The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1896-08-06

ed from the steamer, and when his
wife went with him to his stateroom
to bid him good-by on his return voy-
age he gave her the diamonds, and
she not only got safely on shore with
them, but disposed of them for their
full value in few days after. Dia-
monds have also been struggled in the
hollow legs of dolls, and in toys of
various descriptions. A gentleman's
silver or gold pencil case may contain
stones of value securely put away in
side, and knife handles have been
known to contain them.
Opium smuggling is a great bust
ness on the Pacific coast, and, notwith-
standing the tireless efforts of the
Treasury Department officers, this
business is still carried on to an extent
that is astonishing. Opium is of two
kinds, prepared and crude. The pre-
pared can be used for nothing but
smoking. On this there was a duty
of SIP pound under the Mckinley
tariff, but it has been reduced to S. by
the Wilson bill. The Treasury officers
admit that practically all the drug
brought into the United States while
the Mckinley tariff was in force was
struggled. At present, with the duty
at one-half of the MCKINLEY tariff,
smuggling still continues, as prepared
opium can be purchased in China
town for a little more than the cost
price in Hong Kong or Victoria, B.
c., where it is manufactured. Most of
the opium struggled into this country
is manufactured at Victoria, and it
naturally gets across the line by the
nearest and most available routes.
Puget Sound, with its many harbors,
inlets, and streams, affords landing
places for all kinds of smuggling YES
sells, and it's numerous islands with
rocks and crags, and dense woods
offer the smuggler safety from pursuit.
Not only do these heavily timbered
localities afford concealment to the
smuggler himself, but they slso enable
him to safely store away his contra
band goods when holly pursued. One
of the most common receptacles for
getting opium across the line is the
ordinary travellers trunk, which is
checked as baggage and generally
goes through unsearched. Satchels
and small parcels of every description
are also made use of by the smuggler,
and in one instance an old piano was
stripped of its inner parts and filled
up with cans of opium valued at S.
600. Even innocent looking flower
pots have been made to serve the
smugglers.
To man the Chinese crews on the
steamers plying between San Francis
co and Mexico, South America and
China are smugglers. They hide
their contraband goods in the oldest
places imaginable, and get them
ashore past the eyes of the Customs
Officers in ways that almost battle de-
lection. They have brought opium
skilfully stuffed in bananas still hang
ing to the stalk and in oranges. A
Chinese cook walked ashore with sew
eral loaves of bread filled with opium.
Chinese have been detected with box
es of the drug deity bound in their
queues or tied under their arms.
Every bit of baggage and every article
they take ashore is a hiding place.
In one invoice of eel owl or chopped
vegetables over $40, 900 worth of opium
was confscated, and in one lot of
hardware samples" seizure of the
drug valued at So 900 was made. AT
that time Secretary of the Treasury
Folger was of the opinion that one
ring of smugglers during it's existence
had cheated the Government out OF
more than 100000. In one venture
a syndicate with 100000 capital made
100000 in smuggling opium from
Vancouver, and during the trial of a
smuggling case in San Francisco, a
United States Treasury officer testified
that during the previous ten years
over 100000 worth of opium had
been struggled into San Francisco.
The Chinese resort to all manner OF
devices down to false heels and soles
to their shoes. Some time ago $500
worth was seized in the "hump" of an
alleged humpback. A customs boat