Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-05-16

the searcher without fear of detection,
as every dump would but increase the
security of the sto e.
At last it was found that nothing
would stop the peculation Of the natives;
the cato nine-tails at the triangle rather
served to scare the newnatiye help away
than to correct those who were working;
prison was no punishment, and the
claim owners, in despair, turned their
attention to the channel they should
have struck at first.
The governing body passed law that
every dealer III diamonds, whether a
buyer or a seller, should take out Ii
cense costing $500, or, in default, il
caught dealing in any way, should be
subjected to heavy fine and imprison-
mems for two years, which sentence car
ried great weight, not so much owing to
the incurred disgrace as to the loss OF
valuable time, it being the opinion of
most men of the fields that the bottom
must soon drop out, and that the supply
of diamonds could not last forever.
The same law also provided that no dia-
monds should leave the camp with an I'M
licensed person. except by special per-
NIT, thus preventing the selling of stones
by unlicensed diggers or traders at the
seaport town.
This came down with sledge ham
mer force upon the unlicensed whites,
who, still getting stones from the natives,
could not sell them TO the licensed bro
kers las the seller feared being handed
over to the authorities and the buyer
was afraid Of a trap, neither could they
boldly board the stage or bullock wagon
without submitting TO regular customs
house inspection.
Still, however, the illicit trade went
on, and so great were the attractions of
excitement and gain that it held out,
that numbers of well-bred men, belong
ing to families of high repute in Europe,
/ We're drawn into its embrace, caught and
suffered their terms of imprisonment
without their friends at home ever hear
ing of it.
With the coming into force of this
law was the formation of preventive
force, to which /, in common with a
goodly number of others, was appoint
edl and this gave me an insight into a
great many queer tricks that were triei
! Win wary lnB succcSS.
One man had large shaggy dog that
he set great store by, and making about
three journeys to the coast every yea,
always took the animal along with him.
Suspicion pointed to the man, but moth
ing could be definitely proved, until
one of our men, playing with the dog
one day, discovered that he was covered
with number of recently healed scars,
which the owner said we're the result of
sand-hy sores. We, however, were
/ rather rather too conyersant with those
pests not to recognize their marks at
sight. On his next trip the owner was
overhauled, and no less than thirty fair
ly sized stones we're found hid in q num-
Der of incisions in the dogs skin, the
edges of which have been allowed to
heal over the stones. These we're all
placed in the portions of the body most
difficult for the animal to scratch.
When this scheme was exposed the
authorities at the coast seized upon the
idea, and by close inspection found that
diamonds were being conveyed to Eu-
rope skillfully sewn under the skin OF
living fowls, birds and animals gener-
ally, which were transported as zoolog-
ical specimens or gifts to the various
/ collections.
One man left the fields, and upon be-
/ ing followed and overtaken, pretended
he was out hunting, and as we came up
I with him cody put his gun to his shout
der and shot bird sailing overhead,
remarlIing as we came up: Il don't
i suppose thai bird has any diamonds
under his skin. has her We went
! through him, and, finding nothing, let
/ him 90. Some time afterward we learn
/ ed that the two shells heslipped into his
4 gun after firing it were loaded with dia-
+ monds instead Of powder and shot, and,
I although the butt had been tested and
+ the ammunition in his belt inspected,
no one thought of looking at the two
/ cartridges in the barrels Soon after
4 this the same man was caught at the
+ coast with two shotguns among his bag
! gage for Europe, both of them being
4 loaded to the muzzle with diamonds,
held in their place by wad inserted as
! though to keep ont the dust.
/ The greatest haul we ever made was
4 with book agent. He came into the
\ fields with team of oxen, and sold
books to every one, staying there quite
I a while; when he left we found seventeen
4 of his books and cunning receptacle
in the cover made by following it out.
4 filling it with diamonds and plugging
the end with paper pulp. One of our
men picked up volume to look at it,
and hearingsomething rattle, discovered
! the trick. There were over 100000 in
/ his possession.
ADutch Boer, who came to the fields
to sell ostrich feathers, filled the quilts
of his surplus stock with the stones, and
tied the ends over SO naturally that no
one could have dreamed that they had
ever been opened, and the quilts, being
black in their natural state, preserved
the deception. These were only small
/ stones. and, although there were a num-
Der of them, they did not amount to any
large sum, comparatively speaking.
Another clever trick was tried by
man who had been shoemaker, and
who still preserved his tools. He fixed
some hollow boot heels to a number OF