arrested in Vera Cruz on a trumped-up charge of getting goods on false pretenses. We got some clothes on our bodies from the company. They have kidnapped us here under false representations. They advertised in the Pittsburgh papers for four blowers, their passage and expenses would be paid free to Mexico, also bed and bedding and cooking utensils. Now, sir, they charge us with the blankets and our passage, and have us in jail in a strange land unable to speak the language.

We ask you to send us a lawyer to plead our case, and we can prove our innocence of any crime.

We remain, &c.,

THOMAS SHIELDS.
CHARLES WEBER.

PHILIP SALM, German Citizen.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 370.]

Mr. Thomas Shields to Mr. Morgan.

APAM JAIL, January 23.

SIR: We are three American citizens confined in jail for no cause that we know of. We hired in Pittsburgh last July for $130 per month to blow window glass at Appazaco, expecting to blow immediately after our arrival.

Instead of bringing us to the above place, they brought us to Apam. There was no furnace nor no pots-nothing but the shell of a factory.

We claim the above wages from the time we signed the articles in New York. We were to have $1 per day when the fire was not in blast.

N. B.-The word "not in blast" means if they want us to stay the next fire they give the blower $1 to stay per day.

We repeatedly asked for a settlement and was refused. We told them we would go home if not. We left for home on the regular train for Vera Cruz. They arrested us upon a trumped-up charge. They brought us here from our homes and families under false representations.

We claim protection from you. If you will send us a lawyer we can prove ourselves clear of any charge and be honorably discharged.

We have no money, no friends, cannot speak the language, and are at their mercy. We wrote to you before, and have received no answer. If you cannot do anything for us we will have to write to our Representative and to the department at Washington.

I remain, in behalf of my companions, &c.,

THOMAS SHIELDS.

[Inclosure 3 in No. 370.-Translation.-Telegram.]

Mr. MORGAN, United States Minister:

APAM, January 26, 1882.

Do us the favor to answer our two letters, in order that we may act as occasion requires.

[Inclosure 4 in No. 370.]

Mr. Morgan to Mr. Thomas Shields.

WEBER.
SHIELDS.
SALM.

MEXICO, January 26, 1882.

SIR: Your case is being investigated in the proper quarter.

As regards sending you a lawyer, I regret to say that I am not able to do so. I would advise you to apply to one in the locality where you are.

Yours, &c.,

P. H. MORGAN.

[Inclosure 5 in No. 370.-From the Pittsburgh Dispatch of the (about) 1st February, 1882.]

GLASS BLOWING-UNUSUAL WIND-WORK IN THE BUSINESS IN MEXICO ACCORDING TO LATE REPORTS—PITTSBURGH MEN, ENTICED BY FAIR PROMISES, ARE UNDECEIVED, KIDNAPPED, AND LODGED IN JAIL.

A gentlemen of this city, not engaged at. the present time in the manufacturing business, but more or less interested in several phases of it, was somewhat surprised yesterday to receive in his mail a letter with a peculiar-looking office stamp upon it, of which the following is a fac simile:

Upon opening, the gentleman found it to be a letter from Mexico, dated from the Apam jail. Its story was the sequel to an advertisement which appeared in the Dispatch, and so the gentleman turned the document over to a reporter of this paper.

GLASS-BLOWERS WANTED.

This brings the present article to a point where it is necessary, in the language of the ordinary novelist, to "retrace our footsteps."

On the 17th day of June, 1881, the following advertisement appeared in the Dispatch: "WANTED-4 sober, good window-glass blowers, to go to Mexico under a yearly contract; free passage in second-class berths; salary $130 monthly when furnace is in blast, and $1 daily when not; furnace runs constantly, unless stopped by accident; house and table utensils free; only have to furnish board and washing. Only highlyexperienced and well-recommended men need apply, stating reference, age, nationality, and experience. I. Durand, P. O. box 2933, New York, N. Y."

So far as the records of this office show, the advertisement was probably sent on from New York. However, the firm had an agent here, in the person of Attorney S. M. Boyd, whose office is on Fifth avenue. Others in the city are said to be interested with the person advertising.

WORKMEN OBTAINED.

The advertisement, of course, brought out numerous responses. Among those who expressed their willingness to go to Mexico was Thomas Shields, one of the best-known glass-blowers hereabout, long employed at various establishments on the South Side, and somewhat of a character in his way. Shields is a drinking man, but has never been regarded as by any means a drunkard. He is looked upon as a clever workman. His services were accepted by Mr. Boyd, the agent. Two other Pittsburghers, at least, were taken-brothers, named Weaver-who, it is presumed, are with Mr. Shields at this time in his quiet retreat, of which more will appear below.

It was from Thomas Shields, the glass-blower, that the letter already referred to above was received yesterday.

His presence in the body of the Apam jail is best explained by the document itself.

The letter is as follows:

MR. SHIELDS'S PLAINT.

"APAM JAIL, MEXICO,
"January 16, 1882.

"DEAR SIR: We are three American citizens, hired last July in Pittsburgh to come to Mexico to a place called Appazaco, for $130 per month in American coin, and our passage and expenses paid, and $1 per day when not in blast.

"(N. B.-The words 'not in blast' mean, if they want us to stay the next fire, they pay the blowers the dollar to stay while the fire is out.)

66

Instead of taking us to the above place, they brought us to Apam, another place entirely. There was no furnace, no pots, nor hardly anything on the premises, and for five months we did not blow; no fault of ours. We asked for a settlement, and they refused us one. We told them we would not work. We left and went to Vera

Cruz, intending to go home. They sent a telegram and had us arrested and put in jail; they kidnapped us up here under false pretense; they have trumped up a charge against us for violation of contract, when they broke the contract first; they have charged us with our passage and expenses here, and only want to allow us $1 per day from the 14th of July until the 6th of December, the day we commenced to blow. We have no money, and cannot speak the language; consequently, have no counsel. We wrote to Minister Morgan, and got no answer. The advertisement was in the Dispatch and in the Chronicle, I think, the first or second week in July. S. M. Boyd, No. 144 Fifth avenue, was the agent that sent us here. Please to send us that advertisement, as it will be of much importance to us. If you would confer a favor on your countrymen, tell them not to come to Mexico on private contract; they have no sense of honor.

"Apam is 57 miles from the city of Mexico, on a line of the Vera Cruz Railway. Please to answer.

"Yours, truly,

[Inclosure 6 in No. 370.]

Mr. Morgan to Mr. J. A. Certucha.

"THOMAS SHIELDS."

UNITED STATES LEGATION,
Mexico, March 2, 1882.

On reaching Apam, you will proceed to the jail and request to be allowed to see and to communicate with the citizens of the United States who are therein confined. You will ascertain

1st. At whose instance they were arrested.

2d. The cause of their arrest.

3d. Whether they were arrested by virtue of any warrant. If so, is the warrant in writing? Ascertain upon whose affidavit the warrant issued, and the name of the judge who issued it, and the place of his residence. You will obtain, if possible, a copy of the affidavit upon which the warrant of arrest issued; also, a copy of the warrant. If you cannot obtain both or either of these, you will give me the reason therefor.

4th. How long have the men been in prison?!

5th. Have they ever been subjected to a preliminary examination? If so, when, and what was the result thereof?

6th. Have they ever been tried for the offenses with which they stand charged? If so, what was the result of the trial? If they have been convicted and sentenced, when did the conviction take place, and to what punishment have they been subjected? Are they now under sentence, and are they complying with the terms of the

sentence?

7th. If they have not been tried, is there any reason for the delay? Ascertain, if possible, when their trial is likely to come off.

8th. Ascertain the name of a respectable lawyer at Apam, call on him, and inquire upon what terms he will undertake their defense.

9th. You will be careful to inquire as to the condition of the prisoners with reference to their health, and the treatment which they have received since they have been in durance.

[Inclosure 7 in No. 370.]

P. H. MORGAN.

Mr. J. A. Certucha to Mr. Morgan.

MEXICO, March 4, 1882.

SIR: According to your instructions, I left Mexico on the 3d instant, and proceeded to Apam. Arrived there, I went to the jail and inquired of the jailer about the prisoners whose case you had sent me to investigate. He informed me that they bad been brought there, first, about the middle of last January, charged with the crime of swindling; that about a month ago they had been acquitted of the charge, and that they had returned to their former employers.

When I asked him upon what charge they were then imprisoned, he said that they had been arrested for being drunk and disturbing the peace. I then requested to be allowed to see them. My request was granted. I was shown in a room in which were

Thomas Shields, Thomas Cleer, and Charles Weber. These three are Americans. There was another man in the room, a German, whose name I did not ascertain.

Mr. Shields stated to me, with respect to their first imprisonment, that they had been arrested at the instance of one Felipe Enciso, charged with swindling and obtaining goods under false pretenses; that they had been acquitted, after which they had made an arrangement with the same Enciso (who appears to be one of the proprietors of the factory at which they had worked prior to their first arrest) to go to work again, and that they were to get higher wages-$150 instead of $130 per monthand that they had been in prison on the first charge for about five weeks.

When I asked the cause of their present arrest I was told that it was because of a dispute which they had had with the managers of the factory about their pay. Shields's head and face were bruised. He informed me that he had received them from some parties at the railway station, where he had gone to get a drink, and where he had been robbed of his money and knocked about the head by the rogues. They were arrested in the street, and near the factory in which they were employed. I also called on the lawyer whom they had employed to defend them. He informed me that in his opinion they had been wronged in their first contract with the company, and that he was willing to defend them in their civil rights, and that as regards their present arrest it was the result of drunkenness and scandalous behavior in the streets.

Yours, very respectfully,

J. A. CERTUCHA.

47TH CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ( Ex. Doc.153, 1st Session.

IMPRISONMENT OF THOMAS SHIELDS AND CHARLES WEBER IN MEXICO.

MESSAGE

FROM THE

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

TRANSMITTING

A communication from the Secretary of State in further response to a resolution of the House of Representatives respecting the cases of Thomas Shields and Charles Weber, recently imprisoned at Apam, Mexico.

MAY 18, 1882.-Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and ordered to be printed.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a concluding report from the Secretary of State, of the 17th instant, and its accompanying papers relative to Thomas Shields and Charles Weber, who were imprisoned at Apam, Mexico, and whose cases formed the subject of the resolution of the House of Representatives of February 6, 1882.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

Washington, May 18, 1882.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, May 17, 1882.

The Secretary of State has the honor to transmit herewith, in further response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of February 6, 1882, two dispatches from Mr. P. H. Morgan, United States minister at the city of Mexico, of the 6th and 25th ultimo, respecting the cases of Thomas Shields and Charles Weber, recently imprisoned at Apam, Mexico. The former of these documents is in continuation of Mr. Morgan's No. 370, of March 4, last, heretofore communicated to that body, and reports his further efforts for the relief of the accused, and the lat ter shows that they have been released. It is accompanied by a letter addressed to the Hon. Thomas M. Bayne, of the House of Representa