Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-05-31
SMUGGLERS' TRICKS
THE FRENCH ARE MASTERS OF
THE ART
Various Devices Used in Surreptitious
ly Trading in Alcoholic Beverages
Marvellous Ingenuity.

In England even under a system of free
| trade. there are still plenty of people who
think it worth while to risk pains and
penalties by surreptitious attempts to in
troduce contraband goods. How much
greater. then, must the temptation be in
France, where almost every necessary OF
| life is liable to heavy duties. not only on en-
| tering the country, but even when passing
from one commune to another.
At the gates of every town and the ap-
proach of every hamlet you find small
guardhouse, labeled ''Octroi." from which
a posse of officials issues to scrutinize every
| one who passes in. The formalities are in
creasingly severe according to the appar-
rent poverty of the person. A carriage or
cab may go in almost unchalienged while
peasants carts are ransacked. A load of
sand or hay will be probed with long steel
STAN: and any indiV iduai who arouses Sus-
picion is liable to be searched.
In spite of intense vigilance however. the
authorities have often been baffied for quite
long time by the marvellous ingenuity
which has been devoted to systematic
smuggling. To obtain an idea of the craft
and subtlety against which the French
revenue has had to contend a very inter
esting visit may be paid to the strange
museum which has been formed at the
headquarters of the octroi in the great
building opposite the Paris Hotel de Vale
By far the majority of the specimens were
india rubber contrivances for concealing
| under the clothes There were some very
elaborate pairs of stays-at the top real
corsets with the regulation laces, but de-
veloping lower down into huge pouches
capable of containing many liters of alec
hol
Alcoholic Padding.
1 also saw a sort of glorfied life-belt
which was filled with liquid and worn inside
| workman's blouse. and wide india rub
| Der founce. which was very popular with
female smugglers in the happy days of Grim
dimes.
Next come all sorts Of metal cuirasses,
which are also worn underneath blouses or
loose cloaks. The chief contents of all the s.
vessels, whether of tin or india rubber. is
alcohol, on which there is a heavy duty
| of 4 francs the liter. But they have also
been utilized for importing OIL which
| the tax Is only 40 centimes the kilogram for
| common kinds and 40 centirnes for the best
olive
| l could scarcely believe that people would
run the same risk for so much smaller a
profit. but | was very soon convinced when
| was made to smell hollow portfolio
! tknown as. serviette d'avocaD which
reeked of oil. For many months this was
brought In with four Kilograms of oil every
| day by woman before she was caught
The chief objection to the undercIothing
| contrlvances is that they give the smuggler
a suspiciously bulky appearance. Il sup
| Pooe ou always suspect very tat people.
L remarked i1nocently. My guide, who was
| himself of enormous proportions. fell into
| the trap at once. Yes" said he IF an
| unusually stout man woman passes in
| frequently We generally deem II worth
while to institute little examination.
! But he added, with loud laugh as he
4 caught twinkle i'll my eye, lit does not by
any means follow that every well developed
| person is smuggler. All no. for instance,
| Ha! hal hal
Diplomatic Tapping.
1t is not often. he told me, that the Off
| Gals find it necessary to search people The
! first step is to engage them in friendly con-
| versatlon, ana take opportunity of tap
| ping them on the chest in the course of an
argument about politics or the weather.
Then, il there is a sound of rumbIing
liquids, it may be deemed prudent to invite
suspect to come inside and disrobe
| Culrasses and bags are, however the
| most elementary engines of smuggiers
saw two logs of wood, which for years de-
| ned the authoritines. The logs had been
carefufty followed out and fitted with tin
| cans The tops were so carefully adjusted
| that II would have been impossible TO de-
| tect a joint without the aid of magnify
ing glass. This would never have been dis
coVerea by any amount of vigilance. But,
as the officials informed me. the weakness
| OF smuggling lies in the fact that il is
| necessary to take so many people into your
| confidence >,.--;stis--
| II an individual did it all himself he
| might defy detection altogether. But when
| wholesale dealer or distilIer takes to il
| he must trust too many subordinates Then
| the time comes when one of them is impe-
| curious and tries to biac lxma all him
various slaborers, particularly builders and
1 carpenters. have had especial success in
| battling the octroi 1 was shown a hurdle
! of planks. with a metal vessel inside 1t
| passed in day after day for years without
| arousinS the slightest suspicion Ii was
| fingered again and again, and the planks
could almost be separated from one another
without revealing anything