The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-01-01
DETECTION OF SMUGGLING.
III ELABORATE sPY SYSTEM ON
Roth SIDES ~ ATLANTIC.

AHnre Alert to Discover and Betrny Him.
On the second floor Of tho Custom House Is
q room which Is rarely seen by visitors. Its
massive mahogany door opens very seldom.
and always closes with q snap and bang. The
gloomy old pile Of gray stone from which
Uncle Sam traDsacts his business with i'm
porters and smugRlers has many mysterious
looking hooks and c~rannies In it's i'll lighted
interior. but this particular room. which is
used by the special inspectors. is the secret
chamber par excellence. which few learn to
know and these mostly regret their knowledge.
On a recent morning there sat in this room
n tall. strongly built man with silvered gray
hair and q closely cropped moustache OF similar
color. He had sharp blue eyes and an air OF
alertness which gave the impression that he
did not like to be Inactive. At the time mem
toned he was busy looking over some mail.
One OF his letters interested him particularly.
It had a foreign postmark. but was written In
English. as follows:
LONDON. Dec. -. 1892.
DrAn Sin, Look out for tall. fat Frenchmar. who
will arrive by Etruria on her next sailing. He calls
himself Henri Blanc. He has n black moustachs and
imperial. and can converse in French. Russian. Ger.
man, and English. lie is going to try and pass 5000
worth OF unset pearls bought at our house. I will
notify you II he changes his sailing arrangements
Yours. truly. W.T..
The reader looked up from the letter with a
smile. Then he tossed the letter over to the
reporter. who had been seated at his side.
with the sententious remark:
Read it."
There is frcm $500 to.S1. 900 In TINT for me
II I catch the follow he added. although I'll
have to give up some Of 1t to the writer of this
letter. You see. the law allows a customs off,
Ger a reward for Selling smugGled goods. pro-
vided he secures the information on which the
seizure is made himself. II l seize these
pearls they will probably be appraised at
$4,000. Then they will be forfeited to the
Government through action brought by the
United States District Attorney. Later they
will be sold at auction. and as such property
usually brings all 1t is worth. the Government
will have in hand $4,000. OF this $1.25O will
be used to pay the duty Of 25 per cent. Of the
appraised value. Then the expenses OF the
sale. a small amount. will also be deducted.
Upon my fling my claim with the Secretary OF
the Treasury l will receive ono quarter OF the
balance.
Very few persons have any idea OF tho
special customs inspectors work. The men
who see US around here or at the docks occa-
sionally imagine that we are gilt;edged de-
p zen to ordinary %sdHi m mort are clear as
the newspapers from time to time give the
general public a like impression. The fact lie.
h mSrSsfs in 1ha ,hS We ae as nSe p Iins. %s t. hs ss ANY ni
h ha fh as much N iS espse oIiss b rs Detectives a as m .sa
All that. We would be able to make mighty few
big seizures IL we had nothing else to rely
that ever lived to catch a professional SNUG
sIer by sta a ding 6 on a sSteamsaaip pier
Set vi a stea 1nsee i Th ,our ne "unalsn p papae
grapher writes frequently Of this inspector or
that who ;. detected ts q smnggler IN the crowd Of
or tie pad NJ Of his clothes. The great genius
81 the inspector Is shown BY the fact that he
a mans unnaturally long, shoes. or in his OK
ceedipgly long and thick hair: or in his pulled;
Of the clever way, in which women %smugglers
have been caught with, laces sewed inside OF
their bodies? The impression which the read-
or OF such yarns has is that the, won
d deFested syt the o. sm ,ns saas' soods ib% y tSe sh.
natural size of the smuCglers; Inasmuch as
the inspector never saw them before. and did
lean. that is a likely theory! It must not be
supposed that smugglers OF this class are
ss sMkW uppea nnd dis S%nTe,nfi as 10 % @a. ind Ieear
Notwithstanding stories OF %smugglers whose
s%int"ssI nsof IS not Ua' carried add" on by ,"G nervous rta1s or
bunGling people; An ordinary citizen. is likely
to be nervous when he tries to pass IN a ring
or two. or a watch. or even a few clothes. but
tho persons who try to bring in quantities, OF
levels or ANYTHING else are adepts at dsceiy.
fail because of any attention attracted to their
THE fact is that the inspectors have to rely
upon tips to a large extent. The same thing
is mainly true of the police detectives. II 1t
Ss Gis nSt fGe 5nf sna yoa WIZ VIII f fST tS SaeG ths S sfoof
who works alone and has no mistress or
other contldant is rarely caught. The only men
whom l ever knew to trace criminals with
paper reporters. They work on theories sug-
| crime. but mighty few professional detectives
have brains enough Tor that. was on the POI
s sneak m'ffn n SPITE 5Rf S Sf ali t ans fancy snSy y wPHssG The
chances are ten to one TINT when a burglar Is
caught after the act it Is because a pal. dissat,
Tho ~srcciatcustoms inspector differs from
some Special department. and works only on
necessary that. he should have numerous
friends among those who have the opportunity
tG .sfrn a consui sm IN fihe leading hnsSf Eu lnS1eas
cities. clerks In Jewelry and dry goods houses;
officers OF TRANSATLANTIC steamships. The
friendship OF these people is. formed on the
solid basis OF dollars and cents. The inspec-
give him valuable information. and is ready
at all times to pay II commission to them. The
tips and their frequency. II a man in London
or Paris can frequently let me know OF, at
tempted smuggling 1 am WILING 10 pay MIN
TT may be asked how these people get their
information. In the most natural way in tho
world. In the, first place. being on the lookout
for 1t. they mako 1t n point to secure the con-
fdences Of all strangers whom they suspect OF
mn intention to visit tho United States. Tho
clerks in the big lewelry houses, the hotel
clerks, and the BARRIERS, look innocent enough
to the would-be smuggler., He never suspects
them q such a thing as being IN league with
ment. and, he would ho least likely to CON
to this country. 1t is a curious trait OF most
human beings that they cannot Keep their
personal affairs to themselves, Naturally.
%smugglers are more INCLINED to BIO secretive
than honest folks. but few OF them can always
keep mum, When they get chatting with
the hotel clerk and the latter suggests that a
| friend OF his made. = pot Of money by Snug
Cling some iewelry into the United States. the
smugGler Is more self-contained than the ay-
eragei II he does not drop a hint OF his own in
t~entions. The hotel clerk Is n great adept Mt
worming secrets out of these people. but the
barber is by all odds the most proficient. The
barbers at the hotels lreIuented by Americans.
and also in the hotels at the ports from which
every stranger who places himself In their
hands. As a matter OF fact. i believe they lre-
npantly aro incentiyes TO smuRClinQ. for thav