Evening star., 1925-05-08
RUM AGENTS USING
DEADLY SABOTAGE
TOF|CHT BLOCKADE
One Man Killed by Blast,
and Ships Damaged in
Counter Attack.
24-HOUR WATCH PLACED
ON ALL DOCKED BOATS
All Visitors Are Barred-One
Boatswain kidnapped, But Re-
leased Without Harm.
There's real war on rum row.

Only incessant vigilance and steel
tacketed ammunition can protect the
threatened lives of men in the Coast
Guard and keep their ships from being
scuttled at midnight. or secretly dam
aged by the bootleGger enemy, who
are using ground glass. machine steel
snd chains in their endeavors at sabot-
age.
This was revealed today when il be-
came known that one boatswain es
capped from kidnapers only when he
proved to be the wrong man." and
that several of the Coast Guards dry
fiotilla, incluGing the destroyer Jew
EFT, one of tie largest ships taken over
from the Navy, had been seriously
damaged by clever tricksters who
slipped by the guard.
24-hour Guard Supplied
Damage to the Jewett, which has
laid her up in a Shipyeard for repairs
costing thousands of dollars, was one
of the causes for a new order that all
Coast Guard boats in the rum war
shall be watched by an armed sentinel.
night and day, when tied to dock.
A small piece of machinist's steel
not much larger than the last joint OF
thumb was the agent used by the
Vandals who in some unknown fashion
got across to the steam turbine of the
Jewett.
Only the cleverest of machinsts
thoroughly familiar with the operation
OF a Steam turbine on such a destroy
er as the Jewet could have possessed
the knowledge to do the damage
which resulted, according to officials
here.
Expert Work Seen.
Thorough investigation of the acCi-
|Ient, which crippled the Jewett at sea.
has convinced the authorities that the
artist" who turned the trick must
have inserted the small piece of hard
est steel in particular splaceeqf the
steam turbine, where it would remain
in safety until the ship got to sea
and began rocking in the waves and
putting on high steam pressure.
For it happened that the Jewett.
shortly after she put out IS one of
the finest and largest ships in the
Government new dry armada, turn
ed up a terrible grinding noise in he"
turbine. She became almost COM
pletely disabled, limped back to port
and was taken 500 miles away to an
other shipyard far from the place
where she had been reconditioned.
This was in order not to give traces
TO those who had damaged her that
their plot had succeeded. She was
secretly overhauled and it was found
that much of the turbine had been
reduced to powder by the piece of
flying machine steel.
Blasts Occur Frequently.
Explosions have occurred with such
frequency on board Coast Guard ships
that officials here have ceased attrb-
uting them to accident, and have laid
down the tightest regulations concern
ing the admission of any strangers on
board Casual visitors with buckets
of oysters, or fish, who dropped in for
ostensibly friendly visits, no longer
are permitted access to the Coast
Guard fleet.
In an explosion on a patrol boat
within the past few days two men
were blown entirely overheard. One
of them died in a hospital and the
other is a permanent cripple.
Ship Is Scuttled.
One ship tied to a dock on the At
lantic coast was scuttled at midnight
recently. when some clever person
evidently in the employ of the rum
smugglerS bored holes in her hull
below the water line. Other attempts
similar to this have been made, but
only one ship so far has been sunk.
Patrol boats have been rammed by
other boats suddenly backing water
and crashing into them.
Ground glass was found in the bear
ings of one of the finest motors in the
Government dry feet recently The
glass had ruined the bearings.
Chains have been used to break off
propeller blades. The chains have
been wrapped about the propellors in
such fashion that when the powerful
engines have been started the damage
resulted.
Threats on Increase.
Threats against the lives of Coast
Guard officers have been increasing
within the past few weeks and the
kidnapping of Boatswain O. Pearson,
who has been attached to the Coast
Guard section base at Atlantic city,
revealed to what further lengths the
enemies Of the Government have de-
termined to go, according to officials
here.
Pearson was seized, bound and
gagged. and taken to the outskirts
of the city, when his assailants, re-
moving the gag, and taking a good
look at him, are reported to haXe eX-
claimed in disgust, We've got the
wrong man." and let him so. What
fate had been in store for the right
man" no official would venture to
predict.
Starvation Campaign Pushed.
The campaign of starvation against
the rum fleet off New York and New
Jersey continued today with una abated
persistence, with the Coast Guard
fleet keeping constant watch, fueled,
fed and watered by supply boats in
communication with shore.
No prediction was forthcoming
here as to the eventual success of
the seige, officials indicating that the
war would be fought to a finish, with
all the agencies at command.
SUPPLY Is FAILING.