The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-26
SHOPPING ACROSS THE LINE.
Easy Way for Canadians to Buy
American Goods.

From the Louisville Courier-Journal.
What are called Zine stores" and
in many cases are so designated by
large signboards, are a well-known in
stitution along the boundary between
Canada and Maine. says Bangor,
Me-, letter to the Philadelphia Record.
The governments of both Canada and
the United States look with suspicious
eyes upon these stores, and there has
been more or less talk of joint action
to prevent the erection of any build
ings upon the boundary line.
The line stores on the Quebec border
are usually built exactly on the boun-
dairy line, and are double stores. The
boundary line is marked by iron posts,
and sometimes a store is built over one
of these posts which protrudes from the
middle of the floor.
There is a door on each side of the
line, with which line the shelves and
counters run parallel and. thus there
Is a Canadian store and an American
store, each with it's own entrance. On
the Canadian side are Canadian goods,
such as woolens, blankets, dress goods,
ready-made clothing, fur coats and
robes, carpeting. buttons, sugar and
some lines of hardware. On the Ameri-
can side are cotton goods, prints. Yam
kee notions, tobacco, jewellery, kero-
sene oil, etc., and on this side farm
produce Is taken in exchange. The Ca
madam and the American goods are
kept, each on their own side, and no
attempt is made to conceal the fact
that both are there. The Canadian GUS
toner can go in at the Canadian door,
purchase Canadian goods on the Cana
dian side and go out again without
having crossed the boundary line at
all, and the American customer can do
the same on his side, but, while the
storekeepers keep the two classes of
goods separated, they do not ask the
customers any questions, and they can
buy at either counter and make their
exit by either door.
Stores of this kind are chiefly found
OH the line between the Province of
Quebec and the states of Vermont and
New Hampshire and the Northwestern
part of Maine, but they are not I'M
known on the line that divides North
eastern Maine from New Brunswick.
They are always a mile, generally sew
eral miles from a custom house sta
ton. 1t is related that one man who
built a line store took up boundary
post and did not replace it. He aft
erward sold out and moved away, and
the post was set down at random by
his successor Sometimes a store is on
one side of the line, with a warehouse
exactly on the line. There are a few
manufacturing industries located on
the line. including, 1t is said, one that
makes patent medicines and requires
considerable alcohol.
On the Maine and New Brunswick
line the stores are mostly devoted to
the sale of liquor. There was a rather
notorious resort near Houlton. known
as the Line House, where men gather
ed from Aroostock county towns on d
Sunday to drink imported liquors
One night the place took fire and was
burned, much to the relief of the GUS
toms officials and the respectable resi-
dents of the locality.
In some places there are two stores,
separated by few feet and connected
by a board walk, by which goods can
easily be transported from one build
ing to the other. 1t is a very conven-
lent arrangement for people who don't
mind lodging the customs laws. A
Provincial man can step across the
floor to the Maine side and buy some
tobacco and a Maine man can move
across the New Brunswick side and
get some liquor, all under the same
roof. Farm produce can be changed
from Canadian to United States pro-
duce in short order. A manufacturer
can get raw material from both sides
Canadian produce can be exchanged
for Yankee jewelry or notions. Cana
dian woolens into American cottons,
and so on. OF course, it is not admit
ted for a minute that the line houses
were built for smuggling purposes-but
they are there, right on the line, and
it would be a great relief to the two
governments if they were not there.