Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1900-08-23
THE OCEAN PEDDLER.
IN coNTRABAnD GOODS he FINDS
GREATEST PROFITS.

\ A ah1 80
poses OF His Cargo.
The man with a pack on his back,
trudging from VILLAGE to village and of
fering for sale at cottage and farm
house a miscellaneous collection OF
wares, has his counterpart in the ocean
peddler, ranging in size from a schoon-
er trading among the islands Of the
Pacific to a steamer of 1000 to 2,O00
tons burden.
The ocean peddler starts out from
Hamburg or San Francisco, the chief
home ports of the trade, with a definite
object In view. Sailing from the for
mer city the course is generally laid
either to the coast Of Africa or South
America, having In the hold a varied
assortment OF goods likely to be mar
ketable IN the regions Sisited-cotton
fabrics, uinEets, arms, Ammunition;
Eqhors and all$sparS room dlled w
with coal.
AS the targest pgpfits.QTe often de-
lived from tfA sale @of eontraband
goods. sucif Us munitions Of war to In
sui &Ehb bDklAfSs anu az hNLtNAAOh ny
regular authorities would lead to con.
f~iscation. several thousand rounds Of
cartridges are probably done up in in
nocent looking cases stamped Canned
Beef" and a few stands Of discarded
German army rifles in packages label
ed GLASS, With Care"
Tho captain Of such a vessel must
nnCcapc nat opIy ahiiify ms a ~ nrsrafo.
but an expert knowledge of the re-
quirements Of his trade In addition to
a plausible tongue wherewith to barter
and win over the good win Of an i'll
disposed official. If he does not own
an interest In the ship, 1t is generally
required that he shall In her cargo.
Trudging along over the ocean at a
seven or eight knot gait, saving his
coal as much as possible, the peddler
opens his trade by casting anchor in,
say, a South or Central American port,
when, having squared the comman-
dant, he invites merchants and others
on board to inspect his stock. Duty,
of course, has to be paid by the pur-
chaser, but In certain cases that diff
GuAty ~ OfCLNOlhC ~ Tic NlSllUE
TO the ship going ashore swollen out
perhaps to three times his normal size
by as many new suits of clothing.
The greatest good fortune that can
fall in the way of an ocean peddler is
for an American or British man-of-war
to put into some out Of the way port In
which he is lying, short of coal. Then
frrr, hfu N ,n CtNnI. - c1ll. So.
hundred tons at as hard a bargain as
the necessity of the purchaser permits
him 10 drive.
On the Central American coast the
peddler usually times his visit at about
the opening of the coffee s~eason-that
is, early In the new year-so that when
he has sold out his wares he is able to
load up, almost TO the water line, with
the principal export Of the country.
That the ocean peddling trade is not
without its dangers is illustrated by a
story told by a mate of one of those
vessels. In order to preserve his re-
spectacle character the contraband
goods are sometimes stored in places
likely to escape the vigilant eye of the
customs officer, and In the case in ques-
tion the mates bunk was chosen as
the safest repository for certain pack
ages Of dynamite consigned to the lead
ers of a N~icaraguan revolution.
All went well until the night before
the ship was due to arrive at her desti-
nation, when a thunderstorm occurred,
the lightning playing abon. the masts
in an alarming manner. The mate
confessed that the idea of turning in
upon a bed OF dynamite under such
circumstances was not conducive to
peaceful repose even to one accustom-
ed to sleep through all manne of dan
gers, but with the reflection that il a
fash found its way to his bunk he
would not be likely to be made aware
of the fact he s~lumbered serenely
through his watch below and next day
delivered the canned tomatoes safely
to the consignee.
The ocean peddling trade on the Pa
clfc has been shorn Of much Of its
profit since the interisland passenger
traffic in natives, who too often were
carried as passengers, much against
their will, to dive for pearls on the
great Australian bank, has been eff
fectually suppressed. Still q consider
able trade Is carried on In small ar
tlcles OF hardware. old clothes, person
al trinkets and an occasional ease OF
dry goods" which, IL seized. would
turn out to be remarkably wet.-New