The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-09-02
RICH BOOTY on SEAS.
American Goods For Japan and
Russia Worth S1o,5oo,ooo.
0oNTRABAND LIABLE TO SEIZURE

Food Supplies. Medicines. Rifles and
Other Articles Shipped by Amer /
ican Firms Are ON the Way to the
Belligerents In the Far ~East-Great-
er Part For Japan.
America at this moment has upon
the high seas. consigned to Japan, ST.
100000 in goods which. in part or in
whole, are liable to seizure as contra
band of war. Consigned to Russia,
merchants of the United States have
at sea goods of like nature and Of
about half the value Of those en- route
for Japan, says the New York Herald.
Although it is supposed that a COM
siderable business Is done in munitions
Of war, the experience Of the trade
has been SO ample that the lesson Of
secrecy has been well learned. Not
withstanding it is known that the
armies Of several nations have been
equipped with American arms, the ex-
port records of this country do not
show that any arms ever left our ports.
The Russian government has been in
formed that 100 packages of sewing
machines shipped by the steamship
Empress of India from Vancouver on
July 25 are in fact rifles from a Con-
necticut arms factory. A shipment of
| this size, however, is regarded only as
a sample lot, but it has taken a tor
tuous and what would appear to be an
expensive route. Being brought to
| New Haven it was sent in a schooner
to Hartford, whence 1t was rebilled
and sent by rail to Buffalo. 1t was
then reshipped to Duluth by water, re-
billed there to Fargo, rebilled again to
Dominion City, Manitoba, where it
reached the Canadian Pacific railroad.
| It finally was delivered in a warehouse
in Vancouver. There 1t was rebilled
and the packages remarked and put on
board ship for it's actual destination.
The trade on the Pacific is chiefly
with Japan and concerns articles, the
use of which for war purposes scarce
" can be denied. 1t includes grain,
-four, mules, chemicals, machinery,
railway supplies. leather, electric appli-
l duCOS, duO, III SIAdA1 Qu0ASAAASOS ~
arms. The locks and magazines of the
rides went in one ship, the stocks and
barrels in another, and each was billed
as machinery. But they were con-
signed to the same house in Yokohama:
A medical supply house in New
Brunswick is busy night and day I'LL
ing orders for silk and catgut ligatures,
which are packed under a distinctive
label. Another medical supply house
Of Philadelphia, whose preparations
are chiefly compressed in tablets, has
supplied great quantities of it's goods.
They were sent largely to England for
reshipment.
Another firm Of manufacturing chem
lists Of Philadelphia whose preparations
are standard the world over has fur
nished enormous quantities of sulphate
Of quinine. One shipment Of this ar
ticle is 1000 pounds gross. Among the
important items appearing in these in
voices are 374 packages of surgical in
struments worth about 5000 a set,
shipped on the Mesaba July %. Also
300 cases of antiseptic bandages and
100 packages of antiseptic sponges, via
Tilbury docks, the departure port Of
the Peninsular and Oriental ships from
London.
The greatest stores of this class of
goods going to the east issues, how
ever, from a Detroit drug house, which
, has branches in Australia and agencies
in all the east. All the visible supply of
!, camphor in this country has been taken
up for shipment to the east, and much
of 1t is or its way.
In New York city a Broad street
house is intrusted with the confidential
business of the Russian government
. and 1t extends its supervision owe this
!, country and Canada, and through its
many agencies keeps trace Of every
foreign shipment that looks suspicious