Democratic messenger., 1894-12-08
EXCITING TIMES.
RACE WITH CUSTOMS OFFICERS.


Experience of - Yankee skipper In Snuy-
CLING Ch-roots In spain.
"YOu wait something to write about,
do YOU" inquired Captain Braccblock,
an old skipper. in reply to u reporters
query. Wei. do you .ce that flag"
and he directed my attention to IA rev.
enue flag flying from the staff of - boat.
well, that reminds mc of u little cpl
sodc III which | figured great many
years ago.
In the summer of 1880 was one of
the crew Of the ship Curlew, at that
time waiting i'll the port of Manila for
n cargo. Captain Darieus-'Old Barny.
we called him-was an energetic trad
er. then thought myself pretty smart.
While we were i'll Hongkong the old
man had light cedar cutter made cs-
pecially for the transportation of him
self and wife and tor quick communi-
cation with the shore i'll whatever port
the vessel might be- He took especial
pride i'll his racing gig as he termed il.
and had a picked crew, with me ls a
coxswain
The ship was moored nearly nine
miles from the town of Manila. Once,
sure, and sometimes twice day, the
gig was manned and rowed over that
distance to the house of Russell IL Stur-
gis, who Were our consignees as well rs
the representatives. minister and consul
of the United States i'll that port. Their
Office, which was palatial affair, was
situated some distance up the 'canish'
(Anglicc canal. and to get TO il wo had
to pass the fort at the entrance of ;hc
waterway leading up to the interior of
the city. The old man had some two
dozen geese ON board. and he made "a
deal for them ashore. taking cigars in
payment As i'll all Spanish countries.
an import and expert duty prevailed.
The task of taking the geese ashore and
bringing off the cigars without paying
duty fell, of course, upon me. and III
spite of the usual quacking characters
tic of the bird got safely by the rev.
enue officers, landed the fowl and load
ed the boat with cheroots. In the canal,
plying it.; length, was ten cared Gus
toms boat. We had nearly gained an
exit TO the harbor, when out from u shell
tering point dashed the guards and hail
ed Us.
In my excitement / cried III Span
ish, No entendc, and at once the boat
started for us. Knowing the fate in
store for Us if captured, | said To the
boys: You see that boat. II she over
takes us, it means ball and chain for
at least two years i'll that fortress. Shall
we give them chase a loud Amer
lean cheer arose from the crew. and the
next dip of the oars nearly lifted the
boat out of the water. The guardboat
started after US, and occasionally ma
rine would step III the bow and dis
charge muskct ut US OF course we
did not dare TO pull to the ship. rs that
would have established our identity, so
we were compelled to strike out TO sea.
At the entrance of the harbor. Is miles
from the city, is an island, and to that,
closely pursued by the revenue boat. we
pulled. After reaching the island it
was u game of hide and seek until dark
our ship. Our race had been witnessed
from our vessel, and when we arrived
the guarlboat was not over aquarter Of
q mile astcrn. The davit tackles were
all ready TO hitch on. and boat and all,
with %, 900 cigars, we We're run up.
The boat was taken on deck, painted
black and swung to her proper position
only few minutes before the vessel
was boarded by "A crowd of customs Off
GERS in search of white boat that had
given their barge such a race.
The next day, when went ashore,
Barny gave me doubloon to treat
the boats crew. Since that time / have
never see revenue flag of any nation
but it recalls to my memory the incident
| have Just related. and it makes me
laugh when l think of the laundering
marksman shooting at Us, the pompous
officer in charge of the boat demanding
onr surrender and the poor. tired,
sweating oarsmcn in their heavy uni
forms chasing the robust Yankees of my
boats crew, who. with but slight excr-
tion, could propel their light boat
through the water two feet to our pur-
suers' one. Boston Herald