News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-02-18
"SHANGHAIING" IN BALTIMORE.
~Hc Traffic in Human Flesh by Which
Oyster sloops nre Mnnned.

A Baltimore letter to the New York
| H0Ttd says; The Monumental City is
! PoPularly credited with being more free
from crime than any other city of its size
IN mt. the Union. But the outrage called
,0hanghaiing" practised here daily in
the present season should certainly be
regarded as criminal. "Shanghaiing"
Is nothing more or less than trading in
human flesh. The slave traffic of ante
war days was not more barbarous than
It,. During the winter the business is
brisk. Here is the modus operandi:
Inc Inc dingy little office of so-called
broker" near the docks is resorted to
oy captains of oyster PUNCHES when they
are In need of hands to man oyster
ureoges. 1t is extremely difficult to get
men Tor this work here, but when
captain tells the broker that he is in
neeo OF certain number of men, and
mat he must have them aboard Of his
boat by specified time, the "broker"
VIII bargain to execute the contract for
lee of SIS per head. When men are
particularly scarce large sum is often
Pald. After the bargain is made and
the captain leaves the office, the
generally noted roughs and
olackguards-an directs them to pro-
cure and deliver the required number of
men, stating the reward of their ser
vices.
These fellows sally forth, making
their first visit to wharves where there
are vessels about discharging their
crews. They use all manner of persua-
slons and inducements to get the
strange seamen to go with them. In
this effort they are often foiled, as the
masters of respectable merchant ships,
upon dlsSEas+ng their crews, usually
call them sfto the cabin and warn them
OF the shaAghaier and the boarding
house runner, Some of them are Sc
cured by promises of large wages and
plenty OF grOg. If after a few hours
search the brokers' henchman finds that
he cannot secure men legitimately, he
visits some of the low grog-shops along
the waterfront, and it is an ''off' day
when he cannot meet one or two miser-
able wretches in some of the dives who |
will agree to go on board, if paid few
dollars in advance. This the assistant |
agrees to give upon the men signing n
receipt and an agreement to remain on
said boat for a specified time. If the |
assistant finds the men obstinate in their
determination not to go, he treats them
to as much liquor as they can drink and |
when the poor fellows are ''dead drunkn |
he carries them board the boat, which |
Is ready to sail By the time the kid |
mapped men regain their senses they are
many miles down the Chesape axe.
Then commences a life of hardship
and toll that is not easily described. |
The captain, usually brutal specimen |
of humanity, clubs them on the least |
provocation, often without provocation. |
Poorly feed and scantily clothed, these
men are compelled to work eighteen or
twenty hours out of the twenty-fouI,
with the thermometer but few de-
grees above zero. Whether sick or well
they must turn out when called, or be
inhumanly treated. Cases have been
brought to light where a man, incapaci-
tated for work by exposure and bad
food, so that he was scarcely able to
stand, has been carried out on deck and
dashed up by his thumbs until his feet
barely touched the deck; he was
then slipped of all his upper clothing
and compelled to stand in the biting
cold for hours, falling in heap, more
dead than alive, when finally cut down.
If this treatment proves moro severe
than was intended, the man is put
ashore at night, without cent, and has
to find refuge with some charitable far
mer, and get back to the city as he best
can.
The police have endeavored and are
still endeavoring to break up this prac-
tice, but, as few cases are reported to
them, it Is not easy to do so. Now and
then captain is arrested, but political
friends and densely stupid juries gener-
ally allow him to go free. The evidence,
hnl2eXeE-- -aGaiast na-eaptain- some time
ago, was 80 clear and convincing that
he was convicted and is now serving
out twenty years sentence. 1t was
hoped that his fate would prove warn
ing, but the continued prevalence of
the custom shows that the avarice of
the oystermen is stronger than even fear
of Imprisonment