The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1906-04-17
MAIN SNiUGGL Frs ARE
ECIDEDl-Y Y IGNORANT

liyesSon the border Between Main and |
New Brunswick and doesn't know anytl
thing about smuggling must be deaEI
and dumb and blind. There are many |
ways to evade the officers.
V In the Madawaska country, betweeilI
Van Buren, and Fort Kent, the settlers |
are the French, aAcadians, and all the
customs officers in Maine, with the |
sturgis deputies thrown in # they
were there. could not pfeveIlt them |
from getting their gin from across the
river. I was. there once, when the
good women of Aroostpok, backed upl
by the law, sent a band of officers tot
prevent the poor Frsnchmail from
spending his money for gin, writes a
Parkhurst man in the .Lewisto on Joiar
,nals The water was high there was
no fording, and every boat and Ferry
for miles was watched. 1t happened
that Xavier G----s was out OF gin. He
kept a public house, and nothing Tor
his guests to drink did not suit him
at ALL. II m
IL. But hephad something up his sleeve
to fool the officers. "a barrel OF gin
from the Canadian side was hauled
through the woods to. the river, lashed
to the under side OF log with hay
wire, and sent adrift with a;fnan on
the log. Now, a log can be held at a
certain angle in the river and the cur
fent will carry it across as it. does a
iferryboat--rivermen often cross tin
this manner and it excites no. suspi-
cion. There, was plenty OF gin and
.molasses at5Xavier's that day Tor din
ner. -4 III "s!@ .a4
{ In. one place, the line. runs several
miles along a. side hill. I'D once saw
a gang of boys lcoasting. ON the crust
some forty rods from the road. AT
the foot of the hill on the American
side was a big pile tof sawed wood.
The boys had an old pung, and a close
observer would have noticed that stlfey
always went in behind an old BARN on
the Canadian side to start, then they
would go like the wind clear down ito
the wood pile in behind the fir trees.
And that very morning "a man with
a double team was there loading wood;
the blue jays. in the trees probably
load in his big sled box; it was hollow
in the. middle, with woodpiles at the
sides and ends, and perhaps they mo-
ticed that every time the pung load of
shouting boys came down the. hill they
brought a chest Of tea. The load was
carefully covered with wood, taken to
a village merchant, driven in the back
yard AMI deposited in. the; cellar. A
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 return.
led, and when he; came back he. hitch
ed his -od~ horse in the village street,
near the custom house, and iladFR
prayer meeting in the Street, but no
one mistrusted that he, had fifty cost
ly silk dress patterns in the bottom Of
his old wagon, ,.,@ r.g-.. - ..I g5,. & 4 q
Mr.. "A. had Saafarfll. that run TO Me
boundary line. His buildings. were
forty rods from the line, but Mis-
granary was only forty feet Mr. fT3t $
farm buildings were close by 3 on. .fiIe
Canadian .side,sa road ran betWeer the
granary and BPS Buildings, the road
was on the line. "A raised about goo
|'bushefs of oats each summer and put
them in his, granary. Each winter
he sold about 6, 600 bushels. OF
course things looked very suspicious.
The customs officers hid behind fences
and rock piles and shivered many, a
winter night. Spoilers and, spies, were
hifed;5 and governments detective
loafed around the; line saloons f0r "a
month in plain sight of the magic little
granary, but discovered nothing. i sIt
was dark and; deserted nights, but I'm
the morning Al. would come and help
load his team. The detective would
sometimes saunter over and ask fool
ish questions, peek into the bins and
look Nor tracks in the snow, and then
so back more puzzled than ever.
/ will tell how the government was.
outwitted Between the granary and
b. buildings was a calvert under the
road, a wooden spout was made of
boards about a foot square, and some,
dark, stormy night at the beginning
of winter the snow was cleared away,
and the, spout laid close on the ground
| in the culveft, under the road under
fences and into AS granary. "A belt
with cups attached ran inside the spout
land a crank in BIS barn was turned to-
carry the grain AS it, was down hill
az very little effort would carry sa
Ifstreafn OF oats into AIS granary a foot
square. A blustery; night would OBJ
literate all tracks. IN NJ, ssA&
A pile of brush cut from apple trees
Twas piled between the graflary and the
road fence; this covered with a drift
tof snow hid the place where the spout
fentered the granary on the outside,
Land ON the inside it was severed BY
sliding back a wooden window. This
Twas always pushed back over the hole
Lin the wall when they were loading
Ioats,, to admit light, there being no
Eother window When it was closed the
Ibin was in darkness and the hole
Icould not. be seen. OF course, the
Ioats were delivered in b 81 barn III
New Brunswick Wher The. snow be-
Igan TO melt in the spring the spout
was removed and packed away Until
the next winter. VI
At one time !. s.certain village planned
+r,s hat,s Ir<>.,