Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1889-06-13

oho SedIcHer WITHOUT lear OF d6teCt1On,
as every dump would but increase the
security of the stole.
AT last it was found that nothing
would stop the pec,llation of the natives;
the cato nine-tails at the triangle rather
served to scare the newnative help away
than to correct those who were working;
prison was no punishment, and le
claim owners, in despair, turned taeir
attention to the channel they should
have struck at first.
The governing body passed law that
every dealer in diamonds, whether q
buyer or seller, should take out IL
cense costing $500, or, in default, if
caught dealing in any way, should be
subjected to heavy fine and imprison-
mems for two years, which sentence car
r1ed great weight, not 50 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-
init, 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 Gas 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,
were 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 a preventive
force, to which /, in common with q
goodly number of others, was appoint
ed2 and this gave me an insight into o
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 wear,
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 were the result of
sand-fy sores. We, however, were
rather 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 thirty fair
ly sized stones were found hid in a num-
Der of incisions in the dogs skin, the
edges of which have been allowed to
heal over the stones. These were 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 We're 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
with him cody put his gun to his shout
der and shot bird sailing overhead,
remarking as we came up: 81 don't
suppose thai bird has any diamonds
under his skin, has hes" We went
through him, and, finding nothing, let
him go. Some time afterward we learn
ed that the two shells he slipped into his
gun after firing it were loaded with dia-
monds 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
gage 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.
The greatest haul we ever made was
with a book agent He came into the
fields with a team of oxen, and solo
books to every one, staying there quite
a while; when he left we found seventeen
|
in the cover made by following it out,
filling it with diamonds and plugging
the end with paper pulp. One of oul
men picked up a volume to look at it
and hearing something rattle, discovered
/ the trick. There were over 100000 il
his possession.
A Dutch Boer, who came to the field
to sell ostrich feathers, filled the quill'
of his surplus stock with the stones, and
tied the ends over so naturally that NJ
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 mum
Der of them, they did not amount to any
large sum, comparatively speaking.
/ Another clever trick was tried by I
man who had been q shoemaker, anC
who still preserved his tools. He fixet
some hollow boot heels to number o
shoes, filled them with diamonds anC
passing inspection, boarded the stag
and drove off. Six hours after he wa
gone, a woman whom he had beer
drinking with gave the thing away be
cause he refused to take her along. w
had long and weary chase, and dan
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