Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-03-28
AN OLD OFFENDER,

"Reminiscences of Smuggling on the
MORO Castle-The Tricks and Gus
toms of the Organization.
The recent burning in Charleston har-
Dor of the old steamship MORO Castle, be-
longing to the Clyde line and plying be-
tween New York and Southern coast
ports, and well known in Savannah, re-
calls the history which the vessel ac-
quired as a smuggling trader. 1t was the
public impression that she was the chief
offender in the Havana trade, and
that smugglers on board her were
holder and better organized than
on any other vessel. The MORO Castle was
built for the firm of SpOtfOrd, TilesOn II
Co., who parted with her to the Atlantic
Mail at the time when the rush TO Califor-
MIA was at its height. The vessels of that
line went to Chagres at first and afterward
to Colon. or Aspinwall as it was called
after the railroad across the iSthmus be-
came fixed fact and the steamers of the
Pacific Mail connected with them. AS
business with California became less re-
muneratiYe, the boats of the Atlantic Mail
touched at Havana on their way to As
pinwall. Finally the Pacific Mail absorb
ed the Californian trade on both sides, and
the Atlantic Mail confined itself to trips
to Havana and back. In 1878 the company
for W. p. Clyde, who turned the Moro
Castle from a side-wheel paddle boat into
a screw propeller. She was subsequently
sent to Savannah and other ports of the
Southern coast. Her great reputation as
a smuggler was gained when she was in
the service of the Atlantic Mail.
There was a thorough organization for
introducing Havana cigars free of duty,
which included merchants on shore and
the firemen and other subOrdinates of the.
engineers department, with the cooks,
walters, etc, of the stewards department,
of steamers plying to Havana. Some of
the QuartermaSterS were i'll the con-
spiracy, too. They had allies in Havana
and cOnfederates along the Jersey shore,
and before anything was known of their
tricks they must have made enormous
sums. In fact, so lucrative was
the enterprise that repeated seizures of
struggled cigars did not suffice to break
up the organization, which was at last de-
feated by transferring the steamer to the
coast trade. How lucrative the business
was may be inferred from the fact that as
many as 10000 cigars have often been
brought in her without the least suspicion
on the part of the officers. The duty on
manufactured cigars is 81 80 a pound, and
an ad valOrem impOst of - per cent. A
hundred cigars will weigh nearly pound
and half. The duty, exclusive of the ad
valOrem, would be So 30, and the adj valO-
rem would amount to half as much in adj
ditiOn, so that the profits of smuggling
were very large.
The general practice was to tie forty to
fifty half boxes to a stout cord and sus-
pend this between the skin of the vessel
as it is technically termed-and her inner
skin. These cords were lowered as
far as practicable and hOisted up when
the examination had been made and the
coast was clear. Another way was to
hide them in the engine room temporarily
until the paddle boxes had been searched
and then transfer them rapidly to the
paddle boxes. \ third practice, when
these two had been used so often as to
have become stale, was to enclose the
cigar boxes in large india rubber
bags and heave them overheard be
tween Sandy Hook and Quarantine
in the neighbOrhoOd of their cOnfederates,
who would be honestly engaged as fisher
men earning their bread by the sweat of
their brOws, but keeping a sharp lookout
for the old MORO Castle. In the day time
thesbOats would signal with their oars so
that the men on the steamer might know
their friends. At night time some quar-
termaster would signal the waiting boats
with lamps. In eigtt teen months alone
Mr.. McCOrt and his fellow inspector
seized 10000 cigars, but these were a
trifle to the amount that escaped detection
As many as 10000 have been captured at
a haul, but it was notorious that the
MORO Castle at every trip carried from
10000 to 10000 of the cherished weed.
On one occasion Capt. Richard Adams,
who was in command, succeeded in learn
ing the signal given to the allies in Ha-
vana. When the first boat came along
side on the appointed night, an innocent
bumbOat, with the fruits and curious trash
of shells. etc, that sailors buy, Captain
Adams gave the signal and lowered the
rope. He then hauled up package after
package until 1900 cigars were delivered
and the boat had exhausted her supply.
A second boat approached and the signal
was given again, but there was something
which aroused the suspicious of the Gu
bans. "Carajo" swOre the leader; ''TO-
dos, arriba!'' but before they could back
water the skipper threw heavy weights
into the boat and nearly swamped her,
killing one man and severely injuring
others. On another occasion the same
Captain discovered the hiding place util-
lied for that voyage and seized $1,000
cigars.