Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-03
OCEAN PEDDLERS.
Trading Vessels That Go to Out-Of-
the-Way Corners of the World.
Erom the New York Sun

Trading Vessels That Go to Out-of-
the-Way Corners of the World.
From the New York Sun.
The man with pack on his back, trudg-
ing from village to village and Offering for
sale at cottage and farmhouse a miscel-
laneous collection of wares, has his coul-
terpart in the ocean peddler, ranging in size
from a schooner trading among the islands
of the Pacific to a steamer of one or two
thousand tons burden.
The ocean peddler starts out from Ham
burg or San Francisco the chief home
ports of the trade, with definite object in
view Sailing from the former 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 marketable in the regions visited-cot-
ton fabrics, trinkets, arms, ammunition,
liquors, and all spare room filled up with
coal
As the largest profits are often derived
from the sale of contraband goods. such as
munitions of war, to insurgeDt bodies, and
as detection by regular authorities would
lead to confscation, several Thousand
rounds of cartridges are probably done UP
in fnrocent-looking cases stamped Canned
Beef" and a few stands of discarded Ger
man army rifles in packa ges labeled GLASS.
With Care"
The captain of such a vessel must pos
sess not only ability a navigator. but an
expert knowledge of the requirements of
his trade in addition to a plausible tongue
wherewtth to barter and win over the good
will Of an il-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 a South or Central
American port when. having squared the
commandante he invites merchants and
others on board to inspect his stock Duty,
of course, has to be paid by the purchaser,
but in certain cases that difficulty 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
lying, short of coal. Then from his spare
stock he sells few hundred tons at as
hard bargain as the necessity of the pur-
chaser permits him to drive.
On the Central American coast the ped
der 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 pedding trade is not with
out Its dangers is Illustrated by story told
by mate of one of those vessels. In order
to preserve his respectable character the
contraband goods are sometimes stored in
places likely to escape the vigilant eve of
the customs officer. and, in the case in
question, the mates bunk was chosen as
the safest repository for certain packages
OF dynamite consigned to the leaders of a
Nicaraguan revolution. All went well until
the night before the ship was due to ar
rive at her destination, when a thunder
storm occurred-the lightning playing
about the masts in an alarming manner.
The mate confessed that the idea of turn
ing In upon a bed of dynamite under such
circumstances was not conducive to peace
fui repose, even to one accustomed to sleep
through all manner of dangers but with
the reflection that If flash found its way
to his bunk he would not be likely to be
made aware of the fact he slumbered Sc
reneiy through his watch below and next
day delivered the canned tomatoes" safely
to the consignee.
The ocean-peddling trade on the Pacific
has been shern 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 Sdn a considerable
trade Is carried on in small articles of
hardware, old clothes. personal trinkets
and an occasional case of dry goods"
which, II seized. would turn out to be re-
markedly wet.