The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-04-14
MAINE BORDER sMUGGLERs.
Devices That Have Been Used to Beat the Custom Officers-s Selling Liquor at
 q Celebration.

tHe Cu5lOln OHlCerS-- otllllS Liquor q
 a Celebration.
 Any person that lives on the borde
 between Maine and New Brunswick anC
 doesen't know anything about snug
 gllng must be deaf and dumb and blind
 There are many ways to evade the off
 cers.
 In the MadaWaska county, between
 Van Buren and Fort Kent, the settlers
 are the French Aeadlans, and all the
 customs officers in Maine with the
 Sturgis deputies thrown In if they were
 there, could not prevent them from get
 ting their gin from across the river ]
 was there once, when the good women 1 of Aroostock, backed up by the law
 sent a band of officers to prevent the l poor F'renchman from spending his
 money for gin. The water was high;
 there was no fording and every boat and ferry for miles was watched It
 happened that Xavier G--was out of gin. He kept public house, and noth- ing for his guest to drink did not suit him at all
 But he had something up his. sleeve to fool the officers. A barrel of gin from the Canadian side was hauled through the woods to the river, dashed to the under side of log with hay wire and sent adrift with man on the log. Now, a log can be held at a certain angle in the river and the current will carry 1t across in this manner and it pYFttau m cttu of gin and molasses at Xavier's. that day for dinner.
 In one place the line runs several miles along a side hill I once saw a gang of boys coasting on the crust some forty rods from the road. At the foot of the hill on the American side was wood lot and big pile of sawed wood The boys had an old pung, and a close observor would have noticed that they always went in behind ansold barn on the Canadian side to start, then they would gb like the wind clear down to the woodpile in behind the fir trees
 And that very morning a man with double team was there loading wood; tho blue jays in the trees probably noticed that he was building funny load in his big sled; 1t was hollow in the middle with woodpiles at the sides and ends, and perhaps they noticed that every time the pung load of shout Ing boys came down the hill they brought a chest of tea The load was carefully covered with wood. taken to village merchant, driven in the back yard and deposited in the cellar
 One of my neighbors once suddenly had a call to preach and finally went over into New Brunswick to spread the gospel, In three weeks he returned and when he came back he hitched his old horse in the village street, near the custom house, and had a prayer meet ing in the street, but no one mistrusted that he had fifty costly silk dress pat terms in the bottom of his old wagon.
 MT. A. had farm that ran to the boundary line. His buildings were 40 rods from the line, but his granary was only 70 feet. Mir. B's farm buildings were close by on the Canadian side a road ran between the granary and B's buildings, the road was on the line. A raised about 500 bushels of oats each summer and put them in his granary. Each winter he sold about 5000 bushels. Of course things looked very suspicious The customs officers hid behind fences and rock piles and shivered many winter night. spotters and spies were hired and a Government detective | loafed around the line saloons for a | month in plain sight of the magic lit- | tle granary, but discovered nothing | It was dark and deserted nights, but in the morning A would come and help | load his team The detective would | saunter over and ask fool lsh questions peek into the bins and | look for tracks in the snow, and then | go back more puzzled than ever
 will tell how the Government was outwitted. Between the granary and Bs Buildings was a culvert under the road wooden spout was made made ot boards about a foot square. and | some dark and story nights at the be- l ginning of which the snow was cleared | away, and the spout laid close on the ground in the culvert, under the road | under the fences and into As granary. A belt with cups attached ran inside l the spout and crank in B's barn was -urred to carry the grain. As it was town hill a very little offort would 'arry stream of oats into As granary foot square. A blustry night would lbliterate all tracks
 A pile of brush cut from apple trees vas piled between the granary and the 'oad fence; this covered with drift of