The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1889-07-25
OCEAN BUNCO STEERERS.
PEOPLE WHO ACT AS lNFORMERS
UPON sMuGGLERs.

They Make Good Thing Out of 1t,
Though the Calling Is Rather Con-
Observation-Disclosures Who Put a Fly
in Their Rivals Coffee.
Ihere are scores of men and women in
this city who make large income every
year by acting as informers uponsmug-
glers. Sometimes they take a trip to
Europe themselves. They are generally
well supplied with money, and to the
majority of their acquaintance their
source of income is a mystery.
For years past it has been the policy of
the government, through the secretary
OF the treasury, to award Is per cent.
Of the value received from the sale of
smuggled articles to the party who dis
covered the smuggler, or who gave in
formation leading t0such siiscbverv.
tits estimated that IL 2ss.Ss manner the
government pays ont the sum OF S1O0, 600
q year. @ # y b
BETRAY1No FRIENDS.
In some cases the special deputy off,
GERS employed in the custom house are
given percentage of the seizures which
they make, and this is the principal rea-
son for their vigilance toward incoming
passengers, which has in many cases
been very offensive. . ~
The stewards and stewArdesses OF near
~ all the big Steamships are among the
most active informers, and they fire.
quently make a lot of money through it.
"They have not the slightest compunc-
ton in betraying their best friends said
special agent. They make u practice
Of finding out which Of the passengers
have diamonds, or silks and satins, or
other valuable articles that they hope to
smuggle through, and to these they init
mate that smuggling is the easiest thing
in the world. AS soon as the vessel ar
rives the informer rushes to a special
agent with the information, and the
would be smuggler loses his or her goods
as result OF listening to the talk of the
tempter. There is not a trip made by
oneof the craftsmanship when this does
not occur. An exception was noted the
other day when the stewardess of one of
the French line vessels was herself caught
smuggling, and goods valued at $1,000
were taken from her."
Milliners and tailors do not hesitate to
turn informers in order to get rival
into trouble, although they do not often
ask for share of the reward.
eve often receive cable from Paris
reading: Look out for milliner Miss
Smith on Etruria,'" said the special
agent, cor some similar wording. The
cable is sent by some rival milliner who
knows that Miss Smith is to sail on the
Etruria, and that the chances are ten to
one that she viii endeavor to smuggle in
trunkful of gewgaws with which to
ornament her stock of headgear. Poor
Miss Smith seldom learns how the Gus
toms officers learned of her attempt,
while her stealthy rival probably comes
in on the following steamer and escapes
through the lines without suspicion being
attached to her., -r..-,,.,.- sx
American taiors and cloth importers
who visit England for goods are invete1>'
ate informers upon their rivals in bust
ness, and most of the tips upon which
the special agents act are cabled across
by some anonymous sender who does not
care for the reward, but who wants to
get rival into the meshes of the custom
house.
Jewellers stick together better than
any other class of men who smuggle,"
said a customs official yesterday. '9t is
rare indeed that one jeweler will infoxm
upon another, and when one is caught
smuggling the others flock around him
in sympathy. and sometimes combine to
make good his losses"
There are several professional inform
ers who make it their business to travel
almost constantly on the ocean steamers,
where they lure amateur smugglers into
their net.
These men are well dressed and pose
as business or professional men who
have been abroad on a vacation.
On the voyage from Liverpool one of
them makes himself agreeable to the
men on board, and as the steamer nears
New York he boasts of his ability to
smuggle anything through the custom
house, from a diamond pin to an ele-
plant. SRI
81 always do it, he exclaims, con-
fidently. II never make European
trip without bringing back several hun
dred dollars worth of goods free of
duty" fsfA
Then he urges his friends to make the
attempt also, and one or two at least
always do SO.
Of course they are caught, while the
gentlemanly informer makes the price
of his passage and considerable spending
money as the result of his work.
Such informers are well known to the
custom house people, who designate
them as ocean bunco steerers."
No attempt is made by the steamship
authorities to prevent the work of the
informers, some of whom pick out a
good steamer upon which to employ
their talents, and practically live for
years upon it.--New York Journal.