News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-11-04
THE MODERN SMUGGLER
HE WEARS FINE CLOTHES IrSTEAD
OF CUTLkSSES.
How Customs Duties are Avoided
A Talk With a Special Agent
Diamonds in a Cake of Soap.

| passed away, and there are those who
b lieve he never existed at all. But SNUG
ghng has not stopped. Only now they
| doht go IL gangs and sail their own
ships. They d mt wear red shirts and
cutlas e. nowadays. They are entirely
respectable people and 90 in the best
society. They wear fine clothes and dia-
monds, and are very friendly with the
customs officers. The smuggling is now
done mostly by fashionable people who
travel and by business men.
1--WE can never tell how much is done, -
said special agent of the government
to Washington Star reporter 81 have
nc doubt an immense number of things
are landed without duty. There is no
such thing as band of smueglers, but
nearly every steamer brings over some
contraband goods.
They a:e generally fine laces, mil
lin ry, expensive tailor trimmings and
the like. A great many bushes men go
abroa with trunks and bring them back
full of these things. They are very ex-
pensive, AMI many thousand dollars
worth can be brought over in a very
smIll space. Expensive feathers, fine
velvets and ribbons, laces, silk braid and
s ace, and are subject to high duty.
Sometimes smngglers get caught. We
can't tell how often they don't. ,Jewelrv
IS smuggied to great extent, particularly
diamonds. Nea.ly all the diamonds
brought to this country are smuggled.
We know that great quantity of these
gems are imported, but we have never
col .ected duty on many. Such an i'm
mense value can be carried in a mail
space that it is very easy to evade the
customs fiCe!s. Ten thousand dollars
worth of diamonds might be carried in
mans vest pocket. Who would think
to search him unless he was suspected of
smuggling2 The customs offic ers can't
search eYerybOdy"
"But then, he added, as if he feared
he was offering too much encou agement
to violations of customs, "but then you
must not think it together safe bnsi-
ness. You might get caught when you
least expected. Men who think they
are perfectly safe often fall into trap.
There ale people who are always ready TO
give information that will lead to the
uncovering of smugglcr The govern
ment was warned by an anonymous let
ter not long since, that a certain party
would sail from Europe on a certain
steamer, and that if we would search him
we would find diamonds. We were on
the watch. He was very gentlemanly
man of fine appearance and good adj
dress. He had only the ordinary lug
gage; was perfe ,tly willing that it should
be searched, but was amused at the idea
of being suspected of smuggling The
officers felt rather cheap after a fruitless
search, and were apoligizing for the
trouble they had given him, when one of
them picked up cake of soap out of his
dressing case. There was nothing pecu-
liar in the appearance of the soap,
but when the officer handled it
too roughly it broke open and
out rolled the little sparkling
gems. The inside of the cake had been
followed out and $40, coo worth of dia-
monds hid away in the cavity. Had we
not been notified he would have been
perfectly sa e and got through as others
have done. But no man can be sure that
he will not be the one to be caught. Cur
informers are everywhere. The Govern
ment can give a reward Of as much as
half the value Of the goods seized to the
informer This is an inducement to MANY
people to report any cases that come un-
der their notice. There are people con-
stantly on the lookout on the other side,
and we are notified when to look for
A great many pat lotto citi.
hens have an antipathy for smugg crs and
do, as matter of IJT. .ncinle. report avc1.y
one they find. Preachers arc part 'cuiarfv-
apt to do this. The cloth is our best
source of information. People frequently
brag, on going abroad, that VIII they
return they will bring so and so without
duty. We generally hear of this and are
On the lookout. Only the other day n
gentleman came to the Office and informed
me of parties who were going to bring
over lot of valuable things. He did it
merely because he hated smuggling
"But experienced smIgglers, " cJntin-
ned the special agent, do not get
caught thus. They are generally known
IS dealers, and their baggage is very
closely wat, he'd, but they never make
,1ntidant of any one. Tourists do much
They bring presents to their
friends and collect ornaments and all
sorts of things they can get cheap
lbroad, and try to slip them through
with ut duly. Many people do this
without knowing that they are violating
he law. They think that anything they
10 not intend to sell is not dutable
With thou ands of dollars worth of
hings in their trunks they II swear
hat they have no dutiable goods Their
,ur Prise is genuine when the goods are
seized The question what const tutCs
| lady's or gentleman's wardrobe is one
hat bothers US much. In former years
he station of the person was taken into
If very wealt " man
lad a dozen suits of clothes, lot of
every and all sorts of expensive t0g-
geIy it was considered nothing more
han his right But for a man of less
means to have so much made him an OBJ
ect of suspicion and he WAS liable to
lirest for smuggling. The same way
With the women. A rich woman in fash
enable life could bring over a hundred
dollars' worth of ieWclry and
lresses. Though this was logical, mas
much as it might properly be pre>um d
hat ose who could not afford to wear
uch expensive forgery must be brin
NO it not for their own use, yet it seemed
III uni discrimination against the poor
n ia or of the rich. and the method had
20 be alb llished.
Since the Astor decision there seems
o be almost no end to what may be
brought over free of d ty as personal
eFects. Mrs. ! stor, you may remember,
came home from Europe with enough
lresses and iewelry to open a big estab
j .hment The duty on them amounted
o $4,000. She swDre that they consti-
p ted her wardrobe and leGu-ed to pay
he duty. The department insis ed that
hey were dutiabe, and the case was
ca"Iied to the Supreme Court, where it
was decided that they must be admitted
free.
''The things that are smuggled most,
next to iewelry and trimmings, are gloves.
fans and stockings This cannot be
stopped. Gloves and stockings are fre-
luently sent one at time through the
nail. Another thing upon which very
title duty is colectC d, though doubtless
much is imported, is opium. This IS
into California to great eN-
ent, | presume. but there is TO way of
cling. Certainly the Chinese there use
NJ ch of it on which duty has never en-
,ollected.' -
Chivalry in ArmOr.
War is always brutal, always Terrible;