The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-10-30
FISHERMEN MAKE
ENORMOUS PROFITS,
SAYS SAMPAN MAN
Captain Holds Cargo Under
Matches Until Shortage Exists,
Then Nets Big Amount
ARTIFICIAL SCARCITY
CREATED IS ASSERTION
Japanese Says Captain and Own
er Act on Advice Of Higher-ups
Who Keep Watch on Market

WIN NCCp WdlCIl vi WdTktl
There are Japanese fishermen who
make far more than the. report com
| piled for the food commission q few
days ago would lead one TO believe,
and II may cause closer investigation
when II is learned that sampan en-
tered this port Saturday morning,
created an artificial scarcity Of fish by
battening down the matches and await.
ing higher prices, unloaded the re-
mainder of the catch yesterday morn
! ing and put to sea with each mem
Der Of the crew of four enriched to the
amount of $ll5.44, which would be at
the rate of approximately $2S.s6 for
each day of the four the craft was out.
This assertion Is based upon state
ment Of tho captain of sampan No. 5S,
who, in answer to question as to
what he realized from the cargo
brought in Saturday morning, said that
IL was $3.50. src1a
Fish Company Controls
The sampan, which is a small forty
three foot vessel, belongs to a Japanese
by the name of Hilamatsu, one of hui
supplying the local market. Every
fish caught by vessels owned by this
hui must pass through the hands of the
Pacific Fish Company before it can be
placed on the market for local con-
sumption. No. SO tied up at the dis,
charging wharf near Pier Is at six
clock Saturday morning, and after
| taking ten baskets of the deep-sea red
| fish to the market closed the matches
| and moved TO Pier is where she tied
up, according to a fisherman S state
ment. t-.H.
The Japanese fisherman telling the
| story said that more fish are sold on
Saturday than any other day of the
week, for, while the market is open on
Sunday mornings, there are those who
lay in supply TO last over Sunday,
! Sunday is also great luau day, he
said, and the demand on Saturday for
various deep-sea fish is always brisk.
Meet Expected Shortage
"After tying up at Pier 49, con
| tinued the japanese, 1.-THE crew left the
vessel and went home. Knowing a
shortage in choice fish existed shortly
after the early buying commenced this
morning, they returned to the discharg
ing wharf where they unloaded the re-
maindcr of their cargo.
1.-THE captain said he received $3.50
! for his catch, and ! knew it was in the
neighborhood of $500, for | was told SO
bv one of the fishermen about noon
Accepting the captain 3 figures as true
we can easily figure out the crew 8 por'
ton of the amount received.
Regardless of what the Pacific
Fish Company's share is, for that is
more or less Of a secret, / will show
YOU what an enormous profit is being
made by some one. And l might re-
mark that the alleged fish trust is get
ting its share.
Higher Ups Keep Watch
1.-THE japanese captain and owner
merely act through the advice of the
higher-ups who keep an ever watchful
eve on the market and create an arti'
fetal scarcity of fish whenever the
market shows the slightest tendency
of being OVERLOADED. In this case, as
in many others, the fishermen believe
that NJ Yumashiro and Charles Chill
lingwOrth are in absolute control OF
the situation.
"a craft of this size seldom is equip
ped with more than a twenty horse
power engine which, in four-day
cruise. could not use more than $50
gallons Of distilate. The price asked
by the Pacific Fish Company is said
to be twelve and One.half cents a gal
Ion. They buy from the fish company
direct, so the price paid by them Is
unknown. Moreover, do not lose sight
of the fact that NJ. Yamashiro is both
manager of the fish market and the
Pacific Fish Company, and Charles
ChillingM Orth is strong factor in
both. -
Figures Are Given
The fisherman then began to quote
figures in substantiat0n Of his claim
that some one was making excessive
profits from the sale of fish. He omit
ted nothing in his estimate of cost OF
operation and he said the figures are al
cOnservative-if anything littl'
high. His estimate of the cost of oper
ating a vessel of this size, carrying
four men and on Il four.day cruise
follows:
Distillate OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. $50
Ice ..''............1".. l2.O
DAT '.''''''''.I. '......'..' 2o.O
w marriage ............... 1.O
Interest on $1,000 investment. E. IS
Depreciation and repairs. ... so
Found Observation-Disclosures, 40
Total expense for four days. = 6S.2