Newport daily independent., 1904-09-07
SHANGHAIING OYSTERMEN.
Tricks by Which Sailors Tor tho Dredges on Chesapeake Bay
 Are Obtained.

Are Obtained.
 This is the time of the year when tales of the shanghaiing of men for the oyster dredging vessels on the Chesapeake bay reach the ears of the Baltimore police. Formerly the shang- haiing was done with violence. Now it is a kind of confidence game. says a recent account from Baltimore.
 "This is the way it is done." said Police Captain League. "A runner for one of the shipping firms strolls along the water front and finally sees man who seems to be looking for employ ment. He approaches him in a tact full manner and inquiries if he wants to make little money. The answer is generally yes spoken about as quick ly as man can get the words out or his mouth.
 We'll says the shipping agents runner, becoming confidential, I know of way we can turn a couple of dol- lars. Pm looking for men to ship to the oyster beds. We'll get two dollars for each man, a dollar for me and a dollar for you, if you'll help me. Ali we have to do is to find man who's looking for work, take him down to the office and get him shipped aboard the vessel. Then we go back to shore and collect the money"
 Just about this time along comes the runners confederate, sauntering around the wharves with the manner of an idle man. The ruuner calls the attention of the stranger to the second actor and intimates that he is possibly candidate for berth on an oyster dredger.
 Together the runner and the man he has picked up approach the confed- crate. After little conversation th| proposition Is made and the confed- crate accepts it. The trio have several rounds of drinks, paid for by the run ner, and then they go to the shipping office.
 "There the prospective victim Is told that he must sign for the man he has shipped. He does so. If he cannot read or write he makes his mark on the agreement He is told that sec ond paper must be signed aboard the oyster boat.
 "Then the runner and the man who is really the victim. but who thinks he has ensnared another man, are rowed out to the oyster dredger. After they get aboard the victim is decoyed into the cabin by the captain, the runner fnHp tn boat and row ashore, and after they are once away the real victim is told that he has shipped for certain period.
 "If he kicks, as he always does, he is shown the shipping agreement, which he has signed or marked under the impression that he signed for an- other man. When man gets shang- hailed in such manner he Is not en- titled to sympathy, and as ruls doesn't get any more than Is coming to him.
 Frequently men are decoyed upon oyster vessels by being told that they are wanted for one trip down the bay and are promised large wages After they get down on the oyster beds they are tran9ferred from one vessel to an other, and the trip, instead of lasting ten days or two weeks, continues until the close of the season.
 "The work Is, of course, hard in th1 winter time: but, then, it is not SC hard or so dangerous as sailors life aboard a coasting vessel at the same season of the year. For man in good physical condition, oyster dredging is not terrible labor.
 Of course, there are brutal captains unfit food and filthy sleeping quarters on many boats, but there are also many boats on which entirely different conditions prevail"
 Tns Strenuous Mdusatfon.
 The women of Kansas have wan their campaign for reform in ths schools. the principal feature Of which was that courtship may be carried on in school hours. The classes in higher education in that state hereafter. sayl tho Philadelphia Inquirer, will bs sA- deS the direction os Prnf CuptA