Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1896-11-23
HOW HE FOOLED THEM.
Diamond smuggler a Shade Too Smart
For the Officials

Diamond Smuggler Shade Too Smart
For the Ofzicialss
Possibly there are no professional
suspects said treasury official to a
Star reporter, "but there are many sus-
pected. I was in that branch of the
service a dozen years ago, and l began
to think before I had been on the docks
q year that every traveller from abroad
wac prepared to steal and lie out of it if
he had a fair chance. OF those who did
that sort of thing as business we had
not few, and one of them was the
hardest old customer / ever knew. He
used to make about four trips year,
and we suspected him from the first,
but there wasn't any good reason for us
making search. And to suspect man
wrongfully is dangerous if it is carried
to the extreme.
Zone time we felt pretty sure our
man had diamonds concealed about his
person, but we didn't know, and we put
up job by getting a dock boy to make
a grab at his watch and run with it.
The boy did, and policeman caught
him at the gate. The passenger was
much excited over his loss and was anx.
ious TO have the watch, an enormous
gold one, restored to him at once. To
this we objected until the policeman
had opened it. The passenger protested.
And then the copper was curious, and he
opened it and found its works to con-
sist entirely of uncut diamonds. Of
course that was bad on our friend, but
somehow he got off, and the> next we
heard Of him he was having fun with
the other fellows at other ports Then
he came to US again, and we caught him
with lot in q collar box.
''He had simply tossed them that
way into his trunk and taken the chances
of our not looking there for them. I am
pretty sure, now, that once or twice,
possibly more times than that, he got by
rs in disguise, ana once I'll swear he
came over as steerage passenger, and
to save my neck couldn't recall the
familiar features until he had got clear
in the crowd and was lost. The last
time I met him, which was ten years
ago q don't know whether he is still at
it or not), he came off the ship with the
air of a man who was not only under
suspicion, but had lost his nerve. He
had with him dozen boxes at least,
two big trunks and a whole string of
bags and small receptacles.
s'In each of the boxes were smaller
boxes, and in the trunks were dozens of
packages of i'll smelling old clothes and
stuff of that kind. 1t was the most sus-
picious looking lot 1 ever saw, and we
were all sure that our man was on a big
layout this time, for when we first rec
ognized him be was disguised as ped
dler. Well, we jumped him as a sus-
pect at once, and the first thing we did
was to fish half O dozen diamonds-and
beauties too-out Of his vest pocket
That was enough Then we detained
the whole outfit and took it where we
could set ;.t it. Such job it was too!
Hundreds Of boxes to open, dozens of
packages of bad smells to rife, old
clothes to shake out, and so on, for at
least two days. We held him in custody
III the meantime and gave him search
about every - hours.
CATER it was all overland we were
hot enough to throw the cuss off the
dock-he gave Us the laugh and told us
he would thank us to restore his dia-
monds TO him, and, by Jove, we had TO
do It'll They We're his, and he proved
that he had been wearing them for ten
years, and we had to surrender He also
requested his release and told us be
would see what it would cost us to de- 4
tain Free white citizen in the manner
of his detention and q lot more like
that, winding it all up with the sugges-
tion that we could keep all the old \
boxes and trunks and packages we had I
been rummaging through as pleasant 1
of him. Then he laughed |
at us and went away with a friend in a
carriage, handsomer than any of us
would be able to ride in if we staid in
the government employ for / 900 years. -
Wasn't he really smuggling that
timer" inquired the reporter.
''Not at all. He just did it to make
it pleasant for US, which shows that
man who will smuggle will do any
thing. "-Washington Star