The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-11-11
WAYS OF SMUGGLERS
MANY SUCCEED DESPITE CONSTANT
waTcHFuLNESs.

4
Great Ingenuity Displayed IN the Duss-
ncss-The Governments Detectives Are
Pretty sharp, Too--some Favsrits Msth-
DDS OF Smuggling.
IN spite Of the vigilance Of customs IN
spectors and the almost perfect working Of
| the secret service, smuggling il continually
carried on in some degree, and for ingenui-
" in ways that arr dark and tricks not
always vain the smugglcr Is an adept.
Steamers from South America and the
West Indies and tramp steamers bring IN
cigars, liquors and great variety OF mer-
chandise not on the vessel s manifest, which
| finally gets on the market without paying
tribute 70 the government, and probably
never great transatlantic liner arrived a.
this port that did not Bring some goods
which were Struggled through. The cases
| of Struggled English clothing on Liver
pool steamer. when the fact was brought
| to light that for years London tailors had
| been evading American duties, will give
sorae idea Of what may stin Be going on
undetected.
The ingenuity Of the smuggler is great.
Some years ago, when the barge ofIicc was
used as landing place for cabin passen-
| gers, a custom house officer one day step-
ped up 20 respectable appearing. wen
dressed woman, who with her husband
was standing waiting TO have her luggage
examined, and requested her presence IN
the searching room. She carried q small
travelling bag in her hand, and he made
her bring that along too. She was OF
course indignant aud her husband uttered
all sorts Of threats against the officer for
what he denounced as this outrage"
CIGAEs IL DEAD HORSE
But the officer calmly opened the bag
and took therefrom n soap box. and from
the soap box n cake Of soap. The cake Of
soap had been used, and looked like any
other innocent piece OF toilet soap. But
when the officer cut il in two with his
knife nest OF sparkling diamonds Of great
beauty and value was disclosed in its in
terror. How the customs eiicer knew that
woman, that travelling bag and that cake
of soap is a mystery, but one no doubt sus-
ceptible of an easy solution IL all the facts
In the case were known.
The secret service has its agents every
where, and the great trouble with women
smuggIers shat they will talk, especially
when they have hit upon some particularly
ingenious plan for smuggling. Sometimes
portly women will enter the seizure room
to merge thercfrom greatly cmaniated, but
leaving behind large quantities Of valuable
lace.
The smoltestacks Of steamers from the
West Indies have been known on several
occasions TO WELD up many hundred dol
hrs worth of cigars. In fact, the smoke
stack is favorite place for hiding snug
gled goods. This sort Of smuggling Is done
BY the crew, who work under the doubls
disadvantage as a rule of having 70 evads
the watchful eyes of both the officers Of the
steamer aud the customs officers
Once a dead ..orse hoated mp on the
beach at COney island. When people went
10 remove the carcass they found that the
Intestines had been removed and the inte-
rior OF the dead animal TILED with Havana
cigars. The carcass and its caigo had prob
ably been thrown overheard from some
steamer and the confoderstes who were 10
have towed the argosy ashore nj some So
cluded place had missed connection.
Throwing things overheard when the veS-
sci arrives ct night TO be picked up By .
boat from shore Is a common practice.
N NEW YORK HARBoR
The writer was once becalmed At night
was intensely dark, so that the outlines OF
the hull OF a big steamer whose lights
CLEANED through the blaekness from where
she was anchored or toward orton's
point could scarcely be sSen- Suddenly a
rowboat appeared alongside rhe catboat,
and a robust young man placed one hand
on the rail and gazed eLyI,usly mp at the
faces Of the occupants OF the catboat,
W. fch mara xrfss hio he h. Of fh. L.
tern In the cockpit.
The people In the catboat were too as
tonished 10 say anything. and apparently
the man in the boat had nothing % say,
for after n moments sizing up he showed
of, and disappeared a. noiselessly az hs
came in the direction Of the steamer. His
oarS were so completely muffied that they
made not the faintest sound In the row
locks, and he was 50 expert a ROVER that
the blades made not the slightest splash In
the water. The owner OF the catboat mere
ly shrugged bis shoulders and said, ''oh,
it's only one Of those shore fellows going
OF 70 a steamer after goods"
Altoget her 1t was a weird and khostliks
affair, and savored VI old time smuggling
and the romance thereof Sometimes .
swift calling vessel is used. which. ap-
preaching the orust, lays or and on until
night, and then putting into some obscurs
harbor lands a portion Of its cargo and
sails away 10 some nearby port 20 enter and
discharge the goods on ia manifest
The yacht Haloyon, wrecked on the Jap
shese coast, wa A. one time q celebrated
Smuggler on the Pacific coast. Once =
schooner came sailing up Earragansett
bay, and az nigh; put into little harbor
on the Warwick shore. where she unloadsd
q large cargo The goods were stored in
the barn VI n farmer nearby. A dray load
Of foreign goods coming into Providencs
from Warwick excited the suspicious 90
somebody and arrests and seizures fol-
lowed.-New York Tribune
Commerce Of the Great Lakea