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

enterprise are yclept shipping agents.
While the sun shines you will see them,
sleek and well groomed, ensconsed in their
luxurious offices, as snug and aristocratic
as your banker or your broker. When the
sun is down they are at their clubs, or the
theater or in their comfortable homes, for
their work has then ceased. The purely
practical phase of their industry has been
delegated to men more brave and bold. In
den and dive and brothel these deputies ply
their trade, for from such black and hidden
places the labored breathing of men drug
ged is not apt to be overheard in the
streets And, now and then, on a bleak
winter night. a muff1ed cry for help issues
out of some dark alley when one Of these
hunters of men has applied his blackjack
or sand bag to an unsuSpecting Straggler,
cropping homeward in the wee, small hours.
In the slums of Baltimore and Philadel-
phia, especially, this traffic fiourishes dur
ing the cold months. Not always Is violence
necessary at the outset. Roseate pictures
of light work at high wages and a cash
advance on the latter often suffice to entice
the unsophisticated victim. Down under
the black dock pilngs turks boat aboard
which these "crimps lure or boldly carry
their victims. The anchor is weighed and
the vessels nose is turned to the ship
ping agents rendezvous. For each human
being here collected he receives his COM
mission. 1t is therefore to his interest that
the cargo be full, whether gathered by fair
means or by foul. From the rendezvous the
caught slaves are distributed, where best
needed, by batteaus. Once aboard the
dredgers selected as their final destination
touching a foot to shore before the winter
Is over. 800.
No Liberty for Months.
They will be kept anchored, day and
night, out in the broad waters. The great
fleet of oyster pungies which carries the
tons of mollusks from the dredgers to mar
ket will be manned only by men contented
with their lot In this odorous business The
less happy slaves on the dredgers will be
kept cowed by the cooked pistol in the
hand of their captain. So brutal will be
their discipline that few will survive with
enough spirit to admit their plight when
the revenue cutter. in the course of its
cruise of investigation, overhauls their
craft.
Some Recent Murders.
The Chesapeake shanghaiers had three
murders to their credit last season. The
victims were Thomas Cavanaugh, William
Clark and James McCabe, all lured from
Philadelphia. The two last named were
shipped from the Quaker city along with
800 other men gathered by the representa-
tives of n Baltimore firm of shipping agents
This representative admitted that he re-
ceived 5000 for the roundup.
The case of McCabe was particularly pit
iful His widow. hearing that he had been
the Chesapeake, took her small savings and
hurried to Baltimore, where she made a
futile quest for aid. Then she went to
Deals Island and gave the last few dollars
she had in the world to some men, who dug
up her husbands body for her. When the
corpse was disinterred she found the back of
the head crushed In, three ribs broken and
a number Of terrible wounds covering the
body generally. This CHASTITY discovery
verified the story she had received from one
of her husbands shipmates describing the
fatal beating which he had received from
an overseer. Not having any money left
with which to remove the remains, the