The Greeley tribune., 1905-01-12
SMUGGLING SCHEMES
,o,crc THAT ARE USED TO eVaOe
THE PAYMENT OF DUTIES.
The Part II Porous plaster f'"se"
One Big Diamond Cnse-E>e"
a,. Used IN nm Effort Ia tfrcu">e"'
the Customs Inspectors

The old special agent Win the S.'N
.,o, n,ustoche took his cigar out OF liis
month. regarded il critically lor nv
uent and then said slowly:
Tim. YES; | suppose they nave an
SORTS of new tricks and are CONSTANT!
,avisinr others, and don't doubt tiiat
they succeed in beating the customs
house officers every now ana lleh' hu'
thcv don't seem to be doing anything
snectncular lust now. Perhaps the! re
uncaught ms yet
..You know. these people who make
business of smuggling, and l mean tue
people who try to bring Ill thous'.nus
nf dollars worth of things at Il uihe'
are as keen as Il knife, blade. Inc! re
not ordinary people; they've GOT an
the daring and ingenuity OF the oiu
time successful cracksmen. ana II
takes mighty good man to get aheao
nf Them. Sometimes the customs mouse
people. even the special agents OF lhe
treasury, are dead up against it when
IT comes TO dealing with this cool ana
clever class of crooks.
Now. just let me give you an eN-
ample of the astuteneSe OF one OF tiieih
Mt least. 1t will show you the sort OF
thing we had to deal with in the past,
"One day a cablegram reached the
treasury department, signed with the
name of Il treasury agent in France.
stating that certain passenger on Il
certain steamer bound for New YORK
had with him about SJo,oUO worth OF
fine diamonds which he intended TO
smuggle into the country. full
description of the man accompanied
the notification rs well rs general
description of the stones. The steam
er and the stateroom occupied by the
passenger were noted. and we were
warned that he might attempt 10
change his appearance by removing his
beard, which was full and pointed at
the time the steamer sailed.
The most interesting part of the
message was the statement that the
passenger would probably have the
gems concealed beneath IL porous plas-
ter spread across the small of his back.
Therefore we We're not to listen to any
of his protestations of innocence nor
to his eagerness to have his baggage
examined in order to establish that in
nocence We were to take him into his
stateroom and undress him and pull off
the plaster.
1--WE had much amusement over the
cablegram and also at the new varia-
ton of an absurdly old device for
smuggling. because time and time
again dutiabe things had been found
wrapped in bandages which concealed
supposed injuries. We also pictured
the dismay of the man when we should
get down TO his skin, as it We're.
I'm due season the steamer arrived
and with it the passenger against
whom we had been warned. There he
was. and q had actually reduced his
beard to pair of thin side whiskers
and removed his mustache We in
quired and found that he had made no
mention of diamonds upon the declara-
ton before the Inspector
Before he had chance to get ashore
one of the special agents went to him
and quietly asked why he had not de-
clared the diamonds he was bringing
into the country He jumped as II
something had stung him and then just
as calmly stated that he had no dia-
mOnds: that we could go through his
baggage, his pockets. anything lie had
He said it was most remarkable to ac-
cuse him of such n thing but he did
not fly into rage; he acted just as any
innocent man would have acted under
the circumstances. Then we knew we
had to do with good 'un.
I'VE wasted very little time over his
baggage, although he hustled around
with the keys at n great rate. One of
the men finally said to him that it was
useless to waste more time and asked
him to return to his stateroom for a
somewhat more complete examination
At this the passenger raised great
protest and declared it was outrageous
to submit him to such an indignity.
When we reached the room we asked
him kindly to remove his clothing, say
ing nothing. however, about the plas-
Ter. by TINS time our man was at white
heat. He SAID lie had only come to the
state"oom to avoid scene on deck.
|
Then he was told he would have to be
taken into custody and would uudoubt
edly be searched.
This further infuriated him. and he
| began long rigmarole about being an
American citizen, with rights and all
that sort Of thing and we stood around
and waited until he had finished At
last he cooled down a bit and even
iauShed. saying that perhaps. after all.
1t was best TO end the farce by sub
mltting. But he begged one thing of
us. and that was patience. because. he
sald, he had been suffering for Il long
tihle with severe attack of rheumo
tism in his back. and it was painful for
MIN to get into and. out of his clothing
tie added that he had been able to oh.
tam some relief from porous plasters
ana That he never went about without
one on his back.