The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-10-10
Our 0lio.


the Following story
There is very important traffic carried
on in diamonds over the various European
lines to this country, and as the duty upon
them is ten per cent. ad raiorem the
sharpest watch is kept upon those suspec-
ted to be engaged in it. By means Of
agents abroad the Collectors Office has
often information by cable of the departure
from the various ports Of suspected dia-
mond smugglers, and is prepared to inter
cept them. In nine cases out Of ten the
stones are concealed upon the persons Of
the passengers. When this becomes
certainty, or what is supposed to be a
certainty, the passenger is arrested and
takea to the Searchers Bureau in the Gus
tom House. Here, if found necessary,
the party is stripped to the skin, and his
clothes examined inch by inch and seam
by seam; the heels are taken from his
boots, his hair and beard Is eombed, and
every means taken to discover the hiding
place Of the secreted treasures. Once this
mode Of search used TO be tolerably sue
cessful, but now it rarely serves any pur-
pose except in the case Of raw recruits to
the smuggling ranks. An old bird is
caught with chaif but once.
"a New York jew, who was reputed to
be in the business Of smuggling diamonds,
used to cross the water on the Cunard line
from three to four times season. Two
years ago, in the early part of the season,
he was seized upon his arrival and taken
to the searchers room Nearly thousand
dollars worth Of precious stones were found
sccrctcd in the lining Of his boots He
returned TO Liverpool by the same steamer,
and four weeks afterward again landed
upon the company's wharf on North river.
He was again seized and subjected to the
same rigorous search, but with no success.
The jew took it smiliagly and philosophi-
eally. When he took his leave he said,
Better luck next time, gentlemen. shall
go back by the same steamer on business,
and when ! return you can try il again.
"The officers mentally determined if he
did they would try It again. Upon inquiry
it was found that he really had engaged
return passage, having hold his stateroorn
for that purpose. Two hours before the
sailing of the steamer he was driven down
to the pier in his carriage, his wife and
daughter with him to see him Off When
they returned they carried with them over
ten thousand dollars worth of diamonds
which had lain secreted in his staieroom
during the whole time the steamer had
remained in port. Before his return to
New York the collector was notified by
one Of the revenue agents abroad that
MAX Fischer would return by the.
which would leave Liverpool, October 25,
with several thousand dollars worth Of
diamonds In due time the Jew arrived,
and for the third time was escorted before
the scarcher, He was evidently not pre-
pared for such persistent attention. He
seemed nervous and agitated, and finally
attempted to compromise. He was politely
informed that that was out of the question.
He was again put through the searching
process. His pockctbook, which was first
investigated, revealed memorandum show
ing the purchase Of eighteen diamonds Of
various sizes and prices, amounting in all
to about $4,000. When this came to
light the Jew begged with tears to be
allowed to compromise "A deaf ear was
turned to his entreaties. His coat was
removed and the lining examined. Moth
ing there. Then the waistcoat As the
searcher passed his practical fingers along
the lining his heart gave tremendous
thump as he recognized the "feel" of
something pebbly, like little rows Of but
tons, The garment was hastily ripped,
strip Of chamois skin withdrawn and un-
rolled, and there they lay, one, two, three
eighteen | All there aYou can put
on your coat and waistcoat again, Mr..
Fischer" said the searcher, blandly.
aGood day."
Without word the Jew departed, took
a horse car home, kissed his family, ate a
rousing supper, repaired TO the bath room,
and, after soaking a rather capacious plaster
across the small Of his back for a few
minutes in warm water, peeled it of, and
with 1t eighteen diamonds, Of various costs
and prices" What the searcher and
collector may have said or thought when
they found their seizure to be nothing but /
clever glass limitations, worth from ten to
thirty cents each, nobody knows tor
although the seizure was loudly heralded,
the finale was never made public. A lady
in this city, moving in fashionable circles,
wears valuable diamond which was inn
ported in the cavity Of a double tooth, said
tooth being in the mouth Of an Israelitish
gentleman, of New York. It was placed
in its rather unromantic hiding place in
London, and safely covered With bone
filling, which was displaced after the carnival
in New York"
A French paper gives detailed account
Of the manufacture Of false eyes in Paris,
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