The Portland daily press., 1893-07-15
OLD TIME SMUGGLING.
How the Business of Cheating the Govern
ment Has Degenerated.

How the Business of Cheating the Govern
ment Has Degeners.ted.
Instead of d run by night in an open
boat from the French coast to the shores
of Hampshire, Sussex, Essex or Kent, we
have to content ourselves in these prosaic
times with petty attempts to cheat the
revenue, for which women are more fre-
quently responsible than men. Such an
Incident once happened at Belfast, where
an Irishwoman named Mary Mcmahon
was brought to the police court charged
with keeping whisky on premises which
were unlicensed. Sergeant Jones de-
posed that he went into the defendants
house and found woman named Gray
ton, who was seated before the fire.
Upon searching her the sergeant came
upon SO bottles OF porter and two bottles
of whisky slowed away in her petit
soats. TO the inexpressible amusement
sf the spectators the sergeant produced
the peccant garments in court. Each
petticoat was made Of coarse saeking
and was girt with innuanerable pockets,
and all Of them lined with soft material
so as TO keep the bottles from blinking
and possibly breaking each othes.
Unhsppily foS peer Nary Mcmahon,
the pettscoats, whisky and porter were
confscated by the relentless police mag
istrate, and the chief delinquent was
sent to Jail for three months. I enter
tain no doubtthat the hearty sympathies
Of nine tenths of those present In court
went with Mary Mcmahon to limbo.
There has, we fear, never been time
In Scotland or Ireland when surrepti-
tious potheen and mountain dew which
never paid a bawbee to the state excheq-
ter did not, like stolen kisses, taste the
sweeter because of their clandestine
birth.
He, however, who would fain find
amusing stories about running the block
hde and smuggling contraband of war
through an enemy lines may turn with
advantage to many transatlantic maya
Zines which TEEN with articles revealing
the Illicit trade carried on during the
American civil war. Ladies of the Belle
Boyd and Mrs. Greenhow type were
caught trying to make their way down
south with countless boxes of copper
caps and packages of quinine stitched
into their orino1ires. Captain Roberts,
better known under his real name, Ho-
bart Pasha, tells us that he smuggled
great quantities of Cookies pills into Sc
cessna, but that the southerners, differ
ing In taste from the lamented Colonel
Fred Burnaby, would have none of them.
A certain young lady, who appeared
to be in delicate health, took ship at New
York for Havana, whence she hoped to
run the blockade into Mobile. Over
powered by seasickness during the voy-
age, she could not prevent the steward
ess from discovering that she was grit
| round about with linen bandages, among
which many costly drugs were slowed.
Such is the complexion to which modern
smuggling has come at last. Our coast
guards have no preventive duties to per-
form, and their only raison d'etre is to
watch that no foreign foe makes a de-
scent on our coasts. The Dirk Halter
alexis of the past are as dead as the pi-
rates Of the Captain Cleveland order,
and i, their stead petty larceny revenue
cheaters like Mary MacMahon have
sprung into existence.-London Society.