Pueblo chieftain., 1921-05-04
ROMANCE OF THE STOWAWAY

from desperate criminals TO lmperur-
ious. but respectable Professional men.
but thsy are mostly unskiIled worker
Searching for them Is like hunting for
the provcrbial needle in the haysta,s-
They are concealed in the most un-
expected placcs-in the ships .oal bins.
in its lockers. behind secret panels. tn
boxes tabled chemicals" and "oliycs'
and even In the ships yest llator flucs.
During tho typhus scare recently a
vessel was examined from top to bot
tom and nearly taken apart. according
to an immigration official. in order 10
find any passenger who might pos
sibly have avoided an examination.
Then the announcement that the
ships interior was to be Eassed WAS
rneSsphoued about tho decks Only
then did II husky stowavRys creep out
from hiding. preferrinE detection 10
death. In som" cases. tho, The ships
authorities have not been so conFid-
crate in announcing current events,
and stoVaUsys have been fatally
sasscd In their hiding places.
How the Ring Work.
From the little that has been learned
concerning the stowswAy ring. IL
seems probable that they have con-
fodcrates on nearly every ship lcav-
ing a south European port. as well as
on many leaving north European
ports In some instances tho stogauay
has been required TO bring hts own
tood, but usually this Is supplied to
MIN whlle on board II discovered by
those not in the rings service. he is
Immediately taken before the captain
who decides his fate. Sometimes the
treatment is extremely severe He NAV
pc placed in pen and given merely
bread and water. or he NAV br
chained uncomfortahly to "A post but
IN most cases he Is apt to be put to
work. Sometimes SO many HtowavaN.
are found on one ship that the captain
puts them under lock and key wiso
precaution since IL has been discovered
thst many OF them arc desperate
criminals who have been encouraEcA
py the police authorities TO leave
various parts Of Europe. on. captains
keeps himself in excellent phyxirsI
We with every stowsyaw brought into
ms ofico. As result very fcw
his ship.
Occasionally. storaway gets
aboard without the aid Of thc rf,- -
the crew or anybody else deneB5Irs.
only on his own ingenuity 20 see him
thru ono such was young F,uriisT
lad Of Is, who had round. chcrubIr
tacc and wore good clothes. In choos-
~ Its quarters no selected the most
comfortable ones no could nnd-naDe-
~, tho soft rug beneath The cant1It,'s
n"d' whero he got along very nicely
guFlns tho entire trip. In tho dayfirpp
nc moved feariessly about the dcrz
anu Shatted pleasantly with tho other
passengers. During the FIRST day ho
appeared in tho dining room and Nag
assiEncd 10 a table as politely a. II no
had paid hts passage money. Not ur-
w the snip reached this side and tho
passenger list was checked was fha
young stowaway detected. and fbsr,
80 agreeable had hc rn5de himself
that the Passengers chipped in and
pIad Tor his passage across
women sto"awHys arc much moro
numerous than ono would suppose.
Ihcy come boldly across in ali tho
usual hidinS places. occasionally dis
sllsed as men but generally in their
own clothes. During the war women
SIMPLY couldn't he kept off the troop
ships. two OF them oven stosine SUI
St,ssIu,iy S,,y away on battle cruiser.
OF freightcr which put into a south
crn port with moro than 20 women
stovawsys on hoard
heretofore. the treatment Of stow
n,NaNs on this side has been rather
lenieni. They did not have r-oat
deal OF difficulty in snuEslirr thrir
way thru, and N caught. kind friends
arc apt to como to their rescue or tho
authorltieS were disposed to give them
eserg opportunity tn make good The
TO ttoWaWay can be landed at an
american port who docs not possess
an authentic passport. has nut a de-
c,dod crimp in the stowaway traffic.
ohips arc making n careful search for
unknown passengers before leaving
port on the other side, as the carving
OF stoNaways back and forth Ia not 1
romuneratNe occupation. Ellis Island
authorities already notice n falling Off
N the stowaway business. and n is
lnousht mat tho next month or SO