The Penn's Grove record., 1896-04-17

IN OLD SMUGGLING DAYS.
farms Spun by the Shippers of OceaI
Vessels Who Sailed Long AGO,

bhEbo 6pun w INC oAhRUGEb ok oCGHn
Vessels Who Sailed Long Ago.
Sitting In the office Of a ship chand-
iery establishment In South street q
few days ago a quartet Of old-time
deep sea shippers were talking owe the
good old days Of eighty shillings for
wheat and similar conditions, when
the conversation turned to the case of
q captain who vas recently arrested
for smuggling. The discussion soon leo
to some interesting confessions.
BILL" said the grizzled mariner, wht
for twenty years had sailed the seas on
long voyages in Maine clippers, "do you
remember that big black spar I carried
on deck in the =, SO many yearsf"
"oh. yes" replied the man addressed.
well, sir, I carried that spar there
for eight years, and in that time ! sup
pose I brought $4,000 worth Of stun in
that spar into New York. When I frst
got 1t l had my carpenter hollow 1t out,
with cleverly arranged openings at
each end. For years I brought in wines
and laces in that old spar-and no GUS
.om house man ever thought Of looking
at It,"
THAT reminds me Of q trick PatteI
played for years in the -" said an-
other Of the group. "He was in the
East Indies trade most Of the time, and
every time he came into New York he
brought thousands of Manila cigars, to
say nothing Of many nice things for
ladies in the way of jewelry."
How did he do?" asked one.
well, he used his carpenter. He hao
an upright piano in his after cabin, and
he took the underpinning away and
substituted four big, hollow legs. These
were, of course, quite noticeable, but
he had them screwed to the floor, and
he always explained to the custom
house men that he had good strong legs
put under the piano In order to hold II
secure in heavy weather"
An old Cape Cod man now added o
contribution. 81 don't mind saying,
boys" said he, that my wife used to be
n good deal of n smuggler. For some
time / vas running back and forth
across the Atlantic, touching on the
other side at IIavre, Antwerp, Liver
pool and such places. My wife had a
stewardess who had been with the ship
for many years. Just before we got
into port my wife would put about three
dresses on her and a couple of cloaks.
The woman vas clever and she would
Feep close around the foc'sle and slip
ashore with some of the men In a boat
before we would dock. Then my wife
would meet her the next day on shore
somewhere Mt some place they had
agreed on and would give her ONE
thing for her trouble. 1t worked first
rate until n day the woman went
ashore and disappeared. My wife went
to the rendezvous as usual, but the
woman didn't appear. We never saw
her afterward. That was my wife's
last attempt"
Il remember seeing a woman do a
rather neat thing n good many years
ago." said the first speaker, at was
Williams wife, who went in the -
for SO many years. The custom house
men found several hundred more cigars
than the law allowed done up in boxes
intended for the owners. The custom
house men were sour fellows and
thought they had the captain In a little
trouble, But Williams wife, a little
woman, who had gone ON the voyage to
regain her health, stepped forward and
sal1lA Th0se cigars are for my use, gen
.tlemeHLs Well, perhaps those fellows
'wetpn4 surprised. Finally n of them
saad3 sMeuld you mind smoking oneT
The 1jttl4 woman took one of the cigars
and lighted It. Her husband looked on,
mere surprised than the custom house
men, but his wife stuck to her work
and finished the cigar. That settled her
claim to them. AS oon as the custom
house fellows left the ship she ran to
her bed. She stayed there for three
days."-New York Herald.