The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-10-04
ALCOHOL SMUGGLERS.
CURIOUS METHODS OF WHICH
 THEY MAKE USE.

TbatCOncealed Pure AlcOhOI-Clever-
 Nv Hidden Tank in the Roof of Cart.
 Alcohol without a doubt is the article most often smuggled through the gates of Paris. and this is due to the fact that the tax upon it has steadily in creased during the past few years. Naturally, increased taxation means higher profits on contraband goods and therefore quickens the ingenuity of smuglers.
 Under our very eyes, writes an officer of the Paris custom house in the Scientific American, these men annual ly pass thousands of gallons of valuable spirits to the city where it commands high prices to makers of perfumes or to liquor dealers, who use it for adult erating their goods. Yet we keep sharp wacth on all who pass through the gates of the capital. None can en- ter until he satisfies us that contra band articles are not hidden on his per son, no vehicle is admitted until it has been thoroughly searched and every cask of liquor must be declared before the owner is authorized to pass on,
 Nor can any one question the severity and conscientiousness of the inspection, as the men under my orders have share in the proceeds of the sale of any alcohol seized at the barriers. At given periods this is sold by the municipal authorities, one-half of the receipts going to the city funds and the other half to the octroi employees, These men are not overwell paid, so they look forward to increasing their incomes by extreme vigilance in capturing smugglers.
 can assure my readers that 1t is well worth while to smuggle alcohol into Paris. The dues on each liter or quart amount to four franc 15 centimes say S6 cents. Imagine the profit to be derived by any one who succeeds in smuggling several thousand gallons of alcohol a year. Among the thousand and one methods employed by snug glers some very curious ones have come under my observation during the twenty odd years that have been con- nected with the service. In the ware 1 house of the Hotel de Vile are stored all sorts of ingenius smuggling apparatus They are so numer-
 ous that quite museum could be formed, were it not for the fear of
 teaching dishonest men how to defraud the government.
 For several months smugglers dis
 guised as stone masons carried wooden
 beams through the gates without ouI suspecting for moment that they
 were hollow and contained large quan' titles of alcohol But the fraud was
 eventually discovered by pure accident as nearly always happens. One day
 just as the last man of d squad passed I the barrier with a cheery "Bonjour
 camarades," he stumbled over a stont
 and fell headlong. Fearing that the
 man was hurt, 1 darted forward t,
 help him to his feet, and had no soonel
 done so than to my utter astonishmen
 he arose with astounding rapiditS
 and made off, leaving the beam behinC
 him; moreover; his companions als
 took to their heels. The reason fo
 their flight was soon apparent. Fron
 one end of the beam there oozed thin stream of liquod, which l instinc : lively detected as alcohol.
 Double bottomed bottles and othe vesses are common contrivances Q smuggers. Tn order not to awaken ou
 suspicion they are usually filled wit some beverage beer or wine, and thi
 is duly declared by the man in charg
 of the vehicle We have often bee
 swindled in this way in the past No'
 we are never deceived by double bot toned bottles, nor for that matter b hollow horse collars, which was at on
 time another favorlte dodge of the al cohol smuggler.
 But I have come across even nor ingenious tricks than these, In Snug gling alcohol through the gates of Pari
 1t is not at all necessary to have ve hicle and bulky cargo. A single ma can carry quite a quantity of acoho
 and in quite different sense from tha usually applied to drunkards, A smart 1y dressed gentleman under his spotles waitcoat and white shirt carries an Ir
 dia rubber plastron brimful of acoho
 True, his appearance is rather bulk! but then he can probably put tha down to good living, and ten to one h
 will slip through onr hands.
 Sometimes the India rubber wais { coat is replaced by a tin one also file f with alcohol and have known eve . an immaculate looking tall hat to 5 found to contain some heavily taxe :, liquor. Then again this class of smus l gler will often carry an innocent look = ing portfolio which contains not pape | but alcohol Thus surrounded by ale, . hol on all sides, he walks past us wit . the gravest of airs, taking care not : make a false step otherwise his htaVi e loaded hat might fall to the grour - and reveal the fraud. I have know o this class of smugglers to be accompt n nied by fashionably dressed lady, tll : der whose skirts there has been enouG - alcohol to stock s small saloon.
 Il These two defrauders are very diff cult to eaten, TOT the reason lHdl ll' U do not need to pass through the gat , of the city but can come into Paris . boat and my colleagues at Charentc or Bercy are hardly likely to dete . them in their perfunctory examinatic
 of baskets and handbags Sometim of course, suspicion Is aroused, and tl i well dressed gentleman and lady a ,,,' followed, not by ordinary octroi CT Il followed, not by detectives who are 6 , ways on duty near the barriers al landing stages.