Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-24
oyEERMEW At NoRI

good work over on the eastern shore or
Maryland, where he would receive 81 day
cutting corn The lad was delighted with
the offer and the "crimp' sealed the bar
gain by giving him a pint Of whisky, for
which 80 cents was later taken out Of his
meager wages Not wishing to appear I'M
gra teful Horre took the bottle but after
the man had gone, threw 1t into the middle
of the street.
Escaped to Death.
To reach the promised land OF corn. tho
lad was instructed to take a steamer at a
certain wharf. He went aboard, and the
next morning at 1 o'clock was landed at
a point thirty miles from Cambridge, Md.
AS he and his fellow conscrpts stepped
out upon a great pier they were met by
three men who ordered them aboard a
batteau. He soon CLEANED from the man.
ner of these men that he had been kid
mapped. Instead of being landed upon the
sunny eastern shore, he was Kept out In the
bay until winter. He had to work aboard
the il-smelling. Shiny batteau even when
the ice was frozen six inches deep in her
bottom. He and his comrades, all Kid
mapped in the same way, suffered terrible
privations, the captain and his three burly
sons standing ready to strike them down
with shovels iron bars whenever they
tagged. An Italian, among this shang-
haied crew, was struck down and famed so
badly that the captain, begrudging him his
rations until he might get better, put him
ashore. One night the lad heard splash
and Shrek for help from neghboring
soop and he and several of his COM
rades prepared to lend a saving hand to the
unfortunate. But their captain and his
sons drove the would-be rescuers back,
then stood calmly by and watched the
man. drown 1t was then realized by the
lad and his fellow-slaves that the victim
had been in their own plight, and had tried
to escape.
months at the end of which time his mas
ter learned that the federal authorities
were on his scent. The old man then put
young Horre ashore on an island, whence ne
finally made his way, by boat. back to sal
timore After landing in that city he was
attacked on Light street by three "crimps,
who attempted to kidnap him the second
time. But fighting these desperadoes off,
and managing to eIude them in the street.
he at length found his way home to Phila-
delphia.
Pirates as we'll as kidnapers are found
among these men of the Chesapeake fish
ing fleets. Since the states have allowed
individuals and corporations to stake on
their claims in the oyster fields these free
hooters, resenting what they consider to be
unfair monopoly, have from time to time
raided the beds. Their record OF murder
and plumber became such that Maryland
and Virginia now have to maintain little
navies of police boats, protecting the legiti-
mate dredgers. Last year one of these
pirates was arrested for raiding oyster
beds In Tanger Sound, where he and some
more of his stripe had been defying the law
for a long space of time. When he was
brought to trial in November, at Crisfeld,
Md, a mob of several hundred of his fellow
freebooters thronged the court When JUS
tice G. w. Kennedy pronounced the pris-
oner guilty the mob made a rush. captur-
ed the magistrate and freed the culprit
After being threatened by the desperadoes
for an hour the magistrate revoked his
verdict The prisoner and his friends there
upon paraded the streets in triumph the
mob decreeing that there should be no more
oyster planting by the claimants OF the
raided grounds. -
JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS.