Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-25
ARE CLEVER TRICK STEERS.
Schemes Used by SmuEKlers to Fool
Uncle Sans Agents.

From the Baltimore American.
The day of the picturesque smuggler is
over. No longer does his swift craft steal
into the harbor of some seaside village in
the dead of night and his brawny men pull
for the beach to unload boxes and barrels
of rare stuff and hide them on shore until
such time as they may be distributed with
out fear of the revenue officer. But that
does not mean that smuggling is a lost art,
by any means for. In spite of the army Of
men that Uncle Sam employs to guard his
sources of revenue and see that no dutiable
articles are brought in until he gets a
share of the profit on them hundreds of
thousands of dollars worth of goods pass
in without detection every year. 1t is esti-
mated. indeed. that more than 81 100000
worth of diamonds are struggled in every
year, not to mention other precious stones.
1t is regular business, and the profess
s'onal smuggler is nearly numerous,
though not nearly so picturesque of old.
Not only are the professional smuggerS
engaged In the business. but many good
and worthy church members stand shiver-
ing with fear while their baggage is being
examined lest some articles that they we'll
know is dutiable and have tried to hide in
a trunk or about their own persons may
peoples conscences tender when 1t
comes to trying to rob Uncle Sam. More
over, many regard 1t as an exciting sort
Of game. and derive much pleasure from
eluding the revenue officers.
Diamond smuggling Is perhaps the most
profitable part of the business. Most of
the gems come in from Canada over a
regular route from Montreal to New York.
Canada admits them free Of duty, 80 that
there is no trouble in getting them to
Montreal. but then comes the problem Of
conveying them across the border. Not
he hav nstp
house wherever a railroad crosses from
one country to another. but there are a
number Of secret service agents who keep
watch on the dealers agents. and are con-
ttnualy travelling about trying to inter-
cept the messenger who carries the gems
for they must Of necessity be carried by
hand, as 1t would be too dangerous to send
them by mail or express. The duty on
the uncut gems Is but 10 per cent. 1t was
made low SO that there might not be too
much temptation to evade the payment of
1t. But, nevertheless. there are many
sharp men and women who make a good
profit out OF the business. and 1t Is not
often that they are caught.
man who has purchased a large guam
tity of diamonds on the other side may
generally be sure that he is being carefully
watched from the time he makes his pur-
chase until the time he has passed the
custom house. 1t Is said that in many of
the foreign dealers establishments are en-
ployes who give tips to the customs officers
in the hope OF getting a reward in case Of
confscation. Employees on the ships COM
ing over are similarly on the lookout for
smugglers, and are rewarded for informa-
ton in regard to them. If strong suspicion
attaches to an incoming traveller, he or she
is carefully searched, and II any gems are
found they are conflscated.
Most ingenious are the methods used by
the smugglers. Not long ago 1t was dis
covered that a woman was bringing da-
monds by feeding them to a dog in small
pieces of fat On this side the dog was
killed and the stones were recovered Dia-
monds have been concealed in cakes Of
soap and pieces Of candy. A hollow cane
has been often used with success. and on
one occasion the glass grapes on a wo-
mans hat were found to contain valuable
stones. One Of the most remarkable In
stances, perhaps, was when a number of
good-sized gems were found underneath q
porous plaster on a smuggler's chest