The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-01-09
PROFIT in THE BUSINESS
DIAMOND SMUGGLING PAYS BIG DIvl-
DENDs, III SUCCESSFUL.
Uncle Sam, However, Has q Way Of
Interfering with Those Who Seek
Fortune by That Method.
New York Press.

inspector of customs. "Well, / shouldn't
wonder-but the regulations are of such
a nature that we cannot enter into all the
details as to smuggling cases. We simply
dare not voice our suspicious or theories,
nor dare We name suspects. If we have
rogues' gallery We must keep it to our
selves. We cannot give away our knowl-
edge of the most popular forms of snug
Cling now in use. Diamond smugglers gen.
orally are so wealthy that every word that
we told you would be cabled in every Euro
pean language and perhaps in the Kaffir
tongue to every diamond and jewel center
of the habitable globe before your paper
had been many hours in circulation, and the
diamond smugglers would be inventing new
plans of campaign. So this branch of the
work of the United States special treasury
agents would be thrown into irredeemable
confusion. We would have to fling away all
our data and begin all over again.
1.-THE diamond smugglers are the smartest
people in the world. They are. / regret
to say, seldom caught. The people who
fall into our clutches are generally ANA
teurs or people who think that they will
try diamond venture just once-which is
once too often for the poor greenhorns.
Tfme-hardened, experienced, trained profess
SIGNALS ply their trade with a certainty
and regularity and variety and ingenuity
or device which would make Sherlock
Holmes look like plugged nickel. If you
can suggest any absolutely sure way of
putting an end to gem-smuggling, please
communicate your ideas to the authorities,
and you Will be rewarded as well as
thanked. But-Great Scott. When a lordly-
looking individual in a macintosh strolls
down the gangplank Of one of the ocean
liners. smoking a lovely, -bowled meer-
schaum pipe. and when he stubs his toe
and drops the pipe and the bowl smashes,
and out roll diamonds-well how would
OF realizing that this individual was the
last of half a dozen pipe smokers, who
were past the rope and away, leaving
neither trail nor address? This actually
happened not long ago. No, L won't say
that it was at the port Of New York. But
III cheerfully stand for the assertion that
1t happened"
The speaker was a veteran of the most
risky and unsatisfactory part of the gov
eminent service. He added that the petty
nature of the 10 per cent. mergin on dia-
monds In the rough-a picayune apology
for tariff, due to the melancholy fact
that this great and ingenious country has
not yet evolved diamond polishers, cutters
and settlers who can hold farthing dip
to the Amsterdam hereditary experts-put
the smuggling of diamonds in the rough
into American parts almost out of the
question. 1t would hardly be worth while,
and would certainly not be worth any risk.
The bait that tempts the smuggler is the
enormous margin of profit afforded by the
fact that the unfinished and set article
has to give up so per cent of it's rated
value to the government $50 on every 500
that it is actually worth; so that man
who can beat the tariff on unfinished or
set jewelry is as big winner as the gam
bier who lands a long-shot on the ponies.
Raids on suspected smugglers are gem
orally the result of tips from people
of obtaining rewards. The celebrated ana
conda case shook the governments faith in
"squalers' tips" but Uncle Sam cannot
get along without them. Somebody sent
word. Look out for great shipment of
anacondas. Anacondas are stuffed with
rabbits. Rabbits are stuffed with diamonds.
Anaconda's digestion slow. Rabbits will be
used up and diamonds lining anacondas' in
side by time shipment reaches America
The men were on hand when the ana
conda ship came in. The serpents. which
were knobby with Jumps of undigested rab-
bits, were packed In stout barrels, and our
mans eyes sparkled as he saw the coils and
imagined the crystalline contents.
The anaconda man was there too. He
represented firm OF animal dealers that
is known in New York, Philadelphia, New
Orleans, London, Paris and all the world
over.
'Cut open that sarpint, sir" said our
man to the anaconda man.
go to the Hellespont," said the ana
conda man.
'You can't fool me. He is full of dia-
monds.' said our man.
You can't fool me-" said the anaconda
x.
Brace up, old boy-these are real snakes.
Look at the size of them. Here-you may
heft one.
'.Heft your granny" said our man. shud-
dering. II insist that you cut him open.
You are caught dead to rights-caught
with the goods on your anaconda. Cut
him up, quick!'
'Tll do no such thing. Besides-he's a
she. Surely you wouldn't do anything un-
gentlemanly-'
Cut her up and be blasted!' said our
man. ''Why. the blamed things humpy
with diamonds"
Diamonds" echoed the astonished snake
importer. 'Well-Tll be-say, are you in
serious earnest?
81 am" (And he was, for, mind you,
the information would have fooled an An
gel of Light-it was so explicit and pre-
cse-and so pausble)
well, to cut a long story short, a
mangey kind of one, that hadn't stood the
voyage well, was cut short; likewise cut
longwise, and there wasn't a diamond TO
be seen. You would think that the ana
canda man would have been glad at the
happy issue of all his troubles-for he was
exonerated-that he would have been filled
with peace and joy. Instead of that the
ungrateful fellow called our man a dodder-
ing paranoiac-and, although our man
showed him the letter of information. had
the nerve to send him a bill for $500. which
he said was the price of his serpent-the
scaliest and slickest of the lot, mind you.
That was nerve. Ell? Oh. we have to put
hasn't been paid yet. The case is being in
fserat tod