Mad with disappointment when they saw that they were likely to be caught in an attempt to smuggle their way into Canada, nine sailors and 29 stowaways on the Japanese freighter Taihu Maru took command when she entered the Vancouver harbour a few days ago. They forced the officers te bring the ship direct to dock in a last' desperate effort to get into the Dominion, but they found a squad of blue-coatied policemen awaiting them. Sullen and grumbling the mutinous sailors were arrested, and the stowaways were rounded up and taken in charge. The stowaways are being deported and the sailors face a charge of disobeying orders. While imprisoned in. the government. immigration shed six of the 20 stowaways managed shortly after they were taken in, to break down som iron bars and descend to earth and freedom by sliding down a rope made of pieces of blankets which had been cut into strips They are being sought. The rest were taken, handcuffed in pairs and under armed guard, to' the ferry-for Victoria to await a vessel to take them back to Japan.
The Taihu was coming here to Jead Lumber and left Yokohama in ballast. She had been at sea some days when Capt. S. Yamada discovered there was a large company of stowaways on board, and that they were apparently in league with some of the members of the crew. The captain, anticipating trouble, wirelessed the authorities and was instructed to delay his arrival from Sunday afternoon to Monday. But, through a misunderstanding the ship reached Vancouver on Sunday. The captain anchored in the stream and the stowaways seeing they were likely to run up against the force. of the arm of the law went straight to the commander and threatened him with the choice of going into dock or going with others of the crew into the chill; and deep waters of the Inlct. Police swarmed aboard the ship at the wharf and arrested tht mutiny ous ones. They searched the ship from stem to stern before gathering in their harvest. After feeling all kinds of unsuspecting corners with long slice -bars, the officials finally found a temporary wooden bulkhead between the coal bunkers end the cargo. Entering a cunningly concealed door they found the 29 stowaways snug and con-fortable on a heap of coal the sharp ecruers of which had been softened many gunnysacks. The incident has had some interesting developments. In. the first place California has sent. some of it immigration officials to Vancouver to check up a report that the stowaways had previously been in that American state and were trying to return, there, vid the roundabout Canadian route to facilitate entry. Secondly, a British Columbia member of parliament has asked in in the House of Commons for information and for an investigation into the escape of. the half-dozen stowaways from the Government's immigration building.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.