gmertca, , ?|emp, an& JUapoleon - Vote Hemp

The United States, Darling of the Balticwell, but the "John" had only small quantities aboard. Th emaster of the "John," a Yankee by the name of Francis Boardman, put her cargo into the hands of a local merchant to be soldif and whe n the market improved. Th e merchant advancedhim enough credit for one hundred tons of cordage, and inearly autumn the "John" cleared Archangel.Her owners had guessed in the spring that the market forRussian goods in the United States would grow worse ratherthan better, and so had made up a letter of instructions whichnow directed the "J onn " not back to the United States, but"say to South America, or even India. . . ."Practically no amount of foresight could make the voyage ofthe "John" profitable. Wherever American ships could legallyenter in 1811 and 1812, there seemed to be an oversupply ofthe goods they carried. The economic war had so distortedworld trade in 1811 that one of the more common neutralcargoes was Russian goods.First the "J onn>> sailed to Lisbon. She sold thirty coils of hercordage there at a decent price, but then two ships arrived fromSt. Petersburg with cordage. Th e "John" next crossed theAtlantic and put into Pernambuco, Brazil, and found the marketthere "completely clutted with naval stores." Next shesailed to Bahia, Brazil, and found conditions no different there."I believe cordage is the dullest article in market at this place orany on the coast," cried Francis Boardman. O n 25 April 1812,he wrote to Salem that he hadfinallysold the cordage, thoughat a very low price. His excuse was that there was "no salewhatever for cordage and several vessels were . . . laving inoJoport partly loaded with it. . . ." Th e "John" took on a cargo ofsugar and cleared for home. For all the wisdom and energy211