River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1905-03-02
STOPPING SMALL SMUGGLER
Customs Officers by Their Vigilance
Are Gradually Subduing
the Evil.

"Petty smuggling, the sort that IS
practiced by people who have bought
some small articles abroad and want
to bring them home without paying
duty, is now being pretty well
stamped out" said man who was for
several years in the United States
customs service on the Pacific coast
to Kansas City Journal writer. "Of
course, there never was SO much OF
it in the west as on the Atlantic
coast. but the vigilance Of the customs
officials and the severe penalties i'm
posed on people who have been caught
has had a tendency TO break 1t up
pretty thoroughly.
GAS a general thing the people who
try TO smuggle in dutiable goods are
now of two classes, the one composed
of professional smugglers, who Onef~
ate on a large scale, and the other OF
actresses and wealthy people OF GER
tain sort, who take no particular pains
to avoid detection, and who ENJOY the
notoriety which an escapade OF the
sort gives them.
con the Pacific coast the two things
to which the operations of smugglers
are almost entirely confined are opium
and silks. Both have to pay heavy
duties, and both are comparatively
easily concealed. Much of the SILK
brought in from China and Japan is
of such fine texture that four or five
ordinary sized handkerchiefs could be
concealed in an English walnut shell.
"Some unique methods are used by
opium smugglers. One day the wharf
niger at San Francisco was standing
near his office when he saw lime lily
over a high fence which inc!osed
vacant lot just adjoining the wharf.
Before long another one came IN the
same way. He thought nothing OF II
at first, as the boys are quite IN the
habit of throwing things at the rats
around the wharfs. But when they
kept on coming his curiosity began TO
be aroused He stepped over to where
the lines were falling, and where there
were by that time probably a dozen OF
them, picked one up and cut 1t open.
He found a small plug had been cut
from the lime, as though with a leath-
er punch, the hole filled with small
pills of opium wrapped in oiled paper,
and the outside part of the plug re-
turned to it's place. The lines had
been thrown from the deck OF ship
at anchor at the wharf to the vacant
lot, where the smuggler expected to
pick them up later.
"Of late the center of the opium
smuggling has been transferred from
San Francisco to the ports Farther
north, as the men who were operating
in that line became too well known to
San Francisco officials. Now most OF
them come in through Portland, OF
further north, in the British posses
sions. where | understand the Cana
dian officials are now having great
deal of trouble.
cit was the custom for some time to
allow a great deal Of liberty to army
officers returning from the Philippines,
and to take their statements as TO the
dutiable goods in their possession
without a very thorough investigation.
But it was found that the privilege
was being abused, and stricter search
was instituted, Shortly afterWard
captain came through, with three big
trunks, and declared that he had prac-
tically nothing of a dutiable nature.
An inspection showed that in the bot
tom of one of his trunks were whole
bolts of valuable silks, which he lost
altogether by trying to cheat the gov
eminent which ne served"