The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-01-07
FROM PORTLAND
Cracker Company Investigates the
Opium Matter.
SAY THEY FOUND THE MAN
Parke of Portland Admits
Shipment.
What the Oregonian Says of the
Smuggling Case-Witten-
berg'S Statement.
Portland Oregonian, Dec. III

| Portland Oregonian, Dec. III
The smuggling of large amount OF
opium into Honolulu, presumably in
packages shipped from this city on the
steamer Mount Lebanon by the Port
| land Cracker Company, has attracted
more than usual attention. A thorough
| by the Customs officials of this district,
but also by Mr.. H. Wittenberg, man
ager of the Portland Cracker Company.
One conclusion has certainly been
reached, and this is that a considerable
quantity of opium was struggled into
eight cases of crackers, and that a
man named James r. Parks has con-
siderable knowledge of the transaction.
Another fact demonstrated is that not
only has the Portland Cracker Com
pany not been implicated in the bust
ness, but no one in any way connected
with that company has the slightest
knowledge of the surreptitious ship
ment of opium.
In the usual routine of business the
company shipped 166 cases of goods
| last November, for which the regular
| shippers manifest and consular certi-
House It now transpires that after
| these goods had been regularly ship
ped, eight additional cases were ship
ped, being added to the regular con-
signment They were naturally re-
ceived by the steamship company with,
out comment or suspicion, as it fire.
quently happens that additions are
| made to shipments.
Mr. H. Wittenberg, manager of the
Portland Cracker Company, tells the
following interesting story of his eff
forts to sift the matter to the bottom:
"a letter received from Honolulu,
from our agents there, gave the firsc
point to begin on They informed us
that the bill of lading they received
called for eight cases more goods than
our invoice called for, which they had
received.
"On getting this information we i'm
mediately compared the bill of ladilg
delivered to us by the steamship COM
pany with the shipping receipt that we
had sent down with the goods. This
also showed a difference of eight cases.
The question then arose, Where did
those eight cases come from? To
whom had we sold any goods who
would be apt to ship them foreign, as
goods of this kind are generally pack
ed in tin.
upon investigation, we found that
we had sold to Mr.. Liebe, of the Ore
gon German Bakery, on the 22d of
October, eight cases of crackers in
hinged tins, for, as he claimed, some
shipment to go north. This was about
the time the Mount Lebanon was CX-
pected.
1--WE thought nothing Of selling Mr..
Liebe the cases of crackers, but, on
| finding this difference of eight cases,
I went to the Oregon German Bakery,
and asked the young man in charge
if he could tell me who bought those
| crackers. He said he did not know
| the party's name, but that he could
| describe the gentleman to me. and said
| | could find out who he was at the
New Grand Central Hotel.
Il Immediately went to the hotel
and asked Mr.. Haas if he knew any
| gentleman there who had bought crack
ers recently. He answered: Yes, that
| there was a party named Parks-Jas
R. Parks-who had bought some