Waterbury Democrat., 1901-01-08
JUST PLAIN FRAUDS.
Nothing Romantic Aboutthe Snug
 glers of the Present Era.
How Persons Suspected of Carrsaa1 Contraband yaluables Are Watched by Uncle Same
 Customs Inspectors.
rspecia1 New York Letter.1

T IGHTEEN men in blue flannel F< suits with brass buttons and wearing naval caps sat in the barge office the other evening await ing orders from their superior officer.
 They had been there nearly three hours when the telephone bell in the chiefs office tinkled. There was a ! irried conversation between the ,ssn at Fire island and the surveyor of che pert of New York. In another minl the surveyor was in the big rcoIh.
 ''Gcntlemen," said he, "she's off the Narrows."
 The IS men arose as one man. At the pier was low, rakish craft, as the wrlsars of pirate stories say. The men got aboard quietly and without confusion. and the little craft steamed rapidly down the bay.
 The men were United States GUS toms inspectors; the vessel was rev enue cutter; the 'she' alluded to by the chief surveyor was the big ocean liner "Lucania,' due in port aud just sighted off Fire island.
 Perhaps there was ''plunder" aboard, the big ship. If so, there was work for the blue coats.
 Our early ideas of smuggling gleaned. perhaps, from mysterious little books in cheap print and yellow coyers-were rock-bound coasts, swift lr-sailing crafts with black hulls and white sails, Spanish and Malay sailor men with golden rings in their eats and broadswords at their sides: cave filled with boxes overhowilag with imported silks and faces, and kegs leaking diamonds and rare gems. This has all passed aw-sy. They do it differently nowadays. Your up-to-date smuggler comes ever on the fast liners, generally as a cabin passenger, but sometimes, when he thinks he will fool the off, cers, in the steerage.
 How do I tell smugglero" asked one of the oldtime inspectors. "Why, he just looks it. Did you ever see a man trying to do something that he | is ashamed of? There is hang dog. suspicious air about him that he l can't shake off,
 So, ycu>see, there are tricks in all trades, and these inspectors in the employ of the government know their trade very well indeed.
 | The importance of this branch of 1 the govern mental service will be bet | ter understood when it is known 1 that the customs receipts i1 the | United States for one year amount to 1 about 'S1 15G 00C.oOo. It requires some watching to look after these interests. Professional smuggling as business has long since ceased to be profitable that is when conducted on a large
 s-ale. It is the private smuggler with whom the inspector has to deal more than with the professional. Fer instance, it is not worth the while of broker to attempt to elude the l vigilance of the government officers and bring into the country $4C,ODo or $50 GOO worth of diamonds to avoid a
 customs duty of ten per cent. and
 run the risk of total seizure, and per
 haps fine and imprisonment beside.
 But it is with the private individual 1 that Uncle Sam's inspectors do the
 most business. And one cannot al-
 ways tell by the responsibility of a
 passenger. Somehow people have the
 idea that cheating the government
 and the stveet car companies isn't ] eally cheating after all.
 All kinds of devices are resorted to
 oy persons we'll able to pay the GUS
 toms to avoid them. But that comes
 in little later on in the story.