The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1895-02-22
A MIDNIGHT RAID.
Startling Consequences Of a Thiev-
ish Attempt at Smuggling.

While residing in the Canadian vii
iage of Chippewa, l happened one
night in July, 1864, to be detained very
late at my office, on the south side of
Chippewa creek, which discharges into
Niagara river about two miles above
the falls. The creek has two mouths,
separated by Hog island, which is some
three hundred yards below the bridge
which must cross to reach my house
Thirty feet from the south end of
this bridge stood large storehouse for
bonded whisky. The building rested
upon piles driven into the bed of the
stream, and its plank floor was about
four and one-half feet above the water.
Walking quietly, had barely come
upon the bridge when l heard above
the drowsy murmur of the falls pc
culiar, grating sound, coming appar-
emily from beneath the warehouse.
What could it be? Leaning over the
railing, listened intently.
The grinding noise seemed like that
produced by hand-turned auger bor-
ing through soft wood.
/ surmised at once that someone was
about to tap the lower tier of whisky,
consisting of casks containing one hun
dred and twenty gallons each. Who
could it be? Probably smugglers from
the American side of the Niagara were
at work, not buying their stuff, as
usual, but stealing it.
At this time the United States import
duty on spirits was two dollars a gal
lon. Common whisky could be bought
at the Chippewa distillery for seventy
cents per gallon in gold, and readily
sold across the line for five dollars in
greenbacks; SO there was large profit
in the contraband trade, even when
the smugglers paid for the liquor.
Men engaged in this nefarious traffic
used to row down from the distillery
to the mouth of the creek at night;
then tow their boat up the Canadian
side of the Niagara to point opposite
the head of Navy island, push across to
Buckhorn island and thence drop down
to some previously selected spot on the
New York state shore anywhere be-
tween Schlosser and Port Day. The |
always knew, by a prear-
ranged shore signal, that no officers |
were in the way and that cash Gus
toner was waiting for the cargo.
had listened scarce minute to the |
mysterious noise, when a chug was |
heard; then a renewed and sharper |
grating. So 1 knew that the auger |
had gone through the three-inch pine |
plank floor and was now biting into |
the hard oak of a cask.
The matter greatly concerned ME,
because / was the collector of inland |
revenue for that county, and in charge
of the bonded warehouse, the key of
which was then in my pocket. The
raiders intended, of course, not only to
wrong Uncle Sam, but doubly to de-
fraud the Canadian owners of the
whisky, who would lose the liquor it
self and also have to pay full excise
duty on all stolen from the warehouse.
The slightest alarm would have
driven the robbers off, but in that case
they would escape in the darkness. l
wished to capture them in the act, but
1Qw would this be possible?
II / called for help at that midnight
hour, the men would vanish at the first
sry. If l went back to my Office for
and attempted to arrest them
they would simply de-
" me, or, perhaps, plant me at the bot
tom of the creek.
resolved, before l did anything, to
how many there were. Noise
lessly crept under the bridge railing,
slid down brace and peered into the
inky blackness beneath the building.
just then thread of light from a
burglars lantern shot ont in my direc-
tom The boring ceased, and heard a