Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-19
SMUGGLING A RARITY
INSPECTORS EASILY ABLE TO
SPOT AN OFFENDER.
Articles Employed to Evade the Gus
toms 0ficals-Regarded as
Unsafe Business

There is not so much smuggling nowas
days as there once was" said a treasury
official today. Eight or ten years ago
smugglers found 1t comparatively easy
matter to cross and recross the Atlantic.
returning to this country each time with
a rich harvest of costly silks, laces and
precious stones.
Now things are changed. Transatlantic
passengers are watched by the eyes OF
men in the revenue service, who, from many
years experience. can in five cases out of
six spot a genuine offender from among a
whole shipload of tourists. Thousands of
wealthy people go abroad every year, and
in this way their faces become familiarized
to the officials. The inspector knows al
most by intuition whether or not a passen-
ger is carrying smuggled goods. He may
see that passenger two or three times a
year for seven or eight years without chal-
longing him. The passengers declaration
Is sufficient and his trunks are passed
with only the mere Formally of inspec-
ton.
Many are the articles which have been
employed in the past to elude the custom
house officers. but the schemes invented by
smugglers have been baffied frequently
of late that the practice has become un-
popular as criminal means of obtaining
livelihood
"A large proportion of the smuggling car
ried on nowadays is accomplished by means
of confederate. Some member of
ships crew will receive a consignment of
goods from the smuggier's agent ON the
other side. He can convey this on board
the ship without any trouble. When the
vessel gets into the port repairs have to be
made. and workmen who pass frequently
on and off are made the further instru-
ments of the conspiracy. Mechanics COM
ing on a ship with bag of tools have
been known to leave the tools on the vessel.
and when they departed at night the bag
would be filled with contraband merchan-
dise-cigars, choice wines, jewelry, laces
and silks. Later the confederate, in
the person of a sailor a petty officer.
tools in his pockets. This ruse is known to
the revenue man as the bag trick. the
decoy trick and the stool pigeon tricH.'
Not Safe Business.
But after all is said and done. SNUG
Cling is far from a safe business. 1t may
prosper for a while, but detection is bound
to come some day While it lasts the gains
are large. but the penalty. especially for
those who are known to have defed the
laws for any length of time. is severe.
Even with the great increase of trans
atlantic travel during the last decade or so.
smuggling has been on the decline. OF
course, there is more smuggling now than
there was fifty years ago, but there Is also
more travel. The rate, however, is annual
ly growing smaller, and as the proportion of
traffic increases the proportion of SNUG
Cling dwindles.
Women are acknowledged to be more ex-
pert than Eaen in the concealment of snug
gled goods, but while this may be true
there are also women detectives employed
by the government, endowed with amazing
perspicacity. When female detective con-
fronts a female suspect ii is a case of dia-
mond cut diamond. The woman detective
knows almost at glance whether the sus-
pected one is guilty. With cool incisiveness
she asks one or two pointed questions. II
they are answered in a hesitating manner
then proceeds to run her hand along the
suspects outer garments. With marvellous
delicacy of touch she passes over the en-
tire dreSs-both waist and skirt, and she
knows where to allow for the many folds
or the fashionably attired womans Volumi-
nous lingeries, and where excess of
bulkiness means that the dainty petticoats
are padded with yards upon yards
of lace. The old-time method of wrapping
the body with lace and having 1t sewed IN
SIDE OF Innings and around the petticoats has
received a severe setback at the hands of
the shrewd women detectives, so that fe-
male smugg1ers are rather chary nowadays
Of hiding costly fabrics in this manner.
Hats of large proportions, constructed with
q double frame, have from time to time been
resorted to, but even here the female snug
gler is liable to detection, as women usually
wear small transatlantic hat while trav-
ellng on voyage, and seldom change this
until they have disembarked and reached
their destination. large hat, therefore is
sure to attract attention and be brought I'M
der the scrutiny of the officials.
Smuggling of Diamonds.
Diamonds are secretly brought into the
country in various ways. One of the old
schemes was to hide them in a dummy
book, the pages of which had been cut
away in the center to form q hollow re-
ceptable. The weak point about the book
was that If carried under the arm and
nursed with too much solicitude it was
apt to court suspicion, while If placed in
the trunk the owner ran chances of hav-
ing the inspector go through his effects
and incidentally open the book to see
whether it was the real article The heel
of a shoe has frequently been made the
receptacle for precious stones, but here
too, is objection, for the wearer Is in
constant dread that the boot will be lost
and If he wears it, is afraid of crushing
the gems.
MANY expert smugglers employ spe-
cially constructed trunks, valises and grip
sacks fitted with sliding draws. concealed
panels and false bottoms. A great many
yards of costly silk can be carried in the
bottom Of trunk which contains a double
compartment. In a number of instances
such trunk would go through all right on
the written declaration of the passenger
as to it's contents, but il an inspector were
to examine the trunk carefully and COM
pare the inside with the outside depth, the
ShallowneSs of the interior, no matter how
slightly it varied from external measure,
ments, would at cnce be apparent and de-
lection would follow. No one but pro-
fessional smuggler would think of having
such trunk built and the presence. Of a
man who makes his living by smuggling
is soon known to the revenue authorities.
and his articles no matter how clever.
gro sooner or later laid bare"
IN, Chor,,icf,-u