The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-12-18

! Into the Country Against the Laws
| Customs Onicers.
/ There are just two commodities In the
| contraband line that are handled here
opium and Chinese These are compara-
! lively bulky, and in the east, where the
/ country is better settled and has less denss
! forests and more customs officers, they could
! not be brought in with the same ease that
! they are here. There are few regions thai
! offer the physical advantages to smugglers
! that the Puget sound district does. As-
/ cording to the United States coast survey,
! there are sos miles OF shore on Puge,
sound, and nearly all of it is thickly
wooded.
| The line between British Columbia and
( the United States winds around in verit-
able archipelago. On one island a hum
dred Chinese can land undisturbed. or
whole shipload of opium can be dumped
off without fear OF penalty; on another
! island, perhaps only a short distance away.
TO land Chinese or TO put off opium is
serious crime. To amply guard all these
numerous islands, straits, inlets and BAYS
the government would be obliged TO main
tain a whole regiment of inspectors and O
feet of vessels.
On the sound, as in all localities near the
boundary, there is certain under feeling
that it is no crime to smuggle a little, pro-
viding you are not caught. Very few peo-
pie will hesitate 60 90 across the line and
buy some article on which there is duty
and bring it over secretly if they can.
Many of the professional smugglers think
that it is all right TO swindle the govern
ment, and with the single exception Of
smuggling they are as honest as the best
citizens.
NoT ENOUGH INSPECTORS.
There are forty customs officers, includ-
ing collector, deputy collectors, inspectors
and clerks in the Puget sound district.
Nearly three fourths of that number are
inspectors. In the larger cities there are
two or three inspectors, who have regular
shifts; in the smaller ones one man is re-
quired to watch day and night. Every
regular steamer coming from Victoria and
British Columbia ports has United States
customs inspector on board, and every
train crossing the boundary carries gov
ernment official on the alert for opium, the
principal article handled by dealers in con-
traband goods.
But for several reasons smuggling has
not been stopped. The number of inspec-
tors is entirely insufficient to guard all the
numerous islands, each covered with jun
gle of vegetable and forest growths and
very thinly populated. Another reason is
that the temptation is so strong and the
prospect of gain SO great that reputable
citizens and even customs officials them
selves often connive at the uefarious busi-
ness.
The regular market price of smugglers
for bringing in Cinnamon is about fifty
dollars per head. Sometimes smuggler
who is hard up will bring in bunch of
them at reduced figures, but they seldom
go below thirty dollars.
The routes utilized constantly vary. but
the methods are in the main the same A
white man goes TO Victoria and finds Ce-
lestial, generally "highbinder," with
whom he makes arrangements to take
lover" a certain number of Cinnamon at a
certain rate. Then he tells the Monaghan
where to bring the Cinnamon to board his
boat at night. Usually he cannot handle
over dozen, and nine seems TO be the IA
vorite number. If the smuggler runs into
a customs inspector before be gets rid Of
his Cinnamon he will find himself in the
United States penitentiary at NcNeiIs
island in a very few days.
KILLED FOURTEEN TO SAVE HIMSELF
Larry Kelly, a notorious smuggler. Is
said to have confessed TO fellow prisoner
that he once murdered fourteen Cinnamon
by hitting them over the head with club
one by one and throwing them overheard
rather than be caught with them on his
boat. He had a powerful glass, and saw
the revenue cutter in pursuit a considera-
bic time before he was overhau!ed.
There is one large island in the sound
near the boundary, where there are be-
tween 800 and 400 Chinese and it is next to
impossible to pick out contraband China
men after boatIoad has landed IL the
load of Mongolians is to be landed in city
a confederate on shore tells the smuggler
when and where to make the landing
If Cinnamon are to be brought in by
land they leave the Canadian Pacific rail-
road at almost any station near the border
BY previous arrangement they go into the
woods, to elude the possible inspector on
watch, and here meet the man who is to
bring them through. Then, travelling by
night, they follow some trail or railroad
through the thick woods until they reach
a town where there are other Cinnamon
In daytime they camp in the most secure
place they can find, while the smuggIer
goes out to buy food.
It does not cause any especial excite
ment in a town if the smuggler's business
leaks out, bat he usually tries TO keep it
shady. He has friends along the route to
whom he goes Tor information about the
movements OF customs officers. Some
times he succeeds in standing in with some
freight conductor or brakeman and gets
the use OF box car 70 carry the China
men through. Cinnamon are very seldom
struggled on the sound passenger steam
srs-
HOW OPIUM IS HANDLED.
But the greatest amount of smuggling
by far is done in opium, IS it is easier TO
get through the lines and because as much
money can be made out OF four or five
pounds as can be secured from Que China
man. In Victoria there are an immense
number OF Cinnamon, and they manufac-
ture or boil down the crude opium 70 make I
the refined article used in commerce. Usu-
ally IL IS put 10 in i've teal tin cans, weigh !
ing one-half pound, but the manufacturers /