The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-07-13
Immense Riches Struggled Into
sI.5 New York BY False
Labels.
ARRESTS HAVE BEEN 4 MADE.
Reported That Prominent Mer-
chants and Possibly Govern
tl1cnt Officials Implicated.

silks. tobacco and other merchandise
which should pay a high duty.
Frauds on the government Of enorn-,
Gus proportions have undoubtedly been
pc rpetuated by. this method It's success
itul conduct required combination Of.
.expressmen. steamship men and possibly,
government officials.
1ts bene ficiarics, and possibly Its pro-
imoters. are believed to be merchants OF
this city. some Of them men Of wealth
and prominence.
Smuggling In trunks. carried as passen-3
gers. baggage, u pom which labels lindl-3
eating that they had been properly ex-,
.amined and passed by inspectors were
pasted. is the method. -Four.
arrests in all have been made 50 far
and large force Of special treasury
agents was&atS work nearly al last night
in seeking other persons accused OF Spar--s
fticipation in the frauds. sls
TRUNKS PRIVATELY5MAR 3z
Trunks containing the merchandise
which the conspirators have B arranged
to 5smugg gle Tito the United n States are
marked with a private mark and placed
with the hundreds Of other trunks owned
5ly passen gers. On arrival at thisSport
the confederates OF the smugglers on
board the ship. are In a post Ion to reach,
the baggage, and upon The trunks 9 the
ssmugElers they slyly paste the special
label Indicating that an E inspec tor has
examined the contents OF the trunk and
found notfing ydutiable therein. When the
customs officials come across trunk
with such label on 1T they pass on & q!
others not la beled. TheS strun k is I then
carried ito the pier and passes into the.
hands Of the owner. "a Is Sss (, vi "a
n TO get lese labels Is he first 3requ isitc!
OF the successful prosecution Of the new.
method They may have been printed
and placed in tile hands OF men who
could affix them to the trunks or they
may be washed Of f. trunks sproperl ~ pass
ed by express men w,h o re employ 8 9
transport hem from the piers "a II "a cor
srupt official is willing to part VII TIL such
abeIs the work is so much the easier for
those engaged lin t.s3 m ss ss M ias Sf
Certainly the swindle involves men EN-
:ployed Oh the piers, and probabls It In
wolves Gus toms emp oyes. II a
ssCIANCEsFoR HUGE#THEFTs.
IN ! Il a single trunk passed by the dupli-
cate la bel syst tenn a SNUG gler light bring
In the United States enough diamonds to
make him independently veal thy for lie
from half the difference betweensthe
price he could Ia Ike after yinE the
duty, and that he would have to demand
!ifsthe duty were paid. How far the ram
$ificatlons and the extent Of his new
smuggling scheme have gone has not
only on Saturday last. i T. was Sprema-
3ture, and was pra ctically forced Il upon
the customs men, who we're already
aware Of what wa $ going on md were
working and waiting for big ger anne. ~
$S From the kaiser helm j ]. III on Its
arrival last week. a. trunk was taken.
and on IL, the customs men say. was
TASTED one OF the false labels hitch pass
edit through without an examination On
tho pier In Hohoken a tag was "a fixed
TO theEtrunk directing a8that$it be taken
to Cooper's express ffice, 81 at No, Is
John Street +. Cooper,s express office is
h No 10 III ohm street, and when this
trunk was delivered al the latter ddress
Mr. Cooper declined to receive 1t be-
cause the address} wal ST incorrect The
trunk was then sent back to Hoboken,
8gATTRAcTED&O OFFICIALS NOTICE.
l. This brought 1t under the attention Of
the customs on ella Is, a nd 1T was traced
no 1880
addressed properly, There. according to
the customs men, ohm Roster, who lives
In Webster Avenue. 4nea Myrtle Avenue
Brooklyn. direct ed Cooper to send to
John, Heitman, I Of NJ 4 50 Bleecker Street
Brooklyn. proprietor OF a small l cigar fac
tory There twas found by the customs
men and seized, and Roster was a rrested.t
He was held in Raymond Street jail. and
the treasury a gents say he revealed the
secrets OF the band with whom he is al
legged to have been senga gedin smuggling.
Hoffman was also arrested but denied
knowledge of the. trunk which had been
sent to his house, 81 As !5ys
There was Found in thestrunk sixty five
pounds Of Sumatra leaf tobacco on Which
the duty Is is4 a pound. Roster and I1eit-
grand jury & i,7S3
\ When two other trunks containing s1s7'
pounds OF sumatra + lea q toba eco were
traced to men on the aisers w helm ~ I.
the customs officials had trouble In ma *
n Ing an arrest. X Ssgi n II s53 g5 Al
gAlARcoNIa OPERA ACCUSED ss
( They charged George Kroncke. iarconi
5operator.s'and Robert Frltch assistant
surgeon or shospital steward sof the vessel
ywith5sm ug g Ing, and went to the vessel to
demand them. They say tina when they
went to CaptalnSD D. ogemanna command
er OF the big North German Lloyd liner
he declined to surrender Ilronc Ike, S This
man ia said TO be one Of the most ex s
pert Atarcor,i opera tors I In the World
,Fritoh Was not arrested then. u
From the captain the treasury q gents
sent TO Mr.. Gustav; schWab,S New York
agent OF the North German Lloyd line
and he caused the surrender OF ISroncke.g
Kroncke and Fritch We're taken before
United States Com lissi oner' Russ. In II O.
5bokens special Urea sury a gent CrenshaW
charged them with ysmuggl lng the tobacco &C
and they were held In ~, 900 bail each
New York n eral Id 81 ;. 8l3