El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-12-27

w JOY riders, speed demons, reck-
/ less steermen, aHd other dis
( respectors of the navigation laws gov
erning the equipment and operation OF
small craft, had better be on the look
out morning, noon and night for Uncle
Sans motor boat cop, the speedy
{ little TarragOn, is on the job with vim,
vigor and vengeance the watchwords
of captain and crew.
The motor boat cop" has a long
beat prOwIing rather than patrOling
the Atlantic coast, including inlets and
bays, from the Potomac river near
Washington to Key West Florida
Stealing swiftly upon offenders OFTEN
in the blackness of dark night, when
they are little thinking Of arrest for
any cause, the Tara gon is becoming a
terror to all small boat owners who
are evading laws.
why don't you blow your whistle"
megaphOned navigating officer Dryden
OF the TarragOn to a passing boat on
the Potomac river not long ago.
whistle be darned," yelled back the
captain Of the offending motor boat
A few minutes later, he discovered
his mistake The Tarragon was along
side him, officer Dryden was aboard
and the captain paid a fine to the
United States government for having
failed to obey the law in regard to
signals
Makes Many Arrests.
Although the TarragOn has been in
time, she has made many arrests. HaV-
ing left Washington recently, she is
now down along the southern Atlantic
coast where she will remain for several
months, watching the fishing fleets
and the motor boats along the Florida
coast, returning north with the fish
in the spring to do duty in Chesapeake
bay and on the Potomac.
So far the TarragOn has been going
light on most Of the culprits whom 1t
hales into its court, as the majority Of
them have been first offenders Now,
however, most of the two hundred
thousand motor boat owners in the
United States know her either by repu-
tation or by having run into her
clutches and they are aware Of the fact
that they are supposed to know and to
obey the laws
Some Of the boats hauled I'd bv the
Tarragon have been charged with fall
ure to observe the provisions of the
law as to the number Of life preservers
they are required to carry. Others have
been lacking in means to extfnguish
burning gasoline. Still others have
been without running lights OF anchor
light at night, or without course in
dicatlng appliances, such as whistle or
bell
The Tarragon had secretly left Wash
ingtOn the other day and had not yet
reached the mouth of the Potomac
" ZEN q case Of "shanghaing" was dis [
covered. A captain OF an oyster boat ,
be abusing his men until he had them
in a state of abject fear. They were
pOWerless to escape.
Officer Dryden arrested the oyster
boat master and turned him over to
the county authorities at Colonial
Beach. They took the man to Baltf-
more, where he was held for the grand
jury on the charge made by one of the
men aboard his boat. The latter !
claimed he had been shanghaied by the !
agents who put him on the oyster boat
He said they got him to sign up while /
under the influence of drink and I
rushed him aboard the boat before he |
was able to realize what he had done.
Has Wireless Equipment.
Just before leaving Washington |
wireless apparatus was added to the /
HarragOn's equipment. So compact is /
the wireless plant on the little boat, {
which needs every inch of available I
space that the sending instrument /
projects only eighteen inches from the /
vail, and the receiving apparatus only I
six inches. It is said to be the finest +
small wireless set on any boat in the I
United States.
The Tarragou has been in service a /
little more than a year During the 1
first u months it covered six thousand. /
five hundred miles in two hundred and /
-Wenty five days, an average of almost ]
thirty miles a day. 1t inspected several /
small vessels, mostly motor
boats, and in the case OF nine hundred
and two of them, found one or more /
violations Of the law. In New York
larbor alone during August and Sep
ember last six thousand and seven I
aw violating boats were found.
At that time the Tarragon was
covering the New England coast as
veil as the south Atlantic waters. Con
sress is expected to provide a new /
loat for northern waters before the /
'eW England season opens next spriRS.