The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-03-21


A dozen sailormen Of a certain ship
brought over about $500 worth of Su-
matra tobacco in the coal bunkers. This
they wrapped around their bodies "a lit
tie at time for several nights and car
ried to a fence" On the night that
the last of the tobacco was sold to the
fence" bout 800 worth-a group Of
sailors managed to securee the mans
ear and hold his attention in his bar
room while their fellows sneaked up
stairs and discovered the tobacco stored
in a dingy room over the saloon. They
lost no time in climbing through the
transom and robbing the purchaser.
Then they took the tobacco to a rival
fence" and resold it there.
This little story came to the knowl-
edge Of the customs detectives when,
a short time after it happened, they ar
rested the fence" from whom the to-
bacco was stolen, and the prisoner as
he related mis- misfortune, increased the
merriment of his captors by his copi-
Gus tears of grief over the loss of his
money and the ingratitude of the
| Dutchmen.
The rowboat men, who pick up the
! cases of goods thrown overheard in the
lower harbors, sometimes dispose of
their spoils to fences but more often
| they land them at out-Of- the way
|
| dealers in different parts of the coun-
try. In this way they are more certain
of outwtting the detectives.
How the Detectives Work.
The detectives, however. are not
easily put to rout. The case of a man
who tried to dispose of fourteen boxes
of cocaine aptly illustrates their ac-
tivity.
The boxes-about 4x2x1A inches in
dimensions were stolen while they
were in the appraisers stores in New
| York city. AS soon as they were
missed, the druggists Of the metropo-
! lis We're warned not to receive any
cocaine coming from any unusual
source, and thus the thief's chance to
| dispose of the drug in this way was
! blocked. Finding his efforts to get rid
| of the cocaine unaVailing, the man de-
cided to ship it to Rio Janerio, Brazil,
and dispose of it there. Here again
his plans were spoiled, for, a short
time before the cocaine arrived in
port, the Brazilian market had been
slutted with the drug and the fourteen
boxes could not be sold at any price
1t was therefore, reshipped to this
country and the customs officials,
hoping to apprehend the real thief and
not his catspaWs, let the stuff be
brought in at a southern port. once
| more all attempts to sell it We're
| blocked by the vigilance of the de-
! tectives, who had kept trace of all the
| movements of the cocaine, and then
! the thief. despairing of ever realizing
on his ill-gotten gains in America
shipped the drug to Paris, whence it
| had first come, and sold it there.
| But he reaped no profits. Instead,
his expenses for freightage to Brazil
and Europe made him an actual cash
loss of 500 by the transaction.
| Stll in one way the thief outwitted
his pursuers. While they became
reasonably certain that they knew
him. he. in turn, kept them from be-
ing cocksure and, as a result, the
officers were afraid to make an arrest.
| and case was never made out against
| him.
Why the sIeuths are Always Yam
| The customs detectives abroad are
| Yankees, every one. Foreign detec-
| tiNes are not employed by the Treas
ury Department. for the simple rea-
| son that they cannot be trusted At
| one time Uncle Sam had some foreign
| sleuths in his service, but they proved
| to be hand in glove with crooked inn
porters and smugglers. When this
was found out the system was made
| Sltltliy 1dHkee IN character,
One of the clever games of the
! American detective abroad is TO turn
smuggler himself, with the connivance
OF his superiors in order to catch the
| crooks. Just at present the govern
| ment is working somewhat similar
| trlck at ports where goods are being
entered at gross undervaluations.
Only the Rich SmugRIe Jewels.
Contrary to popular opinion, scarce
ly any smuggling of jewels is attempt
! cd by American houses. Foreign deal
ers usually engage in this work and
trust to agents to dispose of the prec-
| ious stones in the best way that they
| can. This is not always an easy task.
for the more reputable domestic firms
| demand history of the jewels before
| agreeing 10 purchase them. OF late
| years the American lapidary has been
! more cautious than ever before with
| the result that attempts to get in dia-
| monds and other stones duty free are
| becoming more and more rare 1t
| would seem that this field is now linn
lied TO rich Americans, who bring ba k
| necklaces and other trinkets for their
wives and daughters and, hating to
pay heavy importation tolls, are led
| to try to beat their government out
| of the money due it,
| The customs officials tell good story
| of a South American who, not knowing
1 that uncut precious stones are duty
| free, went to the trouble of smuggling
| in lot of them. Then he engaged a.
| fellow countryman in New York to dis
| pose of them agreeing to pay him $40
| for the task
Instead of playing fair with his en-
| ployer. the agent at once FASTENED to
| the customs house and sought out an
| official.
| Il can tell you of a man." he confid-
| ed, who has struggled in some emer-
aids and has employed me to sell them.
| If you will give me $40 I'll tell you who
| he is and where you can arrest him."
Diamonds, eh?" queried the official;
| cut or uncut?"
Uncut" replied thte informer, may
be a hundred of them"
The official laughed.
MY dear sir" he said, go back to
your employer and tell him that he
has uselessly struggled in his emeraIds.
/ for when they are uncut, as in this
case, the law let's them in duty free"
The smugEIer's Small Reward.
But while attempts TO smuggle in
many other articles of merchandise
have largely been given up, there is no
apparent cessation in the effort to get
| in tobacco and liquor. These are sta
| pies with the army of ten thousand
| smugglers, Who, despite their strenuous
scheming. average considea bly, less than
a quarter of a dollar a day apiece for
their trouble and labor.