Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-12-05

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emetic and sat down to wait. Another man.
being subjected to search, dropped some gems
from his hand into q water pitcher that stood
by. afterward taking means 70 recover them
story that u probably untrue concerns a pet
pelican which brought some priceless rubies
through the custom house in its pouch.
Row LAcEs AND GLOVES ARE HIDDEN.
Laces and gloves are often found inclosed
between the leaves of books mailed from
abroad A while ago an inspector found hidden
in that way half Of q pair of silk tights for
stage use-that is to say, tho covering for one
ieg; He thought he would wait awhile and see
II the other leg did not turn MP, and, sure
enough; it came along about a fortnight later
IN another volume with the same address.
TRUNKS and boxes with false bottoms, this
being favorite device with smugglers. They
assert that women are NIL born smugglers. There
are no expedients to which they will not re-
sort Tor beating the revenue. Their favorite
hiding places are on their persons, and many
a time is the inspectress in charge obliged to
take lady OF suspicious proportions into her
private quarters and compel her to dis
robe. Costly point lace sewn upon
the underclothing is only o commonplace
device. Sometimes their bodies will be
wrapped around and around with lace,
ana the lat woman who has gone into the pri-
vate room to be searched may come out thin
lmportations OF large value were often carried
In bustles when those artificial deformitics
were IN fashion. On the frontier ferries from
Windsor to Detroit and from Sarnia to Port
Huron, the women passengers are constantly
smuggling goods across. So popular is this
form Of evading the law that American silks
are actually largely imported into Canada pay
ing the duty and struggled back into this coua-
Try to be sold as foreign goods at fancy prices.
nevertheless, it is a rule that women shall not
be prosecuted for such offenses. They cannot
help doing so, because they arc built that way.
SMUGGLING by NAVAL OFFICERS.
Naval officers do good deal of smuggling.
When vessel comes from a foreign station
each OF them is likely to have filed few little
commissions for his friends in the way OF rugs,
silks, sets Of china, &C., not to mention wines
and cigars. When the ship reaches the navy
yard these articles are shipped by express with
out having paid cent Of duty. A few years
ago $4,000 worth of cigars which had been
brought from Havana by the Kearsarge were
seized at an express office in Boston. When
Mi. Sherman was Secretary Of the Treasury he
asked Secretary of the Navy Thompson to Join
with him in making rule to the effect that all
naval vessels should be examined by the GUS
toms officials upon reaching port. Mr..
thompson was at first inclined to regard
the proposition favorably, but, after dis
cussing the subject with several officers Of the
navy, he changed his opinion and refused to
accede to Mr.. Sherman's suggestion. In the
the revenue marine. which is a sort Of small
navy attached to the Treasury Department.
over to the Navy Department, Senator Sher-
man opposed the motion, declaring that it
would be absurd to transfer an institution for
protection against smuggling to persons who
were themselves smugglers Secretary Thomp-
sons view OF the case WAS that naval officers
had small pay and ought to be allowed to get o
few things in free if they wanted to.
Diplomats accredited to this country are per-
mitted by law to import whatever they please
without paying duty, and the property they
bring over is not subjected to examination
They have more than once been accused Of
taking advantage of this permission to smuggle
things which they disposed of by sale. United
States consuis and ministers abroad are given
tiers, and it has been charged that they also
have profited by illegal importations very fire.
quently.
Most of the opium struggled into this coun-
try comes from Canada. The business of get
ting it across the border employs enormous
capital and industry Of hundreds of men who
have acquired experiences by experience. It is
vastly profitable, as may be conceived from the
fact that the importation Of l00, 600 pounds
duty free represents clear gain of 81 zoe, 600,
the tariff being Sl2 pound. Thus the per-
sons engaged are wiling to take considerable
risks, and these need not be so very great with
caution, inasmuch as the customs officers cannot
keep 5000 miles OF frontier constantly pa
troiied. The stuff can be conveniently shipped
to any place along the line and conveyed over
the border whenever it is desired.
How OPIUM Is BROUGHT FROM CANADA.
Where there is a river men in boats ferry it
over by night. 1t is shipped across in every
imaginable disguise-as household goods, sta
tionery, desiccated vegetables, pianos and what
not. There is almost no limit to the ingenious
resources of those engaged in the traffic. On
one occasion two men were arrested and twenty
cans found in their possession were confs-
Gated. The cans were stored for safe keeping
at Ogdensburg, N. Y, and in order to get rid
Of evidence against the parties concerned their
confederates used bribery and obtained access
to the captured goods, replacing the opium in
the cans with wooden blocks made to fit them
Fortunately the scheme was discovered imme-
diately afterward, else the prosecution would
have been put to ridicule by the exhibition OF
the blocks OF wood in court and the accused
would have escaped.
Some months ago an opium smuggler was
arrested who confessed that he had been en-
gagged for years in carrying it across tho from
tier by the satchelful at q time He travelled
to and fro by train, concealing his handbag
from the customs officers when possible. Other
wise he let it lie openly on a seat ,ther than
that which he himself occupied. II sus-
picion az to its contents had ever occurred to
the inspectors, he would simply have denied
that he owned it or knew anything about it.
In this simple manner he had imported more
than 500, 900 worth on his own account
Most of the opium brought from Canada is
manufactured at Victoria, where alone 125.OO0
pounds of the crude article is annually trans-
formed into about 10000 pounds of the pre-
pared product 1t comes chiefly from Turkey.
being inferior in quality to that imported from
China, and arrives in shape of balls.
EXTENT OF THE OPIUM HABIT.
After the petals Of the opium peoples have
fallen the seed pods rapidly develop, incl
dentaliy producing gummy juice. This juice
is gathered by cutting open the pods at the
proper time, and scraping it off with knives
when it has exuded. 1t is collected on leaves
and dried in lumps. Finally it is made into
balls OF certain weight and the balls are covered
with poppy petals agglutinated with paste Of
opium waste and other substances. After being
dried in the sun the balls are packed in chests
for export.
1t is in this shape that the opium reaches the
factories at Victoria, where the balls are
removed from their coverings of petals and the
material is boiled to q thin paste with water.
This paste. with some cold water added. is per-
mitted to stand for fifteen hours. after which it
is filtered through bamboo fiber paper. The
resulting brown liquid is concentrated by boil
ing down until it resembles molasses in con-
sistency. After being kept for few months il
Is ready Tor smoking purposes and is put up in
cans for market To make it ready for the pipe
ii is merely necessary to take u little of the
opium treacie on the end OF a little instrument
made for the purpose and twirl it deftlyfor.