Shortly before this, this priest and an inspector of roads had loaded the Spanish bark Santa Lucia for Hong-Kong, and had made things so disagreeable for others who had tried to ship merchandise that foreigners were becoming afraid to risk their capital.
Mr. Clark finding how things were going on soon abandoned the enterprise, and I then determined to fight the thing out on my own account.
At this time I had 25,000 cubic feet of hard timber, cut and squared, for a foreign market, eighty-two buffaloes for hauling, and a plant of machinery and appliances valued at $7,000.
I had a license for carrying on my business, duly granted by the superior government, and in 1874 chartered a vessel at Manila to carry my timber to Hong-Kong, and then went to the port of Love, where my timber was, taking with me $940 in gold to prepare for the vessel’s arrival and to continue cutting.
Upon arriving at Love I found that during my absence at Manila a portion of my timber had been forcibly taken possession of and had been shipped on board the Spanish bark Teresa by Joaquin Barcello, the captain of the Teresa, who was then on his way to Hong-Kong. I also learned that my buffaloes, stock and rice had been removed, and that Juan Gaal, my foreman, whom I had left in charge of my property, was all subject to the orders of this Barcello, and that my choppers had been bribed into the service of Padre Fidel Moreno, the priest of the town.
When I complained of this I was confronted with a document signed by the Adelantado of Love, to the effect that no notice should be taken of my complaints, to give no testimony in my behalf (thereby shutting me out of my legal rights), and that my foreman, Juan Gaal, should look after the interests of Captain Barcello until the captain’s return from China.
I then applied to the Governor, protesting against the robbery of my timber and the appropriation of my property by Captain Barcello and Juan Gaal, but was merely told that the commandante had so ordered and that there would be no interference.
Seeing there was no justice to be had at home, I sought to regain my rights at Manila and so left the next morning for Manila on the bark Industria, taking with me all my private papers, contracts, &c.
That night we encountered a terrible typhoon in which the vessel was wrecked, and all that I was able to save was the clothes I then wore.
Upon my arrival at Manila I put in a complaint against Captain Barcello, and also against Padre Moreno and the commandante of the district, as accomplices in the above fraud and robbery.