Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-04-07

authorities, and the buyer was afraid of .
trap) neither could they boldly board the
stage or bullock wagon without submitting
to regular customs house inspection.
NEW SCHEMES INVENTED.
Still, however, the illicit trade went on,
and so great were the attractions of excite
ment and gain that it held out, that num-
bers of well-bred men, belonging to families
of high repute in Europe, were drawn into
its embrace, caught and suffered their term of
imprisonment without their friends at home
ever hearing of it.
With the coming into force of this law
was the formation of preventive force, to
which I, in common with goodly number
of others, was appointed; and this gave me
an insight into great many queer tricks
that were tried with varying success.
One man had large shaggy dog that he
set great store by, and making about three
journeys to the coast every year, always
took the animal along with himg Suspicion
pointed to the man, but nothing could be
definitely pro we'd, until one of our men,
playing with the dog one day, discovered
that he was covered with number of re-
Gently healed scars, which the owner said
were the result of sand-fy sores. We, how
ever, were rather too conversant with those
pests not to recognize their marks at sight
On his next trip the owner was overhauled,
and no less than 80 fairly sized stones were
found hid in number of incisions in the
dogs skin, the edges Of which had been al
lowed to heal over the stones. These were
all placed in the portions Of the body most
difficult for the animal to scratch.
GUNS LOADED WITH DIAMONDS.
When this scheme was exposed, the au-
thorities at the coast seized upon the idea,
IL l.. A.
monds were being conveyed to Europe skill
fully sewn under the skin of living fowls,
birds and animals generally, which were
transported as geological specimens as gifts
to the various collections.
One man left the fields, and upon being
followed and overtaken, pretended he was
out hunting, and as we came up with him,
coolly put his gun TO his shoulder and shot
a bird sailing overhead, remarking as we
came up: 81 don't suppose that bird has
any diamonds under his skin, has hep" We
went through him, and finding nothing let
him 60. Some time afterward we learned
that the two shells he slipped into his gun
after firing it were loaded with diamonds
instead of powder and shot, and, 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 this the same man was caught at
the coast with two shotguns among his bag
rage for Europe, both of them being loaded
to the muzzle with diamonds, held in their
place by wad inserted as though to keep
out the dust.
HIDDEN IN BOOKS AND BOOTS.
The greatest haul we ever made was with
book agent; he came into the fields with a
wagon and team of oxen, and sold books to
every one, staying there quite while; when
he left we found II of his books had a cum
ming receptacle in the cover made BY hol-
lowing it out filling it with diamonds and
plugging the end with paper pulp. One of
our men picked up a volume to look at it
and hearing something rattle, discovered
the trick. There were over $10O, 900 in dia-
monds in his possession.
A Dutch Boer who came to the fields to
sell ostrich feathers, filed the quills of his
surplus stock with the stones, and tied the
ends over so naturally no one would have
the quills being black in their natural state
preserved the deception. These were only
small stones, and although there were
number of them, they did not 0mount to
any large sum, comparatively speaking.
Another clever trick was tried by man |
who had been a shoemaker, and who still |
preserved his tools. He fixed some hollow |
boot heels to number of shoes, filled them |
with diamonds, and passing inspection,
boarded the stage and drove of. Six hours
after he was gone, woman whom he had |
been drinking with gave the thing away be- |
cause he refused to take her along. We had !
a long and weary chase, and a dangerous
one, as the stage had relays of horses wait
ing, and we had not, and to get foundered |
on the veldt (pralrie) meant considerable !
hardship, if not death. We caught up
with them at last, and made him stare BY |
asking him to get down, while we went for |
his boots. - VILE. P. POND.