Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1895-10-14
SMUGGLING RY MAIL.
The san Francisco ONCE Is FIRE.
auentIy Imposed Upon.

BO"'
No department Of the Govern
ment service in San Francisco
gives the Federal authorities more
trouble than the detection Of
smugglers who operate through
the Post Office, yet it is one of the
most important branches of the
service, requiring keen observa-
ton and delicate touch.
Some Of the most important
smuggling operations ever detect
ed in the United States Postal
Service have been unearthed in San
Francisco. Though the New York
Post Office is at the gateway of
the great Occidental civiliza-
tions of Europe and the CONT
nent, that office has never been
imposed upon by the smugglers
40 much as the San Francisco
office. The reason for this is that
the goods Of the Orient are of that
delicate texture and weight that
render them peculiarly adapted
to the mails, while most of the
manufactures of the countries of
Europe are bulky and more adapt
ed to freight ships than to mail
pouches.
But the practice of smuggling
at the San Francisco market is
not what it was once, because the
many ruses formerly employed
have lost their novelty, one by
one, and the risk is generally too
great in proportion to the value of
the articles that can be struggled
by mail.
"In the old days" said Super
intendant Meares a few days ago,
"there were fifty or sixty cases of
smuggling a month, but now the
seizures will not reach over
twenty"
The peculiar genius shown by
the senders of prohibited articles
is now quite well balanced by the
astuteness of the clerks whose
duty it is to ferret them out.
During the holiday season the
greatest number of confscations
are made. They consist largely
of silk handkerchiefs, silk hose,
fans, curios, books and other
valuable things from the Orient,
and they come to the office In all
guises and shapes. 1t is very
common practice to place hand
kerchief in newspaper, the en-
tire package being folded and
addressed in the ordinary way.
Of course, the handkerchiefs come
principally in the China mails,
and then often reach their desti-
nation without discovery.
A veteran in the office, who has
made a close study of the silk
handkerchief problem, recently
said: II cannot say just how
it is that l discover hand
kerchiefs in newspapers, but
it seems to be a sort
of intuition or second nature, like
playing q piano or shaving in the
dark. The ends of my fingers
seem to be alive, and 1 get an
idea that the yielding package |
contains a silk fabric. l can
simply feel it."
About dozen hankerchiefs are
taken from every Oriental mail. |
1t is one of the most interesting
phases of the curious detective
art to watch a few rapid clerks
handle twenty or thirty large |
sacks of Oriental mail. Some
times gloves and dainty articles
of silk are detected in the San
Francisco mails, and once silver
cross from across the Atlantic
came in a prayer book. A square
hole was cut in the inside of the
book from page one to the close, |
and in it was placed a valuable
silver cross. The receiving clerk
felt the depression and the book
was turned over TO the Customs
Department.
1t seems odd that attempts
should be made to smuggle mush-
rooms into the San Francisco
Postof1ice from Italy, but the
practice is quite prevalent. The
mushrooms are of peculiar
brand, dried, and quite
by Italian residents.
They come in small bags, as a
rule, with 16 to IS cents in post
age attached, and are almost in