Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1877-07-26

Our New York Letter.

out.
To tie Editor of the Observer:
NEW York, July 18Th, 1877
The New York Custom House
has been a centre of attraction
for q coupe OF months past
First it was severely" investigat-
/. ed; then ii was weeded out by the
adjustment of a lot of sinecure
positions and'the giving of a strong
hint to the remainder that they
would be expected to earn their
} pay Then came the presidential
order to Federal officials warning
them to keep their fingers out Of
the political sugar bowl, and caus
ing considerable emotion among
the heads OF this establishment
who are also much addicted 10
running with the masheen," and
now the Custom House, goaded
into'something almost like activi-
ty by these unprecedented on
siaughts upon It's time-honored
corruption, has bestiIred itself in
the person of one Of its special a.
gents and unearthed the biggest
mares nest, in the way of SNUG
Cling conspiracy, that has swind.
led Uncle Sam and bothered the
few honest importers of New York
in a good many years. Already
some fifteen Of the conspirators
baVe been arrested who acknowl-
edge the smuggling during the
past two years of nearly a million
dollars worth of silks and laces.
Of course frauds of such maeni
tude could be practiseG only with
the cOnnlvunce Of steamboat and
dock officers, a dozen of whom.
belonging TO the National Line.
arc found to be among the guilt,
parties. The method so long and
so successfully pursued was to
bring over the silks in barrels
which the pursers and storekeepers
Of the boats involved would Sc
cretly land with the aid of the
shore hands who were in the ring
The goods would then be auction
ed OF at figures SO far below the
prices at which honest merchants
could import them that the sus
picions OF the latter were aroused
and finally led to the present dis
cOveries.
The latter have a pretty serious
bearing upon the steamship line
in connection with which they
were made. BY United States
law if the value Of goods SNUG.
gled on any vessel is over S400
the vessel itself is liable to conGs
cation as we'll rs the goods. In
the present case five first class o.
cean steamships, worth nearly as
many millions OF dollars, came IN
der the provisions Of this law; and
while ii is improbable that the lat
ter will he rigidly enforced, the
company running them will doubt
less have TO pay Zoe which will
cause them in luiure to exercise a
stricter supervision OF their en-
ployes.
| have several times mentioned
in my letters attempts that are IRE.
quentIy made by individuals and
corporations TO recover lost treas
ure which the crcdulous believe
to have been buried IL largo quan-
tities al various localities on our
sea coast and up the banks Of the
Hudson Perhaps these crack
Drained adventurers may get some
consolation and encouragement 10
carry on their goosc-chases by the
piece Of lack which this week un.
expccsedly :, fell n party OF labor
ers eXcayating cellar on Spring
street in a busy portion If the
town. The lab0rers employed on
this work found "A l1rg ridge Of
earth running across the cellar,
and digging 1t up, commenced
wheeling it out into the street.
One Of them noticed a round bit
Of metal WLi,h he picked up, but
II was so Hdckencd gnd coIroded
that be lbought il was only a piece
Il copper or iron aud threw il
away. Some one with more curl
osity then gave il further exam
iuali0n and pronounced il 20 be
silver. 4 lot mofe og ile same
kind turning ap 81 lbe mQmeta,
lively times fgllowed. The Pile Of.
dirt qlreajy out was in he twink-
ling IN eye fcaiferci fer blocks a.
bout, esch fTeasUTe-seeker grab
biog handful and then running
n 10 a safe place 70 inspect T. ~
the lsborer contiaued bis work g
bringing up iliy cellar d'gsiHss he
y as sel uPon tor the possession ol
hif ioaj, ani u VS. wllh lhgieulD
shat hc cluli bol.ton 10 his bask