The Somerset reporter., 1906-03-08
Prank Cairns.

The Lewiston journal Of a recent Ia
sue contains the following sketch Of
our former townsmau, Frank : cairns.
which We reproduce for the interest Of
bis friends this section We Learn
hat III. Cairns AID family are En-
route home on a leave Of absence for
Two - three months, tie most whlcl
vii be parsed n ~kozlegan
l. can W. b. sad -. VI rt4Lk :.
airna, she fHsalar sofsr5or II s4sto M.
lhllbpIue bands, Is OFT Of lie na0s.
popular cfleia IN The government 1ef=
wee lie II naturally II a curteous sns
OF lgl4g dlsp5siuDu, AID bis popularity
IL a. great VII the Filipinos al X u
VIII bis c"u country men Long exper
eEce III the colonial customs service Of
the United >iatts has 10 sde Inn sg { g.
Gent al he is popular
hT Arms Has born 10 the capital Of
the Common wealth Of Hsssae busetts
bile still young, and attending the put
lie schoOls Of Boston, be Nas taken by
his parents TO Cuba where be saw many
Of the suriug scenes incident 10 the Ter
Years, War Due ia part 10 a passloE
for adventure, but more especially 10
desire 10 zee his native country again
Master Arms in 1873 shipped his cable
from its Cuba moOrlngs and shipped be.
fore the mast On sailing vessel bound
for New York. finally settling In SkoN-
began. hsine, where he engaged IN mer-
chantle pursuits which were later COZ
tinued 10 California Going down with
many others 10 the financial panic which
swept over the United states during the
Cleveland administration. Mr.. cairns eu
tered the government service IN the
Treasury Departmen v Arlington. D
G., being attached 10 the Secret Service
Division.
Upon the outbreak Of the war with
Spa he was assigned 10 the hsEardox
task of breaking up the Spanish spy sye-
tenn which had been established across
the border in Canada. Upon conclusion
of the war he returned to " Arlington
and subsequently was placed In charge
of the Federal secret Service in the stat {
of Indiana In the spring of 1893 his ser.
vices we're reqnisitoned ey the Var De
partment and be was sent 10 Cuba " here
be orgaulzed the bureau of tpt cial
agents, Cuban customs service. which
WAS also considered to be the feoersi
secret service in Cuba At that time
extensive smuggling op5 :stions especial
ly il opium, were being conducted
several gangs Of clever cOunterfeiters
were also carrying on their nefarious
practices directly under the eyes of the
authorities Gold coins were uttered
with boldnes which for time carried
with it its OWL success
Il WAS not long however, after the or
ganization of the bureau of special
agents under ny. Cairue whose men
were often referred To as the "eVes and
ears OF General Tssser q Bliss, then
collector of customs for cuba. antil
these clever gangs of smugglers and
counterfeiters ere entirely suppressed.
Ii was this brilliant work that made
possible in a arge me azure, the msgnl-
ficent record which stamped the Gus
toms service of Cuba of the most efici-
ent and, from a moral standpoint, the
cleanest under the American admins
tration The efforts OF MI Cairns were
highly apprecia, ed by General Bliss and
leo TO his being appointed in Dece Der,
1901, TO his present position as surveyor
of customs for the philippine islands,
where his knowledge of customs affairs
was greatly assisted in placing the ser
ice on its present efficient basis
Mr.. Cairns will be remem bered by
many of our readers as a ope.time mer
chant in the busting town of Skowhe-
gan. For number of years be was
chairman CT the republican county com
mittee for Somerset and rendered yeo-
man service to the party during his To-
cumbency of that position. q q is also
Vi ason. Knight Templar, and a mem
Der in good standing Of Kora Temple, A
A o. y. NJ. 5.