e qualifications of the men they ship as
"able-bodied and thorough seamen." They sometimes abduct men who have
never trod the deck of a ship before. During the war the notorious
Thomas Hadden, of 374 Water street, induced a poor tailor to go on board
of a ship by telling him that the crew wanted their clothes mended, and
assured him that the "job" would give him employment for several days,
and amply repay him for his trouble. The tailor, upon going on board,
was at once set to work in the forecastle on a lot of dilapidated
jackets, and Mr. Hadden at once went ashore. Immediately the cables were
cast off, and the ship was towed out into the stream by a tug which had
been held in readiness. The unsuspecting tailor continued his work,
never noticing the motion of the ship, and it was not until she had
crossed the bar, and gotten to sea, that he was aroused by the rough
voice of the mate, commanding him to go to his duty on deck. Then, to
his horror, he found that he was on his way to Canton. He returned,
after a voyage of two years, and at once took measures to bring Hadden to
justice. The wretch escaped, however, and was not seen again in Water
street for three years. Mr. Hadden is now serving out a term of ten
years imprisonment in the New Jersey Penitentiary, for grand larceny.

Usually, however, "Shanghaiing" is practised upon drunken sailors only.
They are made drunk, as has been stated, immediately after the discovery
of the loss of their wages, and are kept so until an opportunity presents
itself for sending them to sea. Thus they are gotten rid of, care being
taken to ship them only on voyages of two and three years duration. The
landlords receive a premium on the men furnished by them. They also make
out fictitious claims against the poor fellows, and pocket the three
months' wages advanced by the owners or masters of the vessels on which
the unfortunates are shipped.

[Picture: NEW YORK SEAMEN'S EXCHANGE BUILDING.]

Thus the sailor is plundered, made drunk, prevented from enjoying any
other society on shore but that of thieves and the lowest prostitutes.
It frequently happens that the poor fellow never receives the benefit of
a single penny of his earnings, and never spends more than a week or ten
days ashore between his voyages. Efforts have been made by conscientious
ship-owners to put a stop to the outrages of the landlords, but each one
has failed. The wretches have banded togethe