The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1909-03-08
IS AFRAID OF
THE SAMPANS

A British-bOrn American business
man of Honolulu, whose trade is
principally with Japanese, views with
considerable alarm the wholesale
equipment of Japanese sampans with
speedy engines, whoch is now going
on at a rapid rate. lnasmuch as
his concern has contracted for some of
them and has been asked to bid ON
many others, he may be regarded as an
authority when he says that in less
than a year 300 Japanese sampans,
stationed principally at Honolulu, will
have engines of the speediest kind,
costing all the way from $500 to $1,000
apiece.
And do you mean to tell me-" he
inquiries, that the Japanese are spend
ing 100000 on a luxury of this kind,
expecting to make it out of the fish
business of a small city like this? Not
much. They have bigger game in
view. Yes, it may be smuggling in
part. At the present. time absolute
ly no track it kept of these fishing
boats-by the United States or local
authorities. They go out unnoticed by
anybody and return at any and all
times of day or INDEPENDENTLY
night. The authorities presume that
they have fish only and let it go at
that, l happen to know, however, that
| the local market is already flooded with
silk and other Oriental goods and that
prices on such are cheaper than has
ever been heard of before.
stop it? With what? The GUS
toms department has it's hands full
watching the regular shipping that
comes into this port There is no re-
venue vessel here to watch out for
anything, so that smuggling is the
easiest thing in the world This port
/ wide open to just such smuggling as
these sampans might be able to carry
on, not to mention the absolutely I'M
guarded entrances around the island OF
Oahu.
But when l spoke of the swift sam
pans being a serious matter, l had
in mind something more important
than the smuggling of goods. Had
you thought of what these same, in
nocent looking fishing boats could do
in event of a sudden trouble with Jap
an? These same Japanese fishermen
know the coast of Oahu better than any
man or set of men In the Hawaiian
Islands, white or native. They know
every bay, every shoal, every blind
rock, every obscure entrance and every
spot at which landing can be made
And talk about your mines! Why these
same innocent, little japanese fisher
men could and would, in case of an
approaching battle, move every one OF
them in a single night
Then think that Jnere are 300 OF
them and figure how many men they
could land from a hostile fleet. AL
low that they could bring ashore fifty
men apiece, and you can see that
they could land $4,000 men at an OBJ,
scure point on a single night, before
the presence of a fleet a hundred OIL
so miles off would be known here.
Il am not an alarmist, but the pros
pect does not look good to me. Only
few weeks ago we had an order fol
twenty horse power engine for
sampan. When it came the japanese
concluded that it was not fast enough
and wanted one of twice the power
Did he want this additional speed
with additional COST, for the sake
of his fish business?Not much. HI
already had an extremely fast engine
but wanted one that could make hi
little craft fly like the wind. An(
all this for little fishing business!
am not exactly from Missouri, but
would certainly like to be shown
little on a proposition of that sort.
Il pray that trouble may never come
But if it should and this fleet of fish
ing CD sampans succeed in making thu