The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-07-21
PORTS FLOODED
WITH STOWAWAYS
Serious Problem for immigration
and Customs Officials
MANY WOMEN AMONG THEM

0USotHAklVOAJ 0SoWAwAy nu0 SPS' -
| ing In al the Chief Ports Of Europe
and Collecting BIC Profits on ito
Promise to Ship Immigrants in Hid
ing TO the United States coneeaIed
In Most Unexpected Places-New
Ruling Stops Traffic.
immigration and customs authors.
ties in New York are contending with
an unprecedented influx Of stowaways
from Europe. Since the war large
part of Europe seems bent on coming
to this country, whether possessed
of the necessary passage money or
not, and as might be expected an oblig-
ing organization has grown up to help
them do it, writes Frederic ]. Haskin
In the Chicago News. An information
al stowaway ring--a sort of Stowa-
way Limited-nOw is operating In all
Of the chief ports Of Europe, collecting
big profits on its promise to ship i'm
migrants in hiding to America. The
difficulties Of landing at Ellis island
do not concern these professional hid
ers. They merely put the trusting
one on board in charge Of one Of their
sailor accomplices, and collect their
fee. Some Of the sailors, Of course,
work alone, but In such risky business
It Is much safer to work with the ring.
Before the war the cost Of steerage
transportation across the Atlantic was
from $25 to $40. Today it ranges any.
where from 500 to S160, q prohibitive
price to many would-be immigrants,
anxious to escape the awful poverty
and after-war depression of Europe.
Such disheartened peasants are, easy
prey for the stowaway gang. "You
can be hidden on board ship and sup
piled with food and water and it will
cost you only $50" they are told.
And Of course they grasp at the OPP
portunity.
Hence during the last year stowa-
ways have been coming in droves,
sometimes as many as a dozen carried
in the hold Of one ship. They repre-
sent all types and conditions Of man
kind, from desperate criminals to i'm.
pecunious but respectable professional
men, but they are mostly unskilled
workers. Searching for them is like
hunting for the proverbial needle in
the haystack. They, are concealed in
the most unexpected places-in the
ships coal bins, in its lockers. behind
secret panels, in boxes labeled ''chemi-
GALS. and OLIVES" and even in the
ships ventilator fues.
During the typhus scare recently q
vessel was examined from top to bot
tom and nearly taken apart according
to an immigration Official, In order to
find any passenger who might pos
sibly have avoided an examination.
Then the announcement that the ships
interior was to be gassed was mega
phoned about the decks. Only then
did eleven husky stowaways creep out
from hiding, preferring detection
to death. In some cases though the
+ ships authorities have not been SO
considerable in announcing current
events, and stowaways have been
fatally gassed in their hiding places.
How the Ring Works.
From the little that has been
learned regarding the stowaway ring,
1t seems probable they have confed-
crates on nearly every ship leaving
. soulful European port, as well as on
many leaving north European ports.
In some instances the stowaway has
been required to bring his own food
but usually this is supplied to him
while on board. II found by those not
in the rings service he is Immediately
taken before the captain, WHO decides
his fate. Sometimes the treatment IL
extremely severe. He may be placed
in q pen and given only bread and
water, or he may be chained uncom-
fortably to a post, but in most cases
he is apt to be put to work. Some
times SO many stowaways are found
on the ship that the captain puts them
under lock and key-a wise precaution
since it has been found that many of
them are desperate criminals who
have been encouraged by the police
authorities to- leave various parts of
Europe. One captain keeps himself
in excellent physical trim by staging
an energetic fist battle with every
stowaway brought into his Office. AS
q result very few stowaways have ap-
peared recently on his ship.
Occasionally stOwaway gets
aboard without the aid Of the ring
or the crew or anybody else, depend
ing only on his own ingenuity to see
him through. One such was an Eng
lish lad OF fifteen, who had a round.
cherubic face and wore good clothes.
In choosing his quarters he selected
the most comfortable ones he could
find namely, the soft rug beneath
the captains bed. where he got along
Very nicely during the entire trip. In
the daytime he moved fearlessly
about the deck and chatted pleasant
" with the other passengers. Dur
[ ing the first day he had appeared in
49, dlvi,r<p e<>ovn on6 Woo ocsi onnd fn