Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-03-26
CurlOSitieS of Revenue Frauds.

CuriOSitieS of Revenue Frauds.
To one who has never given the subject
careful consideration, the opportunities for
! fraud on the revenue are perfectly astound-
| ing. The devices are as numerous as the
individuals disposed to take advantage of
them, and the utmost vigilance of the Off
GERS is inadequate TO detect but small
portion of them. One of the most com
mon methods Of fraudulent Importation is
that of invoicing and entering goods differ
ent from those actually imported, and to
more clearly define this method actual in
stances may be cited:
| Several large consignments of silks were
once imported at New York, invoiced and
entered as clocks. By the rules of the de-
partment one package in every ten must
20 to the appraisers Office REORGANIZATION.
This contingency had been amply provid-
cd for by having a sufficient number of the
packages containing clocks, and by conni-
vance With the foreign entry clerk-in that
receptacle Of virtue and hone-ty, the New
York Gu tom House-these were selected
for examination.
In the winter Of 1861, when the reel
procity treaty included barley in the free
list, 100 tons of rice, on which the duty
was one cent per pound, were imported
via. Island Pond, Tt, as barley. The rice
was packed in grain bags and two tons
slowed 10 each end Of the box car, while
in the center Of the car were six tons Of
barley in similar bags, for the inspection
Of the officers, who did not detect the fraud,
nor could they without completely unload
ing the cars.
\ similar trick was successfully carried
out in the importation Of bar iron, which
was placed in the center of the car and
scrap iron thrown promscuously over it,
the whole being entered successfully as
scrap iron
Other fragrant frauds were also carried
out in similar manner, partly under COW
er Of the reciprocity treaty-immense
quantities of pig tin and lead, teas, Ii
quors, sp ccs aud other valuable goods with
high rates of duty, being brought across
the lines in bales purportlng to be rags or
pressed hay, or in hogsheads purporting
to be filled with broken glass; or in cars
purportlng to contain grain, potatoes and
similar goods in bulk. At one time, in
1860, ton of pimento was thus brought
In, concealed in barrels invoced and en-
tered as white beans which were free of
duty, the top and bottom of the barrels
containing a few beans and the pimento
being in sacks in the center.
Eggs have covered multitude of sins,
being " Lent" for the purpose of bringing
free of duty such articles as spices, nut
megs, liquors, etc. A common method
was and still is to pack three or four lay
ers of eggs standing upon end in oats, COW
ering these with wreathing of twisted hay,
filling the center with bottles of brandy
or packages of other goods, and covering
these with other layers of eggs as in the
bottom
One enterprising firm who successfully
undersold the regular market for some
time, imported large quantities of nutmegs
as nuts, placing walnuts in the two ends of
the barrels used.
One of the most ingenious devices ever
heard of was that resorted to by an i'm
porter of alcohol. He had tin cans made
in conical or wedge shape, nearly half the
size of -four barrel. These were set in
the barrels with the small end downward,
the upper end being nearly large enough
to cover the head. which was inserted by
the cooper so as to leave free passage for
the officers testing rod through the hole
left for that purpose. The rod being
straight, it was next to impossible that the
raud should be detected
This was not equal in its ingenuity to
the plan adopted by importers of drugs
and essential oils, who entered and invoiced
them as cedar posts and round timber,
and successfully deceived the officers. The
plan was to bore the logs endwise, put oil
in tin tubes into the aperture, plug up the
hole with similar wood, and chop off the
ends roughly, so as to hide all trace of the
deception. These logs were brought on
open platform cars, and sharp eyes and
sharper intellects failed to discover the
thing.
A ludicrous incident, properly vouched
for, is told concerning the discovery and
exposure ofa subterfuge by which woman
brought clock across the line. One of
the United States customs inspectors was
on the Canada side, and seeing madam
very careful in secreting clock on the
counter, managed, while her attention was
called elsewhere, to set the alarm so that
it would ring in half az hour. He stepped
on the ferry boat to cross the river with
her. and before long the clock. which had
been hidden beneath her petticoats, began
one Of those internal buzzings which SO