New-York tribune., 1901-12-03
NAN BOXED UP IN SHIPS HOLD.
LIVED FOR DAYS UNDER FREIGHT IN THE PALA7A-CON
SIGNED AS EXPRESS IN HAMBURG
NEARLY DEAD WHEN TAKEN OUT AND COULDN'T TALK

/ received an intimation that live man had been
| shipped in box the steamer made inquiries
| of the officers but unable to get informa-
| ton The captain admitted that box the
| ship to be looked after, but said ne did not
| know what in the box.
| The matches Of the steamship were opened at
| Z a. yesterday and 'longshoremen began to
| remove the freight, About 3 p. yesterday
Frank Roder, a 'longshoreman, lowered himself
! into the hold through hatch No. t preparatory
| to taking out some bags Of salt. He was max
ing ready tackle when he was startled by hear
! ing the word Water" in the German language,
uttered in hoarse, low tone. almost in a whis-
! per Roder listened a moment thinking the
word might have been uttered close to the hatch
, and on deck and that the echo made it seem 70
come from the interior of the ship. He next
! heard several means, and again the word
Water" was distinguishable after the means.
He called to those above, and Frank Koeber
| the foreman and Adolph Johnansen, a time
/ keeper responded.
While they were lowering themselves through
/ the hatch. Roder, whose eyes had become accus-
/ toned to the dim light in the hold. a man
crawl slowly some sacks toward the hatch
! way. "Wasser," said the mans voice. in an
agonized whisper. Then he fell fainting be-
tween some Of the sacks
! RESCUED FROM THE FREIGHT.
Roder worked himself between the sacks OF
salt and the deck beams until he could reach
the man. The other took hold of his legs and
drew him out. he dragging the man after him.
The first sur;nise that the man had been a
: German dock laborer who had fallen asleep in
I the hold and been imprisoned. The clothing in
dicateG that he was not a laborer Of that class,
and the next surmse he had been stow
/ had ed bad
I ship to do his hiding in. The unconscious man
! was carried to the ships hospital The surgeon.
| DR.. Debe, and the surgeon of the Arizona were
/ called TO attend him. They began treatment at
! once, and administered warm milk and stimu-
/ lants The heart action found very weak,
and the mans general condition of great
! emaciation The stomach appeared to be in a
! very bad condition.
! The a gray suit soiled and thread
/ bare. He had blue eyes, blond nair and slight
mustache. He looked to be about twenty-five
years old. His height was about five feet six
inches. He recovered slightly under treatment
but was unable to speak and it decided to
| send him to st. Marys Hospital in Hoboken
for further treatment. He taken the
hospital about p. m. in an ambulance
NAME PROBABLY JOHN BECK
In a pocket of the mans trousers found
a small sum of money. In another pocket
written u. Beck" One of the sisters at the
hospital placed the paper in front of his face
last evening and asked: rs that your name?"
He nodded feeby in the affirmative. When he
was asked what the y" represented, he whis
pered John"
No attempt was made at the hospital last
evening to get further information from the
man. He took nourishment in small quantities.
and seemed TO rally little DR.. Dissent, the
house physician, said he expected that the man
would live
Late in the afternoon men who were remoV-
ing freight from the hold of the Palatia reached
the box in which Beck had been shipped at
Hamburg. II not taken out OF the hoIo
last night and was not examined with great
care but the marking on the top was notlced
and il said that one end OF the poX was
open, If the man had forced ms way out
In the box the 'Iongshoremen found Mattress
two hats a bottle containing some whlskey
some pieces of bread, a pair OF SHOES ana an
umbrella. ,
trip in performance of some freak bet. but how
he expected to evade the customs oIflcers IS d
matter they do not explain HAD the snip peen
fast one. the trip across could not nave peeh
made with ease comfort in the manner this
man tried. The Palatla is a SLOW snip ana
Ofticials of the steamship line said yesterday
that they were inclined to think that the man
had himself shipped as express freight to save
some of the cost of steerage passage. Much
of the mystery of the case must remain un,
solved they said until the man able to tell
his own story. Apparently, they said, some per-
son in Hamburg who had been concerned in the
shipment became anxious and gave informa ton
which led TO the sending of the cable messages
Mr. Brown. one of the officials of the Ameri-
can Express Company, said yesterday afternoon
that the company had information as to the
shipper of the box and as to the consignee. but
for business reasons the names could not be dis
closed at present. The consgnee of the box, he
said was a reputable business firm of this city
A member of the firm had declared that
knowledge of such a consignment had been con-
yeyed to the firm. and that no such consign-
nent had been expected. The firm, he declared
did not know the person who was said TO have
shipped the box at Hamburg.
1T COVERS SIX STATES.
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