New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-07-17
War Bonus Lost i'm
Boatload of Fish
Seized by Germans
British Ex-Service Men Fail
Ill Business Venture as
Cargo Is Confiscated and
Agents Held as Smugglers

LONDON. June 26 (By MaiD.-The
story of how four ex-service men went
IN motor boat to Germany to seek
their fortune and came back penniless
was told to Daily News special cor
respondent at Yarmouth. The adven-
turers combined their war bonuses
loaded motor boat with a CARGO Of
picked and red herring and set off for
Hamburg, intending to sell the cargo
anc bring back German goods. They
lost the cargo, got no German goods.
but returned in triumph at having
reached Germany.
Ernest Hatch was the business
brains" of the venture. He lives at
st. Nicholas Road, Yarmouth. and is
engaged in the fish business and he
told the story-this new version of the
Golden Fleece.
There was me-" he said, "Bill Hay
lett fish hawker; Charlie Harrod. a
seaman, and Jim Jeremy, another
hawker. We met one night and | put
the scheme up. We engaged a crew
OF one, got the Irrawaddy (the vessels
name), loaded her and started off on
a Friday morning. Charlie was skinner
and | was engineer.
BY Sunday we were in the Elbe and
gave the pilot a shock when we told
hlm where we had come from. But
at Hamburg they could not let us land
without license, and said we should
have to wait for a permit from the
Reichstag, which would take ten weeks
to come.
We had no money to hold out, so
we went to Cuxhaven, where mer-
chant, agreed to pay US "a barrel
for the picked herrings and los. a
land them there, SO we transshipped
the cargo out at sea and came in next
morning for money.
We found the German boats. the
crews, and the merchants all under
arrest as smugglers and the cargo
seized. We waited some days, and
managed to get small stock of oil and
arranged with tug to tow as far as
the Weser.
From there we estimated our fuel
would he just enough to take us
through the mine fields.
hen the tug left US we knew we
had not enough fuel to make England
but decided to chance it. So off we
started on Saturday morning for the
24b-mile trip.
The engines gave out just as we
were IN the middle of the mine fields.
We dritted in calm among them, ex-
pecting to be blown I'D every minute
All day long we wallowed ABOUT with
the mines, but in the evening the wind
changed and we hoisted sail with
fair wind for Yarmouth Roads.
"On Monday night we were among
the sandbanks and judged our position
to be off Lowestoft. but when we
dropped anchor and took soundinps If
turned out that we were off Winterton.
by draining the engine tanks and
putting all the fuel in one engine we
just managed to make Yarmouth Har-
Dor on the Tuesday morning.
I'VE had lived on ships biscuit
potatoes and tea. and arrived home
without money or food = absolutely
busted The German customs have
got our behring's all for the want of
an export license
We got there, though" said Hatch.
with CLEAN in his eve.
While in Germany Hatch met a bar
Der who insisted on shaving him, cut
ting his hair and providing him with a
hot bath in return for the kind treat
ment the German said he had received
while he was prisoner Of war in
Brighton.