Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-01-31
bridge between them. The town

bridge between them. The towns
exchange goods with little re-
gard to the revenue officials. You
may walk over that bridge lay the
toll, and unless Won ere carrying a
trunk you pass unquestioned . So,
too, many a man drives q decrepit.
worn out horse across TO the Canadian
side and returns, after a proper lin
gering, with quite a different animal.
The officer at the gate has forgotten
the identity. If he remembers it, he
cannot swear to 1t, probably and cred
its the vast improvement in the horse
TO the bracing quality Of Canadian, air.
The inhabitants of the island and be-
low, OF Eastport, Lubec and Campo
bello, the last a summer resort of grow
ing popularity. enjoy free trade In like
fashion IL they are SO inclined, and
many Of them are.
Further up the country. where the
railroads cross at at Vanceboro, Me,
all baggage is inspected, or is suppos-
ed 10 be, yet you might as well wager
that you could carry what You liked
in diamonds, silks or opium out of or
into Canada and stand TO win. 4
revenue nan opens your grip peers
into Ii, digs down into ii, perhaps, and
oyertrrns a few of the articles ii con-
tains, then marks II with a bit OF
chalk and Is done. What you or the
ordinary immigrant has in his peck
cts, or in his hat, his shoes, or his
his padded garment s is only discov-
cred when the traveller does some
thing which would arouse suspicion
anywhere under heaven.
OF course, IL you begin to carry
great quantities of dutiable goods
across the border, they will be MOTTO
ed and promptly seized, but no one
attempts any such thing. The traveller
smuggles in n small way in most in
stances. Only one who Is accustomed
to EXare the journey by rail can real
iZe how farcical is the examination at
the border.
In the wilder country which lies
where the border Is a mere survey line,
one does as one pleases there. An ex-
ample is the Megantic region, where
Morrison, the Megantic outlaw, so
long defied the authorities. To cover
such territory would necessitate the
employment OF al army. 1t is not
worth while, so the smuggler does Is
he likes, because neither government
car afford to 60 to great expense to
stop the leaks which are trifing in the
aggregate.
A Little Trick with Diamonds.
Even in cases where suspicion has
been aroused there are many ways OF
outwitting the authorities. Ii was not
long ago that a Maiden Lane jeweler
suspected of smuggling jewelry into
the United States from Paris through
Toooin ryac watched an1 Hrn1lu fol
lowed. His house had a Paris branch
and it was thought the operations
were extensive. Diamonds are admit
ted to Canada free of duty and when
the revenue detective had followed
his man to Montreal and had discover
ed that he received large packages
of precious stones through the Mon
treal p~ostoffice from the continent, he
scented a big capture. He waited IN
til the jeweler started for New York,
and boarded the same train. When
they crossed the border they had a
sleeper all TO themselves, and the de-
tectiye, once on United States soil, ac-
cused the merchant. and demanded
the right to search him. The dealer
was Indignant. The detective insist.
ed. The dealer resisted. The detec-
tiNb was TIE DlEScE VI Ilt l"O, anu
overcoming his man by main force
he made a search and found nothing
dutiable. He was profuse e his apollo
gies, and the merchant who might
have made no end of trouble over the
affair, consented to be Modified. They
became friendly, but the detective
still wondered about those diamonds.
He did not forget them either, and
a year later a special treasury agent
in New York discovered that the
crafty "a from Maiden Lane
instead OF attempting to car
nv the sparklers over the line
himself, had simply shipped
them from Montreal to a trusty ally
In Windsor, Ontario, who "sneaked'
them across the river and forwarded
them to New York, where they we're
duly placed on the market.
So 1t is that some men never worry
over the tariff.