The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1907-12-14

se0~~
ton at Seattle.
Under RlarinR headline extend
ing entirely across it's first page, and
another ''scare head" underneath. the
Bellingham American ReveiIle last
Sunday reported. in very sensation
al manner, the seizure of q Japanese
fishing sloop ''sheltered in q little in-
let among the islands. The report
er, in his zeal to furnish "copy" and
weave story likely to interest the
paper's readers on the peaceful Sab
bath day, drew 80 literally upon his
Imagination for, his facts as to al
most entirely obscure the skeleton of
truth about which he spun the fabric
of his words. The imaginative scribe
reported that 'for several days the
officers bad been watching the vessel
ralded in the hope of catching the
crew in thu act of smuggling;'' and
that "the master of the vessel, who
is believed also to be Japanese, was
not on board,' and also that "ln ad-
ditioD to the japanese taken, evidence
was found on board the vessel that
proves the owners have been dong q
profitable smuggling business within
the last few weeks. - And there we're
other Embellishments to the article,
such as the statement that there we're
several immigration men on the Guard
when the seizure was made. and the
further statement that the revenue
cutters have been operated day and
night" of late in the efforts made to
stop smuggling and illegal immigra-
tion.
The facts are that the sloop, equip
ped with an auxiliary gasoline engine,
came into the harbor here Friday
morning and tied up right alongside
the Guard. which was lying in her
regular "berth' at the Bugge wharf.
She was boarded by the officer in
charge of the Guard, who reported to
the Deputy Collector of Customs that
she was without any of the equipment
which "vessels propelled in whole or
in part by steam, or some substitute
for steam. are required by law to
carry. Having no discretion in the
matter the deputy collector reported
the facts to the collector of the dis
trict, at Port Townsend. who imposed
the fines fixed by law for failure to
comply with the equipment require
n ents.
The owner of the boat is q Japan
ese fisherman known as "Joe Mura
kami," who for some years has lived
on Barnes island. one OF the two
small. unsurveyed islands between
Orcas and Lummi. He was accom-
panied by three of his countrymen,
one of whom has been in this country
and county tor many years. The i'm
migration inspector at Bellingham was
advised of the presence of the men
here and came over Saturday to ex-
anime them. believing that one or
more of them had entered the country
illegally. With that phase Of the
matter customs officers have nothing
to do, the immigration service being
now distinct from the customs and
under the jurisdiction of the depart
ment of commerce and labor. The IN
spector was soon convinced of the
right Of all but one of the men to be
in hero. He believes one to have en-
tered the country clandestinely and
he has taken him. and one other, found
on Barnes island. to the detention
station at Seattle. to await there the
determination of their cases.
Murakami pleaded ignorance of the
law as to the equipment of his boat
and some of his friends in Belling-
ham engaged an attorney to assist him,
through whom he has made appHca-
tion for remission of the fines inn
posed.