BLOCKADE TRICKS.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 January 1917, Page 3

BLOCKADE TRICKS.

And Those who “spot” Them, This business of blockading is a fine whetstone for the wits. It keeps those of all parties engaged in it—•‘runners” and “preventive men” alike—rubb’ed up to the keenness of a wall-stropped hollow-ground. Anyone with six months’ experience on either side should thereafter be able to hold bis own against 6ven a Cairo Greek, for he will know the whole grammar of gu.lafulness from simple verb to the most abstruse declensions.

Many ships’ companies engaged in 'the “Search” have during the past twenty-seven months been acquiring a knowledge of human nature which will make them exceedingly distrustful of that strangely mixed compound for as long as they remain where it is. Amongdhoie qualifying for a full arts degree in this university of rich experience are the crew of our old friend Pnebalong, the discoverer, as you may remembea’, of rubber onions, copper ploughshares, and sundry oiher snperingeuioas inventions of the blockade i aimers. For contirmsAJon of bows see fourth page

Although its operations are eo extensive, the British people have bat aa indifferent knowledge of the work done by the Examination Service — the “ Search,” as it ts called by thoae engaged in if, or the “ Blockade,” to give the thing its popular title. They do not know that this vigilant force

combs the sens from oh Ly Iceland down to summer latitudes, and that its tiueea-mg energies havtr created a sort of Liverpool in a secluded port which rarely tKld a merchant vessel before the war began. Still le6s do they know of the strange things discovered there in professedly innocent “ bottoms ” hy the men who delve into the oargo of merchandise which these carry. For the Admiralty handles this business, and the Admiralty, being the most bashful ot all our great State Departments, says as little as possible about what happens within its own domain, be those happenings good, bad, or otherwise. But many of these occurrences are recorded in the logs of such craft as PashaloDg, whence might be extract ed an exceedingly entertaining narrative of one phase of the war at sea.

Pusbaloog was shoving her grey nose throngh the chill, gale-driven spray in latitude blank, longitude ditto, when the look-out reported a ▼easel in Bight. “Hullo, old chap, stop a minute ; I’d lika 10 have a talk with you,” signalled Pashalong to the stranger, not in precisely that form of words though just as politely, for the British sailor is never rude until rudeness becomes necessary,

“Certainly, glad to meet you” (though she, was not), replied the ■tranger in effect, booking quite well that if she answered otherwise PashaloDg would “ tnrn nasty ” and do unpleasant things. As the two vessels neared one another and stopped for their “ talk,” Pashalong dropped her sea-boat which pulled across to the stranger and landed the customary “ armed party ” of inquisitive men upon her decks. The officer from Pashalong in charge of these examined the stranger's papers. These appeared all right, general oargo not contraband, and so on. But the officer knew the decepfciveness of outward appearance. A burglar may look just like a Baptist deacon and a Baptist deacon may look like a burglar. Nature delights in such tricks of physiognomy. Also, cargo may seem non contraband on the “ manifest ” and be quite otherwise when you come to look at it. Tbe officer decided to look at it. For a time the examination reveal id no cause for suspicion. Then the party came to a pile of bags. “Wbat’s in thes6 P” “Beane.” "Open one.” One was opened, and it contained beans sore enough ; such very beany beans that they could not be mistaken for anythirg else. Bat that officer had conf acted “searches” before, and in the ccnree of them come across each odd things that he knew the fallacy of ‘■seeing is believing.” Anyway, the last thing be was prepared to believe wao the unsupported testimony of his own eyes.

“Try another,” he ordered. Another bag was opened. “Now empty some others and shake the bag up.” A stalwart bluejacket did as instructed. Then, thrusting his hand into tbe bag, he drew it out filled with “ beans.” Sorting these over ini his palm he picked up one and without a word handed it to tbe officer, who put the “ bean ” between his teeth.

“ H’m —rubber,” he remarked—and rubber it was. Mora than half those beans ” were made of it—beautifully made too. Even a horse might have been deceived by them niatil he got them into his mouth. These “ beans ” did not get to Germany, and thus was misapplied ingenuity once sgaiD foiled of its aim by the astuteness of our “ Search.”

Pushalong’s log would tell you also of a floating oil-field— though you might think such a freak of nature never existed. And ycur thought would be correct in so far that the “ field ” was the creation not of nature but of art. Its discovery came about in this way.

Ooe day Pashalong, a overhauled a vessel in ballast. She had a lovely lot of sand iu her “ bottom.” quite a little seashore that ycu stroll about npou at youi ease, One of the Pashalougs did stroll over it. and he thought he smelled oily. Forthwith the sand was bored into, and although the “ Ssarch ” did not open a “gusher,” they “struck oil” very richly. There were hundreds of gallons of it beneath that sand. Any prospector who could find an equal quantity in an equal area of any field ashore might justifiably regard himself as a possible rival of John D. Rockefeller.