Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-11
EVADE THE CUSTOMS
SmuggIers Who Operate Near
the Metropolis.
ON STATEN ISLAND SHORE
fishing" is Very Profitable There on
Dark Nights.
SOME TRICKS OF THE TRADE
People on Shore and in Ships Crews
Work Year in and Year Out in
This Illegal Traffic.
SOME TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Written for The Star.

Written for The Star.
That strip Of Staten Island shore from
Tompkinsville to South Beach has been
watched by customs authorities for
years without much success; but every
body knows that things happen there
which are not conducive to the swelling
Of Uncle Sans customs receipts.
There are drinking places in Staten
Island freQuented by brisk youths and a
sprinkling Of men who are neither youth
full nor robust but keen Of eye and generally
better dressed than their companions. These
people talk of incoming ships, and are re-
markedly we'll posted as to the day and
hour of their probable arrival.
They are innocent fisherman, Of course,
or young men out of job and waiting for
something to turn up; but their interest
in the commercial port Of New York is re-
markable. Sometimes you can get re-
markedly good drink Of gin, which never
paid duty, in one of these places.
But a stranger had best not be too curl
GUS. The accordion may be playing, some
voice renderd raucous by saltwater may be
chanting the interminable song of THE
Richmond County JAIL" and the expected
vessel may be known to be in the of1ng;
but remark from stranger betraying
an inquiring turn of mind Will check the
gayety and transform the lOQuacious COM
pany into collection Of grim, taciturn men
whose suspicious and threatening glances
it is not pleasant to encounter.
"Fishing" That Is Profitable.
Fishing is sometimes very profitable of
the Staten Island shore about and just be-
low the Narrows, especially when the fish
run at night Over at the Atlantic Basin
is another place where people are naturally
much interested In shipping, some legiti-
mately. and some-well, they are just
naturally interested and have their rendez-
vous, where they meet to discuss the
general subject of commerce of the great
port of New York.
Sometimes steamers coming In late will
anchor southeast of Quarantine. at the
mouth of Gravesend Bay, and on such oc-
casions 1t seldom fails that q boat or two,
with muf1ed oars, steals about IN those
waters, especially If the night shuts down
dark.
Going with light and failing wind from
writer was overtaken by night below Fort
Hamilton. A little further down shone
the lights Of steamer, inward bound, and
anchored for the night. Suddenly big
out of the gloom the smooth-shaved face
of a bare-throated, husky" young man
looked up at the two occupants Of the
scarcely running craft. 1t was rather
intently through the gloom, 1t could be
seen that the owner Of the face and the
hand was half secreted. Half lying In the
bows of a rowboat. which had approached
noiselessly with its muffled and skillfully
handled oars-oars SO deftly dipped in the
water that they made no sound OF splash
ing.
A second man, rowing with his face to-
ward the bow, sat at the oars. No word was
spoken on either craft. The man In the
bows of the boat peered up with keen,
questioning look into the faces which look
ed down at his at close quarters. He hung
p@~ r1oy fxryn
seeming satisfied with his investigation,
growled at his companion, "All right" let
go his hold, and we saw the silent boat with
it's two occupants disappear in the darkness
in the direction of the anchored steamer.
There is little doubt but that Uncle
Sans customs receipts were lessened that
night. Without an efficient harbor police
such things cannot be stopped.
Smuggling by Ships Crews.
If the steamer comes in in the day time
It is harder work and more risky to get
the smuggled goods ashore. Sometimes 1t
can be done and sometimes it cannot If It
cannot the goods may make one or two
voyages across the western ocean until
the night and the ship arrive at the same
time and form the opportunity.
This class of smuggling is carried on, OF
course, In conjunction with some of the
ships crews. 1t is very seldom indeed
that a passenger takes this means to de-
conspiracy carried out year after year by
people on shipboard and people along the
shore who have q perfect understanding
with each other. It is the most picturesque
form of smuggling there is and reminds
one of the "mackerel fishermen" of VIM
chelsea in Denis Duval." only that the
modern smuggler has learned that the SAT-
est place to smuggle is in the center of q
great port rather than on a sparSely tnhab-
tied coast.
The throwing of dutiable goods over
board as the vessel approaches port, that
they may be picked up by a friendly tug or
rowboat Is an old trick which is believed
to be still worked to some extent.
One of the stock stories Of the Battery is
of a dead horse which was washed ashore
on Coney Island Point some years ago. be-
fore Sea Gate was built. The people who
owned the horse noticed by accident that
It's abdomen had apparently been ripped
open and sewn up again. A close 1nvesti-
CATION revealed the fact that the dead AMI
NAL had come ashore with a valuable car
20 'in his midst" for in the abdominal cav
ity were found packages of fine Havana
cigars carefully wrapped In oiled silk. For
whom was that cargo intended? No one
ever knew, but certainly not for the people
who received 1t.
Tricks in Cigar Smuggling.
Cigars are favorite articles in the Snug
eler's trade. Once customs official. hav-
ing a suspicion that certain steamer was
bringing in a consignment Of cigars not de-
signed to pay duty, searched high and low
through the vessel, but found them not
Finally he got ladder and, climbing up,
looked down the smokestack. There were
| the guilty cigars done up In packages and
hung down the great iron funnel with
| ropes just as a housewife in the country
| hangs her butter down the well with pieces
| Of clothesline.
| Bay OIL bay rum and gin from the Dan
| ish Islands are smuggled on vessels of sail
and steam coming from the tropics, as well
as cigars. Bay oil is the easiest to get
| through because of its small bulk. It also
4 pays the best.
| The old-time methods Of smuggling, in
which a mysterious sailing vessel put into
| some out-of-the-way cove at night, landed
/ her contraiband cargo and sailed away be-
| fore the dawn, is almost entirely gone by;
a case is seldom heard of nowadays. The
natural love of gossip among country peo-
| pie makes It almost impossible, as popu-
| lous as the coast now Is. to keep such a
| proceeding secret, and then there are the
/ revenue cutters forever on the watch.
The Whole Coast Patrolled.
The whole coast from Eastport to Gal
/ weston is patrolled by cruising cutters, and
| every now and then they pass over some
/ highway of commerce, like Long Island
/ sound StOpping sailing vessels examining