Shanghai. The first thing to do is
to persuade the victim to desert his
vessel. This is done in various ways
He is sometimes induced to slip quietly
ashore and take drink After he is
loaded Ito the gunwale' with bad
liquor, which is almost an inyariable
consequence of the trip, he is taken to
the runners boarding house to sleep off
the effects OF his debauch. The runner,
T.,
giles quietly among the sailors, and asks
how much they get in wages. The re-
ply is usually that each man receives
twelve dollars, or perhaps fifteen dollars
per month. Then the "Shanghai' art
| fully eXclaims: mo more than that.
Come with me. l will show you nice
| boarding house, and guarantee to put
you on a vessel that will pay at least
| twenty dollars q month" The sailor,
| if he is green, seldom hesitates; on the
contrary, as a rule, he jumps at the
| chance of getting more pay and prompt
| ly deserts, placing himself in charge of
the seductive Shanghai He is at
| once steered to some lodging house,
and once within the portals of that es-
tablishment there is little danger of es-
cape. He is kept while his money lasts,
or sometimes without the payment of
board, with the certainty of reimburse
ment out of his advance" money. AS
soon as a captain is found who desires
to fill his crew, the sailor is turned over
and as much of his advance paid the
runner as he can extort.
The victims clothes are often kept
| for eyOrhitont allprpd hoard hills and
in consequence, he starts out on a long
voyage in miserable and poverty
stricken condition, perhaps having been
| furnished by the boarding house keeper
with dirty and ragged suit of clothes
When foreign port is reached, of
| course the advance wages is deducted
from his pay. The ''Shanghaied" sailor
is then thrown or kicked off the vessel,
often penniless, ragged and friendless,
in strange land.
That this sort of thing is being done
constantly along the Delaware there
can be no doubt, yet captains and own
ers, whose men desert, find themselves
with no redress. 1t is on only the rarest
| occasions that q deserter can be re-
captured. even by the aid of the police.
Even ii he rues his bargain, and de-
clines to ship with the captain who pays
for his services, he is forced to ac-
quiesce by the boarding house proprie-
tor, who threatens to expose him for
deserticn. Should a captain attempt
to recal ture any of his men he runs
great risk of being mobbed. P5ila-
0e{DhiG Press,