Show y D vW f s 4 w if a r 1 e I a Qa b Cp s a 9 4 J n w. t n t By Stanley Rushton HAVE VAVE smuggling riffraff of the seven seas and hijacking parasites of the k drab fleet which rolled at anchor on a vanished Rum Row abandoned the deep e. e to become gunmen of of American harbors and leaders leaders' of motorboat gangsters Recent records of United states harbor barbor bar har- bor police commanders of United States Coast Guard craft and inspectors aboard swift launches of newly created customs water ater o patrol reveal the wharf rat and river pirate once content to glide like shadows from waterfront rookery only when fog cloaked petty pilfering now enlisted in organized bands executing coups under direction of schemers ashore with a greater daring than bandits of Inland cities Daring and resourceful as corsairs of r old and too often well allied politically these thes river rats according to maritime exchange exchange ex- ex change officials organized in motorboat gangs are g gnawing awing at the very life of A American ports committing the crime of pIracy yet escapIng the hangman's noose because they are not a on n the hi hIgh gt seas Any Anyone one of the countless offenses commItted in harbors almost nightly would be punishable by death had they ru been staged twelve miles out But river piracy is a trade calling for rare tr wits and courage and there are very few 9 instances of these harbor gunmen being f convicted even on a lesser count y Harbor pIrates operating in New York stole ir loot last year and as asa a a. result the Police Commissioner recently recommended a new system of waterfront waterfront water water- front surveillance involving the expenditure expendi- expendi tore ture of With this there came announcement that the cc marine division of New York pOlice had been increased from from 90 men to carefully carefully care care- fully pIcked ones Then ted tOd of the 15 Uncle Sam is expending for Coast Guard law dry enforcement a goodly portion is spent In a constant patrol of Atlantic seaboard harbors Added to rat these two forces the Government very r recently contributed additional men t and eIght speedboats for a customs Water patrol t halt a stream of contraband contraband contra contra- band li liquors narcotics sables and gems Yet nightly the miles of New York Harbors Harbor's shorelIne form a twinkling rim for tor a world of glidIng shadows ANNALS of rIver piracy extend back baek over o yellowed age police records to the era between 1690 and 1720 when there were more than 2000 pIrates afloat off our coast from MaIne to Florida while in the Bahamas there loafed that many more of this sea gentry At that date sea wolves roamed singly or in packs J along the lanes of trade Even then the British Royal Navy maIntained station ships forerunners of today's harbor pa- pa trots troIs whIch acted as sort of marine palice police po- po I lice to check the increasing pIracy AtS At S a later date cutters of the United States Revenue Re Service were ere engaged in driving c followers of Jean Lafitte from pirate dens tf S upon the Florida keys In 1829 1829 when Sir Robert Peel organized p for London first r t metropolitan police L force the most problem confronting confront confront- ing him was extermination of the Thames r river pirates These river ra rats of the f London docks proved slippery Indeed for it was their custom when operating among the anchored or moored ships to strIp to toi i the buff and then cover their bodIes with witha i a a. thick coating of grease ThIs not only j. j enabled them to remain long In the water without suffering from its chill chilI but per per- loft matted them to squirm easily from the t. t grasp of a a. captor GrippIng fingers found r- r no 11 hold ld upon the greased bodies and it ita i f a a. capture was attempted wIth steel bale baie i hook the rive river rat always held clenched i 1 i between his teeth a a. lor long razor like blade with bone handle weighted with lead Thame river rats operated under 4 a a. leader known to police as Slippery Jack who later admitted the slaying of numerous Lascar and Malay seamen left on deck for the anchor watch The 1 t unfortunate sailor would not be likely to tot t T Tp p see the form of Slippery Jack gliding VP VI the chain and over the foreCastle tore fore Castle head like a a. shadow or he would o see the shadow too late The next watch mIght find hIm stabbed to the heart with the same blade that had been used to I slit open bales or of silk bolts of which would be passed to other greased bodies r who swarmed after the swimmer in boats 5 t with muffled oars j t t I Xv IA r. r J Although police force was only in its infancy Sir Robert revealed himself himself him him- self as an astute chief when he employed a stool pigeon to lure Slippery Jack aboard a freighter in search of a case of opium he was told might be found on deck But when three policemen policemen police police- men leaped from behind a winch on the ship and attempted to lay hold of the quarry the pIrate slid from their grasp and jumped over the rail lail Other pOlice had surrounded the anchored vessel in rowboats but it was not until the pirate had stabbed two men to the heart and overturned three of the small boats that h he e was captured and later hanged THE gnawing of river pirates at the commercial life of American ports had its beginning with the of the Junkies who op operated rated nondescript river riverboats boats for the collection of ship junk in much the manner that Junkmen ashore scour alleyways in search of salvage y r ir tr r eH u r t s sy x y yx a arf rf s J it at ts r p d r circling around the C Colt harbor following a wireless report the shins shil's strong stroE E M pfd They may have entered this harbor junk business quIte legitimately content with the small on frayed rope rusted strands of wire cable or even the tub ot of grease carefully drained from dripping pans by thrifty sea cooks But the lure of unprotected cargoes proved too much for many a junkies honesty and he joined the army of river prowlers Instead In- In Instead stead o of frayed rope ends below hatches of the junk boat there might be found costly coils of inch eIght towing hawser cans of paint varnish and cases of oil The majority of these thefts were committed committed com com- with the aid of dishonest watchmen watch watch- m men n left aboard vessels after a crew had been discharged upon arrival in port In turn came a piratical raid of amazing amazing ing boldness whIch resulted in loss of the Leviathans Leviathan's mail sacks and a subsequent up of f river rats which revealed the presence in these harbor gangs ot of otmen men whose photographs had been made by Coast Guard ensigns on rolling d decks of rum shIps anchored an on the eighteen eighteen- mile limit In the ups line of prisoners taken by harbor pollee and Federal agents were also found fugitives charged with having bootlegged eager aliens Into this country beneath hatches of swift craft making nIght runs from Havana Cuba to coral keys and shallow inlets bordering the FlorIda coast I f. f I 1 w t 9 x k kyM yM WHARF F RAT KAT KATa S Fa a RICH PIRATE Like Corsairs of Old River and Harbor l' l Are Organized Organized in Criminal Gangs Gouging t p Commerce in in American Ports to the it 1 1 II Extent of o f Billions lillions Annually Allied I p y i S p 1 L X I y f P f Wf Z A w N t h e H- H Hh 19 h S easl 1 ro 1 a fl v o u 4 d G b r Hj 3 pw bS 5 v f fv 4 C t l r t r q F 7 fp f. f 1 n Ai fl Y Jl A r 4 C n ar Hj 3 r Y r fj t h hID ID it a 7 w Jag C s w i 44 t io u. u b in Los Angeles of a theft from M Mt t ti i h Federal agents boarding a suspect in New York Harbor where authorities author author- are showing great activity in their endeavor or to stamp out the port pirates There are among these deep sea pariahs pariahs pa- pa immigration officials say ay captains of smuggling vessels camouflaged as fishing fishing fish fish- ing schooners who boast ox ot having jettisoned jettisoned jetti- jetti contraband cargoes of human beings into shark infested waters as they would cases of whisky when too closely pursUed by a Coast GUard Almost sImultaneously with the mall mail robbery the steamship Columbia reported by wireless as she approached Los Angeles Angeles An- An geles Calif Harbor that in cash had been looted from the ships ship's strongbox strongbox strong strong- box while en route constantly cIrcled the liner as it entered port to p prevent event th the money being tossed overboard overboard over over- board to confederates and all suspects aboard were searched but no trace of the tho currency ever was found THERE was an example of a hitch In plans of harb harbor r smugglers smuggler last October Octo- Octo ber 3 3 when customs men of the water patrol found stowed in lifeboats of the steam steamship hip President HarrIson more than q cans of opium with ith a bootleg value of as the vessel docked at Jersey Jer- Jer Jersey sey City After seizing the opium the agents arrested four Chinese members of the crew including a boatswain There ha had d been a slip up ashore the officials said as to the tho hour when a launch g no lights was to have lurked beside the th e ship as it it entered the harbor In order that ships ship's be compelled corn com gelled to use every vigilance against such 1 smuggling attempts in or coal bunkers Federal laws have lately bee been n enacted which in the case of the General Genera 1 Harrison would leave owners of the vessel ves ves- set sel open to a fine of approximately even though it was conceded that tha t neither owners nor ships ship's officers had bad th the e slightest knowledge of the attempted d dope The immense task of transferring g freight cars lighters and barges from one on e terminal to another is carried on by tugboats tug tug- boats almost entIrely at night Otter Often as many as twenty lighters will be move mo ed d at one time by a sturdy tug Barges ar are e usually herded Into great spreadIng manine maw ma nine rine bungalow colonies beside the docks and often through daintily ruffled curtains cur cur- talus of the doghouse perched on the th e stern Of these cumbersome ome craft there then r b pirt fR y I v i I Jt J j I I t 1 I 1 z j JIll n I d. d d r. r l f hJ h Y t 4 II if v A i J C. C y C. nr t jJ J lj r. r J rig i f I II If 0 r L Ir II N dd Harbor gangs work worl quickly and furtively fur fur- plundering whatever cr merchandise merchandise mer mer- chandise ork 0 baggage they can procure procure pro pro- cure from ship war house or pier flay be seen children about the table poring over lessons which they must learn without aid of schools willIe while spending spend spend- spending ing lives ever moving on sea or inland waterway The skipper ma and perhaps perhaps per per- haps grandma will be deep in the nightly pinochle game while the barges barge's cat and dog slumber beside the iron stove IT IS the hour when out In midstream lights that have replaced the time old whistle are flashing Towing lights showIng the number of barges astern gleam from stubby tugboat masts In Inthe Inthe the very shadow of darkened warehouses there comes a tow of lighters engaged in receiving the cargo of no a freighter just arrived at midstream anchorage At the stern of the last lighter In the tW tow a lone helmsman keeps his craft in indirect indirect direct line with the others piled high with bales of crude rubber Waterfront streets almost wIthin a stones stone's throw of the lighters are deserted The helmsman does not hear the gentle thump of a cork fender against the lighters lighter's side nor the cautious opening of the door of the little doghouse surrounding the steering n wheel But he comes to with a start as the muzzle of an automatic pistol digs dig s deeply into i hIs ribs and he is relieved relieved re- re of hIs trick at tIle the wheel whee by a youth whose only comment is a warning warn warn- lag ing against any nuy outcry The vIctim 1 Is s swiftly trussed and gagged and before this job is 15 completed he hears the towing tow tow- ing line beIng cast off and feels the blunt blun t bow being turned under the pull puB of ta a powerful motorboat The lighter is finally warped Into a deserted pIer where wait t to o receive a cargo valued at In this thi s particular instance the loot was recovered when a pOl policeman ceman a rookIe probationer became curIous when he saw bales of rub rubw ben ber being unloaded in the yard ard o of a junk jun k dealer In Brooklyn One night last summer whIle hundreds hundred s of passengers were going aboard th the e steamship Paris which was scheduled 10 for 1 r a a. midnight sailing salling and great crowds crowd rS S surged about the gangplank and PI pit L head for the farewell party a a. faun laun fi 1 slipped a way away from the side of at the t 1 liner and made toward the open A customs guard made a dash for a to te phone on the dock and a few mome later a second launch manned by guar started in pursuit It proved the task tas of the two and brought back tour four tr II j with three seventy burlap sacks of chat chal f. f and cognac valued at rah f New methods adopted by the bar har I I gunmen In runnIng rum are revealed 1 the recent experience of Coast Gut Gu i which almost nigh pursued a swift launch off Raritan t I t. t J without finding liquor aboard after ov l i hauling th the fugItive craft Finally Finally Coast Guard suspected that a red herr V t j. j was vas being drawn across a snore maritime trail e eThe The following night after shots across the bow of the decoy la as a signal that the chase kas wason ona 1 t the put about on on an DP course and twenty minutes later tt sighted the former wanda making full speed with nit rua a alights lights doused Both boats were m z 1 twenty five knots knots and the suspect slowly drawing farther away The I mile half range and in pitch dares t r t e patr fired four shots from h her r l t C The first tore away the T q Twanda's wandas wanda's smokestack the second en e tt the deckhouse the third drove i l hold and the fourth found its way ti t j t t. t engine room halting the fugitive 0 The coast guardsmen found eIg eight 1 aall a all in inflated about o othe t the side Miraculously sy not one had hadt injured There was left on board 3 cases of liquor Y 3 One of the most daring I. I river pirates was made at a Bush TI nal pier when a motorboat gang It started to unload valuable freight fry carrier cargo whIch they had boal t Customs agents opened pistol fire rV t was returned as the then men escaped 1 f 1 l' l FURTHER illustration of the bol t tt I t tl with which the port pirates pirates pirates' o o was provided in New York when a 1 po quantity of cashmere shawls and n i I from India just unloaded from a ship was the loot which lured 1 t ri boat gang to the West street street t The pIrates piloted their beneath the pIer and then swarm ey ward on the pilings In much them much the of savages attacking a stockade covered a group of warehouse V t with pIstols and then bound and g t t them Then at the very edge of that thet t t i great traffic stream along the the front the pirates took possession c pIer in the manner that Kidd orl beard mIght have taken an 1 merchantman on the sea R and knives in n openIng nn and scat e cases of cargo In an unsuccessful t for the valuable plunder which ha previously removed by bu Public Ledger 1 aa |