The Press., 1900-05-03
THE OCEAN PEDDLER.
IN CONTRABAND GOODS HE FINDS
GREATEST PROFITS.

Methods of Trading Vessels That Go
to Many Dat of the Way Corners of
the World-How the Captain Dis
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-
err trading among the islands Of the
Pacific to q steamer of 1000 to 1000
tons burden.
The ocean peddler starts out from
Hamburg or San Francisco, the chief
home ports of the trade, with 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 visired-cotton
| fabrics, trinkets, arms, ammunition,
| liquors and all spare room filed up
with coal.
AS the largest profits are often de-
| rived from the sale of contraband
goods, such as munitions of war TO in
| surgent bodies, and as detection by
regular authorities would lead to con-
| fiscation, several thousand rounds of
cartridges are probably done up in in
| nocent looking cases stamped Canned
| Beef" and few stands of discarded
German army rifles in packages label
ed "Glass, With Care"
! The captain of such vessel must
| possess not only ability as q navigator,
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 will of an ill
disposed official. If he does not own
an interest in the ship, it 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 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
Guilty is often overcome by the visitor
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 l. ing, short Of coal. Then
from his spare stock he sells a few
hundred tons at as hard bargain as
the necessity of the purchaser permits
him to drive.
On the Central American coast the
peddler usually times his visit at about
the opening of the coffee season-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 it's 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-
ton the mates bunk was chosen as
the safest repository for certain pack
ages Of dynamite consigned to the lead
ers Of a Nicaraguan revolution.
All went we'll until the night before
the ship was due to arrive at her desti-
nation, when a thunderstorm occurred,
the lightning playing about 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 manner of dan
gers, but with the reflection that if a
fash found it's way to his bunk he
would not be likely to be made aware
Of the fact he slumbered serenely
through his watch below and next day
delivered the canned tomatoes" safely
to the consignee.
The ocean peddling trade on the Pa
cific 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 consider
able trade is carried on in small ar
ticles of hardware, old clothes, person
al trinkets and an occasional case of
"dry goods" which, if seized, would
turn out to be remarkably wet.-New
York Sun.