Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-24
POPULAR WITH SAILORS
Bumboats Supply Them With Many Delica-
cies When in Port.
How the Industry is Carried On-Ef.
forts to Smuggle Liquor
il. Aboard Ship. sARaS
From the New York Tribune.

| While the warships lay at anchor of
Tompkinsville few days ago two bumboat
| women and a bumboat man came to blows
| In the course of an argument over their
| respective rights to trade with the returned
| jack tars. Although not always fought for
so valiantly, the privilege of bumboating is
always greatly sought after. and the profits
Of the business are generally SO large in
| proportion to the outlay that 1t is an occu-
| patton likely to flourish as long as there
| are ships and sailors.
The ordinary landlubber does not have &C.
cason to know much about bumboats or
| their proprietors, and 1t Is ten chances to
| one that his acquaintance with them is
limited to the one classic bumboat woman
OF song. Little Buttercup in "Pinafore."
But to the sailor the bumboat men and
women are highly important members of
society. and If they should cease to ply their
trade he would find himself deprived of
many luxury that he now enjoys. The
captains OF all vessels recognize the value
OF the bumboats as q means of keeping
Jack contented when he is in sight of either
nome or foreign port. Without their
visits ne would be far more persistent in
his demands for shore leave since he would
De aple to represent, reasonably enough,
that ne was enjoying no benefit from the
snip nearness to land. But the bumboats
bring nun all the tempting articles in the
way or food that he could possibly find
ashore, and, though these things make up
the greater part of their stock thew fire.
9uentiy nave besides various little curios,
pieces OF 1eWelry and other articles charac-
terlstic OF the country to which thew be-
long. Bumboat women are often washer
women as well, and they are only too glad
bis iI Ia, the sailor-for consideration-of
ms laundry duties as long as the shin re
mains in the neighborhood.
Every bumboat proprietor must have a
, written permission from the captain of the
vessel he desires to trade with and he
must exhibit this as soon as he non,as
Alongside. Then an officer of the shin eoes
ABOARD the buulboat and makes an EXAM
i IN h2 OF the stock to see that no liquor
IS being smuggled into the sailors noses
sfon To be absolutely sure of This tba
o t must be Well up in the tricks of the
trade. All sorts Of ingenious expedients
e aon usvlsed by the bumboat proprietors, in
GUilusion with the ever ready seamen'
hlsky and other spirits are brought
ABOARD IN the most unexpected WAYS and
the success of a scheme must depend chief
iobs seUi us novelty The large claws of
IoDsters carefully scooped out and filled IN
Mion Iquor nave served to convey MANY a
drink aboard, and they hold more Than
r mouio De generally supposed. Innocent ap
gearing strings of sausages have also been
discovered on Investigation to he not go
saSes at all, but the empty cases of them
iilled with whisky. Even loaves of bread
nave concealed in their centers little pouch
es OF the greatly priced liquid, and thee
are numbers of other devices showing an
admirable gift of invention on the part of
inc pumboat people.
MANY OF the tricks are discovered only
after tne sailors have given repeated and
uhHllstakable proofs of having been well
supplied with liquor. Then the officers
cuusei their brains to find out by what
means the stuff could have been obtained
ana hnaliy suspect some article of the bum
boat stock.
BESIDES examining the goods. the officer
VINO boards the bumboat also looks over
the schedule of prices and decides whether
or not they are exorbftant. This is to pro-
tect the seamen, who are proverhiaIIv M
thatcn for the traders at a bargain, from
peinS SWlndled by eXtortiOnate prices DC
easiohaly, OF course, the boats bring odd |
wares, for which no prices can well he |
scheduled, but the staple articles of their |
STOCK, such as fresh fruits vegetables ana
sWeetmeats are all valued at certain rates |
The officers themselves very seldom make
any purchases, unless in an emergency thew
happen TO be in need of some article for |
their own table. Ava
ihere is probably not a port at which |
shipS ever touch where the business of |
DuiiipoatIns does not exist. In China it is |
especially active, as we'll as at the yarious
ports of Indo-China and British India. The |
Dumpoatmen of Alexandria, Egypt are said
70 De the LATEST of their profession Too
lnuoient 10 make an effort to get alongside
d SNIP they sail aimlessly up and down
among vessels in the harbor, crying mo-
inotohousiy, "Ebryting! ebrytingr' This is
+hejr 10 describe the extensiveness of
tneir wares, but 1t is deceptive for thew |
usually nave next to nothing to sell. Some
umes they rouse themselves lust before a |
snip is about to depart, and come alongside |
oner1n6 pigeons and other birds and ami,
mas, which the sailors often buy for nets.
III Iar-dWay Madagascar the natives are en- |
thusiastic bumboat traders and frequently |
in i