Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1856-02-13
Ingenious contrivances of smugglers


In the DAYS when high.heeled French boots
were the pride of fashion, there was a shoe ma
ker in London who made a fortune by the sale Of
the best Paris boots at price which all his fellow
tradesman declared runous. He undersold the
trade, and obtained troops OF customers. These
boots must be- stolen said his rivals; but there
was no evidence that they were y: certainly they
were not smugpIed.boots, for any one could salts.
fy himself that the full duty was paid upon them
at the custom house. The shoemaker retired
from the business with fortune. Afterwards his
secret was accidently discovered although he
had paid duty for the boots, he had not paid fol
everything that was in them. There was a
heavy duty payable on foreign watches and eve
cry boot consigned TO him from Paris had con-
tanned in its hiyh heel'a cavity exactly large e.
nough to hold watch. The great profits obtain
ed BY the trade in smugged watches, made il
possible for this tradesman, when he had filled up
their heels, to sell his boots under prime cost
This was worth while. again, because of course.
by the extension of his boot trade, he increased
his power of importing watches duty free.
Some years later, an elderly lacy and her lar
dog travelled good deal between Dover and Ost-
end. 1t came 10 be generally considered at the
custom house that her travels were for the pur-
pose of smuggling Brussels lace, then subject ia
exceedingly high duty but neither the examln
ers of her luggage, nor the female searchers al
the custom house who took charge of her person.
could by the narrowest scrutiny find matter for a
single accusation. Atlast when she was about tc
decline the smuggling business, this lady accepted
bribe from custom house officer to make him
master of her secret. Calling to her side the
lap. dug, who was to all strangers very snappish
little cur, she asked the officer to fetch knife
and rip the little creature open. The little dog
il seems glored outwardly in false skin; and be-
tween the false skin and true skin was space e.
nough to provide thin cur, with the comfortable
fatness proper to lady's pet, by means of warm
padding of the finest lace. In the reign of Lou,
is the Eighteenth may be noted, by the way
very fierce dogs were trained to carry valuable
watches aud small articles under false skin;
across the frontier. They were taught to know
and avoid the uniform ofa custom house officer
Swift, cuning and fierce, they were never to be
taken alive, although they were sometimes pursu
ed and shot.
Not very long ago, great number OF falst
bank notes was put into circulation within the do
minions of the Russian Gar They could only
have been imported but although the strctes
N
tering Russian port, no smuggling of false notes
was discovered So strict is meant to be the
scrutiny at Russian custom houses, that the ship
captain, who is bound to give an inventory of ev-
cry article on board, may fall into unheard o
trouble if he forget SO much as his own private
Canary bird. There was an English captain a
Cronstadt who. by accident, forgot to enter flint
turtle upon his list. He told the leading custom
house official plainly and honestly of his unfortu
nate omission, and the functonary, who was goot
natured man, saw no plain way out OF the dlfh
Guilty. He recommended that the matter shoult
be CLOSED over by assuming that the turtle wa
intended for the emperor The captain did there
fore, declare that, if he had not entered the turtle
it was because it had been brought expressly a
an Englishman's gift to the Gar and to the GA
the turtle was dispatched accordingly. Soon at
forwards there arrived government lmessenge
inquiring for this most courteous OF captains, VIII
BROUGHT the gracious thanks of Gar Nicholas, to
gether with the gift OF gold snuff box, set IN dl
amonds Other captains tried the same 'compll
mentary method to win snuff box from the Gar
but in vain. The Emperor accepted the turtles
but made no return.
Now to 90 back to the forged notes. Acciden
brought them also to light Several cases of LEAF
pencils arrived one day from England, and wei
beng examined. when one of them fell out fron
package, and the custom house officer pckin!
it up, cut il 10 point, and used it TO sign the or
der which delivered up the cases to the consign
ee. He kept the one luose pencil for his owl
use, and few days afterwards because it needed
fresh point, cut it again, and found that there wa
no more lead. Another chip into the ceda
brought him TO roll of paper nested in hollov
place. This paper was of the forged notes
engraved in London, and thus passed into The do
minions Of the MuScovi,e.
During the last epidemic fever which dlsplaye'
itself in England as rage for antique furniture
much oft was imported from the Netherlands
A shrewd Dutch tradesman very much preerre
an order for sofas and 'chars to an order for side
boards and tables Horse hair, he knew, wa
plentiful enough in England the duty upon tea
however, was excessive; by an arrangement entered
into with his English agent it was understoo'
that tea should be used, instead of hay or horse
hair, as the stuffing of all cushions attached t.
furniture transmitted by his house. In this way
there was fortune made.