San Francisco News: 1800s
The Montserrat
September 17, 1893, San Francisco Call, San Francisco
MADE HIM MAD.
The Montserrat's Captain and His Crew.
He Threatens to Discharge Them All for Smuggling Opium From British Columbia.
Captain Blackburn of the Hawaiian steam collier, the Montserret, was at the Custom-house yesterday threatening to discharge his entire crew, and particularly his first officer.
The trouble with the captain was that three of his men had been arrested for smuggling and they were caught in the act of attempting to land a considerable quantity of opium.
The Montserrat brings coal down from Nanaimo, B. C. as her regular cargo, and frequently some opium.orges along with the coal.
Last Tuesday evening she arrived from British Columbia, and after transferring most of her coal to tho Belgic, she steamed over to the Union Iron works with the remainder.
While at the Potrero the smugglers concluded to land their contraband, and that was how it came about that Night Inspector Charles A. Mau, just as he reported for duty on Friday, caught Julius Dreschner and Peter Frances, two of the ship's crew, in the act of transferring the drug from the steamer. (Right: Official map of San Francisco's Chinatown: Opium Dens, Gambling Halls & Houses of Prostitution circa 1885.)
The men had been at work washing the sides of the vessel, using a small boat fur the purpose. The opportunity to dump forty-three tins of opium in a pack into the boat presented itself, and they availed themselves of it. They rowed over to Hunters Point, and there Man arrested Dreschner, who got out of the boat with the drug. As Frances was already rowing back to tne steamer, the inspector, by moving rapidly, reached the vessel in time to arrest him also. Another man, Alexander Cregg, was taken in, but only on suspicion, and he was ultimately allowed to go.
Dreschner lost his presence of mind when the officer took him in charge, and when asked where the rest of the opium was replied that it was on board the ship. Yesterday Collector Wise instituted a rigid examination of the Montserrat, and Surveyor Kilburn set his searchers to work. McGiunes and Ahern found twelve more tins in the ship's bunkers. Two tins had been found on her by inspector McKenna the day before, and the same officer also got two tins in the pilot-house of the Belgic.
This is why Captain Blackburn was threatening to discharge his crew. Commissioner Heacock fixed the bonds of Dreschner and Frances at $3000 each in default of which they are confined in jail.
Another ingenious.orgbination of "lock" and "dummy block," like that described in yesterday's Call, was discovered by the customs officers on the Empire yesterday. It was a better piece of workmanship and its button was mostly of wood. The dummy block concealed a hole in the outside of the ship's hull, near the stern, but when pulled out no opium was found. It was a very convenient place, though, for a smuggler's purpose.
From the September 16, 1893 San Francisco Call
Another seizure of opium has been made by a lynx-eyed Customs inspector, who is highly eulogized for his phenomenal vigilance. A quantity of opium worth $1000 was dragged to light from a very curious hiding place, excavated in a beam, the cavity being titled with a dummy block. The credit of originality in these seizures is sometimes marred by tips received in private, which would enable an officer to lay his band on contraband in the dark. It may not be the case in this instance, but the Inspector has been remarkably lucky in nosing out the smugglers.
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The English East India Company was the mother of the modern multinational. Its trading empire encircled the globe, importing Asian luxuries such as spices, textiles and teas. But it also conquered much of India with its private army and broke open China's markets with opium. The Company’s practices shocked its contemporaries and continue to reverberate in today's markets.
The Corporation That Changed the World is the first book to reveal the Company’s enduring legacy as a corporation. Stock market bubbles, famines, drug-running and duels between rival executives are to be found in this new account.
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The Business of Empire:
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A detailed study of what happened in Britain when the East India Company acquired a vast territorial empire in South Asia. It offers a reconstruction of the inner workings of the Company as it made the remarkable transition from business to empire during the late-eighteenth century. Huw Bowen explores the Company's interactions with the domestic economy and society, and sheds light on its contributions to the development of Britain's imperial state. This book will appeal to all those interested in imperial, economic and business history.
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The Naval Order of the United States has a history dating from 1890. Membership includes a wide range of individuals, many with highly distinguished career paths.
The San Francisco Commandery meets the first Monday of each month at the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club in San Francisco, California and holds two formal dinners each year.
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