Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-08-31

looks now as though tho road would
really be byilt. Coal OF good quality
has been discovered there. think that
JAY GoUiD
Is behind the railroad project and that il
will 20 through. The mine went
TO examine in the Organ
mountains was not sufficiently dcvcl.
opcd to enable me to give an opinion
concerning Ii, That's the trouble with
prospcctors; they expect capital 10 come
In and develop their holes In the ground
before they have shown that they are
worth anything.n
"What sort OF town Is III PasoYu
"a go-nhead frontier city, assure YOU
They have torn down most of the old
adobe buildings, and many of the bust.
ness structures erected In their stead
would do credit to any city.
Half dozen different railroads
center at III PaSo, aud of course this
creates business, but guess that If the
truth were known, smuggling would be
found to be the chief source of revenue. !"
"What, smuggling from Mexico into the
United States ~
sob, no, that would hardly pay.
There is very little that one can Smuggle
from Mexico at profit except cattle aud
cigars; the cattle are easily trailed by
the American officers, who have the AS
sistance OF all reputable ranchmen on the
American side, and cigars have TO be
stamped, as You know, with import and
internal revenue stamps before they can
be safely offered for sale. II is not posi-.
Bile 10 procure the Import stamps without
adding comterfeiting TO smuggling.
Smuggling Is what had reference to,
There are men in III Paso who have
MADE FORTUNES Al NJ
"What do they smugglcYn
"AlmoSt everything. II Ii a regularly
organized business do not know
whether the trammcp ON the Mexican
Central can make much ut It now, but
when ! was down there two years ago
saw watcr-tight india rubber bag
which was made on purpose to mi with
goods and sink in the water-tank of
locomotive, Slick wasn't itY The rail-
road officials frown down that sort of
thing, but then trainman can afford To
be discharged after he has succeeded I'm
getting few hundred dollars worth
of goods past the guards, for
Mexican duties are enormous. Let
me show YOU. | put down the
duties on several articles In my memo
randum book as II curiosity; here Il Is:
Cotton prints, lGl cents per square me-
ter; wool hats, So per cent. al valorem;
leather shoes, Sl3 per dozen pairs; toilet
soaps, Sll5 per kilogram; washing soap,
10 cents per hilogram; cotton socks, s
per dozen pairs; ready-made clothing,
l32 per cent ad yalOrcm; lard oil, IS per
cent. al Vnlorem; salt meat, - cents per
kilogram; stearinc candles, ~ cents per
kilogram; tallow candles, 8 cents per
kilogram; crockery, momamented, II
cents kilogram.
There's protection for you. Even
PIG-IRON kEIIEN
would be satisfied, | think, with such n
tariff. Then there Is 'bultu or pack
age duty on every article besides the
amount mentioned, and the customs
broker usually charges 3 per cent. on the
amount of duties paid for making out the
I intcrmlnablc papers. At least that Is
what paid the agent at Nogales, on the
} Arizona boundary. SO you can imagine
what man has to pay II he puts his
1 goods through the custom-house in the
regular manner. such a condition of
affairs naturally invites smugglrrs 10
] u
"Don't the Mexican officers ever catch
the smugglcrsln
"Not often. Some of the officers along
the Rio Grande save good deal OF money
out of their salaries and get rich IN few
years, There's nothing like thrift, you
know, and there is not much civil-seIvicc
reform among Mexican officers. A few
weeks ago the resguardos, as the GUS
toms guards are called, did make a large
seizure Just below El Paso, ten or twenty
thousand dollars worth think
The packages were marked as having
come from one of the larg.
est business houses of III paso. one OF
the smugglers was killed and one of the
resguardos wounded In the fight which
took place.
"Won't that break up the trade In con
traband goods?"
"Not much. They can well afford tC
lose an Quilt OF buros with their cargo,
once in a WHILE
"YOu don't think there Is much snug
Cling the other way, from Mexico TO tn,
United StatcsYn
al don't see what there Is 10 smugglc
OF course a man can bring over u few
cigars IL he wants to 20 10 the trouble
hut what's the uscg The duty on cigar
into the United States is % per cent. az
yalorem, specific duty of $3.50 pei
pound and 80 per /, 900 for internal rev
cnue stamps, You can not import les'
than 5000 ut a time. What nnyon,
would do with them is more than know
One gets accustomed 10 their iayol
down there and smokes them II
preference 20 n poor domestic
cigar, but the cigars | bought
In Paso del Norte and Chihuahua were
rank and lad sort OF twang 10 then
which don't like. The American OF
ilccrs are very courteous and will pass ,
few cigars for your Own use Willingly
and as anybody can go over the river ant
buy pocket full every Sunday, II h'
wants them, bringing them In withou
molostation, IL would hardly pay 10 risl
the vengeance Of Uncle sam by Snug
Cling them. ! heard that the presen
collector of El Paso, "A gentleman name,
Sailor and a Republican, was to he re
moved, and his place given to cx-Mayo
Magotiin of El Paso. Magoilln is a repu