Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1900-05-11
THE OCEAN PEDDLER.
w coNTHAsAND GOODS He FINDS
GREATEST PROFITS.

Methods Of TFading vesaeia THAT co
10 aIany ont of the Way Corners OF
the wOrid-AOw the Captain DisA
DOses Of His Cargo.
The man with q pack on his back,
trudging from village TO village and Of
ferlng for sale at cottage and farm.
house a miscellaneous collection Of
wares, has his counterpart in the ocean
peddleI. ranging In size from a schoon.
er trading among the lslarde OF thu
Pacific to a steamer Of 1000 to 1900
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
ketnble In the regions visited-cotton
fabrics, trinkets, arms, ammunition,
liquors and all spare room filled 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 rs 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" aud q few stands of discarded
German army rides In packages label
ed GLASS. With Care"
The captain of such a vessel must
possess not only ability as a navigator.
but an expert knowledge of the re-
qulrements of his trade in addition to
a plausible tongue wherewlth to barter
and win over the good will Of an Ill
disposed official II be does not own
an interest in the ship. II Is generally
required that he shall In her cargo.
Trudglng along over the ocean at q
seven or eight knot gait, saving his
coal as much as possible. the peddler
opens his trade by casting anchor in,
say. n South or Central American port,
when. having squared the commnn-
dant. he invites merchants and others
OH board 20 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 Gn American or British an-of-war
to pat into some out Of the way port In
which he is lying. short OF coal. Then
from his spare stock he sells a few
hundred tons at as hard a 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 scason-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 peddllng trade ls not
without Its dangers Is illustrated by q
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 Nicaraguan revolution.
All went well until the night before
IN cI dpa IN n To- ~ hnf
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 II d
fash found Its 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 peddllug trade on the Pa
eiflc has been shorn OF much OF Its
profit since the lnterisland 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 ef-
fectually suppressed. Still a 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, II seized, would
turn out 70 be remarkably wet.-New
York Sun