Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1886-12-16
an IMPORTANT CASE.
Forfelfmre Fl the ssean-
ship Hdahois Beads.
Pan Text e sAs Oplnisa by chlaf Jas
tie Grssns IA = C4.s q E.pssiAl
Int-rs1s . tbs People sfths
Paras coMsG


fcOatinusd frosa yestsrSzg.
lam y ne Geans mrs. bus thaf this
freiRht alsrk posseaes b large nlansnrs,
tive fae1ltiea 20 characteristics Of gre i
poefs-as also some small vein Of
hnm0F. he has certainly given ~ tkia
e0aplet:
.FouEtssn baEEls skins.
Ten balls akins."
Adistinh, whfeh, tn nah L iaekE rhvua
and rhyfhm, and deals Ike Words
uorth's poetry with thinQs of common
life. yes exhibits In perfect degree tie
simplicity and the paraIlelism which
oonstitute 90 mueh Of TIE charm Of
sbose poems which lave commanded
thu heaFfieat and most enduring adwiFa-
sion 81 mankind.
Bat Why vss tue entry aalssdS IviII
suggest 9 reason. Anyone viii nofics
tbaf the word ''saltsas dos not Oeour
next before or after TIE word s'skira, =
its nstuFal plaee. bat next altar Ne
figures which isdieats the Measure of
the barrels. This displacement IL re
marksble and unique, for nothing like
it occurs anywhere else in the book. IL
brought the word ''ealte&" into q
column always associated in the clerks
mind with the idea Of weight, fog il
vas q column expressly ruled for, and
in which be hAhitually entered items %
vsight. Nou, these barrels had an go
taaI weight Of about $500 pounds. II
they bad been dry skins, hike those in
the Il Dbl. fur seal, 100 lbsn already
cited from page 90, tbey would nos have
weighed half 80 mech. Wet skins,
unsaltsd. dstsFiOra1e rapidly, and Ia
few days are worthless and offensive.
Moist skias, sailed, have about the same
weight a. salt beef, pork or salmon. All
this Is common knowledge. Night not.
therefore, the word tsaited" have besn
eraftily inserted that the entry mighs
n0t prove self o0ndemning, but shoW on
its faes . circumstances con latent With
the real weight Of tbs barrels, and there
BY forestal OF lnll q peFtinsnt but
tFOables0me euFiosityg Or, perhaps.
the fFeiRht clark, OF whoever. II anyone.
behind him Is responsible tor the SAVIOR
Of she entry, had rasd sOmswhere-in
the same book that says BE sure. your
sin will ind you 0ut"-that the saints
are the salt Of the earth, and 90 sought,
By sailing this entry, 20 sanctify Il in
the eyes Of The curious and the Coart.
But ] pass on.
Il is exceedingly improbable that Q
oompesent. careful and honest freight
clerk would have made such charges on
these fourteen barrels a. We have here.
No one IL questioning this freight
clerks competency or eaFefulness, and
If any one we're doing %, study Of the
freight book would dsmonstFate thas he
is, under ordinary circumstances. both
careful and competent. The question is
about bis honesty. That he is aocus-
toned 10 Discriminate between different
sized barrels is shown By ehtFiea eulled
at random from the book, as fer in
stance, on page 30l, ''31 bbls fish, 1859
feet; on page 80, - bbls. eEanberEies,
l2'' feet; on PAGE SSS. Il Dbl. butter ~
feet; on page 324. IS bbl. fish oil, AZ"
feet; on pare 342, egg Dbl. stock, go
feet; on page S43. "l2 half Dbl. salmon,
IS feet; on page 345, 1l52 Dbl. oil, II ,520''
feet, etc, etc. But thess opium barrels
a~tually measure $50 suite integral feet.
Is cubic feet more than the measure.
ment charged for. Aad this excess Of
measurement represents a correspond.
ling amount Of freight money. A sim
pie computation discioses, that il the
entTy were hones', the transportation OF
this nerohardre shoald have earned for
the oU- FRS Of the wees i NOS &57. I5 only,
but t7S 70 Freight clerks are not apt
to make tDism &c surements in favor Of
the shipper. Bat here is such q gross
1ismeasnFemeat that the ships owners
are pail ably cut OF pocket $2l.60, or
more than one fourth OF the total pro-
per freight.
Jndg'nR from q comparison Of ali the
pages IN tie BOX, it Is very imprOba-
bic that b0Ra tide entry would have
been made to crowd upon itself as the
LanRtfy eEtRy does. OrOvdinR was an
necessary, II the entry we're made IN
regular coursr. The book Is 90 con
structed that entries eau, without Ia
csBvenienoe, ee contin ned from at on
near the bottom CT one psRe 10 the top
OF the next. This has hRbitualiy been
done throughout the book, and praba
oily because il was inoonvenient 20 no 4
the hand on the boob IN position te
write on the bottom line. From first
page TO last, 386 used pages, there are
only nine instances Of the use OF the last
line OF a page. Two Of those instances
are the entries of this opium shipment.
FauE Of the others are cases where the
lines are us.d for totals. There remain,
then, cut Of the whole number, three
Instances only, besides the LanRtFy en-.
try, where the last line il used for an
item Of cargo. Bat IN forcing In the
LsnRtry entFy, on page 364, the bottom
line space is made TO do toe duty Of two
such spaces, and to serve both for a
line Of item and for 4 iipe Of totals.
This is entirely exceptional. No such
IcFOwdinR occurs anywhere else in the
whole book.
But 3 greater impFobability is evident
from al inspection Of the two pages
(pp 36S. 369) devoted 10 the reoapitula-
ton Of The DeesmbeF voyage. Ga these
page, are minated, regarding each
shipment, the point from vhieh and the
point b Which Il vas mads, the meas
urs ment In figures FepFesentinR tons and
tenths, the freight In figures represent
ling dollars and cenfA the advance
caaFRes IN like figures, and the entire
freight charges in figures Of dollars and
cents likewise. Oae horizontal line ia
devoted 70 each shipment, ana the sac.
oeasiVe entriea are 30 arranged that the
nRnFes fall into eolumna OF MEASURE
ment, charges due, advance charges ard
sums Of fFeiRht. respectively. Tha hFst
lpage, page 36o, contains no eFasures bat
sach a. are readily explicAble, consist
entity With honesty, until you come q
TIE last entry, which 10 the enc intended
for the LanRtFy shipment Below ahis
entry, and occupying the last line space
Of the psge, are tie totals Of TIE columns
Of figures. Each one Of these fouF totala
has been written over an eFasare. Tee
srpeAraHcs 70 81 II India rnsbeF had
basn used 70 remove pencil marks,
which onee had stood where these totals
do noe. The smooth and shiny ealsn-
dered surface. Which elsewhere coVers
The paper, has been apparently ground
ed by Fabbing. from TIE spots occupied
~ these totals, aud the oanssQu ant
Foaghnea IL easily disoerned By holdino
the paper aslant 70 the light. what
ever may foFnefly have Appeared. whsre
these erasuFea are. has oesn pretty tM0r
oaghly and aorupalo1aly got oat Of tNs
way. Tie corrections higher an on tie
page, sspposinR them 10 have been made
after the oolumns Were footed, Wers.n not
such - 70 require the sntire erasure Of
all the totAl& The only rational sx-
planation that occurs 20 me, Of this busi
cess. consistent With honegtY. 4 thai
mistakes bad s1peTvsned 10 adding 10
sns columns. Bat thai alans does nos
enthusiastically account for the acrupulons
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