The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-09-06
HOW THE MODERN
 SMUGCLERS WORK Brute Force Has Been Sue ceeded by Sharp
 Cunning. SOME CLEVER SCHEMES An Attractive and Often Successful Form of Fraud.
SOME CLEVER SCHEMES

~N~@SNN~J like fifteen hundred different articles subject to British import duties; to- day there are only two or three doz- en, and most people imagine that the art and craft of smuggling is a thing of the past. It is true that car goes of French brandy of tobacco and lace are no longer landed in the lonely coves of Devon and Cornwall, and that armed bodies of eoastguards no longer wage pitched battles with bands of your East countrymen along the muddy creeks of Essex and Suf- folk But if the old-fashioned fight ing type of smuggler has passed away it does not follow that smuggling is dead. Brute force has been succeed ed by cunning, and the game still goes merrily on.
 In fact, the annual reports of the commissioners of customs show a marked increase during receit years. In 1899 the amount of smuggled to- bacco seized was 6,115 pounds; in 1905, the last year for which statistics are available, this had risen to 12,372 pounds, or more than double; and g. 323 persons were fined for the offence of smuggling. The largest seizure during 1905 was effected by the ap- propriately named H. M. $. Argus, when she captured a fleet of seven limit off the Humber. Coopers are floating grog and tobacco ships which sell their cargo to fishermen, and from these seven vessels were taken no less than two and quarter tons of tobacco and cigars. By-the-bye, seiz- ed tobacco is no longer consigned to the Kings tobacco pipe"; the best of it is sent to the criminal lunatic asyluns, and of such as it not fit for human consumption some goes to the botanical gardens at Kew and Edin- burgh for fumigating purposes, and the rest is sold to manufacturers of sheepwash.
 There are always individuals who will risk the chances of detection and subsequent penalties for the sake of getting a few pounds of tobacco past the customs. Only the other day 8 passenger who had thrice asserted that he had nothing to declare was searched at Harwich He was found to have large quantity of tobacco wrapped round his body next the skin, in the form of plaster, and he was wearing two pairs of trousers, the in- ner being stuffed with choice cigarette tobacco. His offence cost him a month in prison.
 The duty which was placed on su- gar four years ago has entailed an enormous amount of extra work upon the customs of this country. Of course, no one short of lunatic would attempt to smuggae sugar; 1t is sugars substitute, saccharin, which has opened a new field to the ingeni- ous evader of duties. With one ex- ception, a rare kind of ethr, sacchar- in, which Is about three hundred times as sweet as sugar, carries the heaviest duty of any object of import namely, one and threepence an ounce When it is remembered that sac charin is imported either in crystals or powder, and that enough may be carried in hat or tobacco-pouch to cheat the revenue of several shillings the difficulty which confronts the of- ficials will be appreciated.
 Saccharin can also be mixed with other substances such as chalk soda even painters colors, and readily sep arated after reaching it's destination The first heavy seizure that was made was at Folkestone. Casks containing in all a ton and a half of aniline dyes were found to be composed of 50 pel cent. of saccharin mixed with sulphate of aniline, sulphate of soda, etc. Ha6 it not occurred to a smart examining officer to rub a little of the stuff or his hand and taste it, the revenct would have been the poorer by some 1,500 pounds.
 Saccharin has been found in ink sealing wax and perfumery, and alsC hidden in toys. Toys, indeed, have been extensively used as receptacle! for taxable goods. Recently a ncm Der of innocent looking waxen faced dolls were found to contain each SIildll DdlI5l Ol dlIoI Ol IuS6Ss ENEGN resocrce of modern science is brough into play to counteract the devices O smugglers. Some years ago it wa found that watches were being sen by post into one of our colonies hid den inside Bibles. The Roentgen ray brought the swindle to light, and ar, now constantly used for the detection of postal smuggling.
 The tariff of the United States i the highest in existence, and the pen alties for smuggling the heaviest Sev ere as the penalties are the prices ob tainable for smuggled goods are s high that any number of people seen willing to run the risk of discover and consequent punishment Of GU diamonds alone the customs estimat that a million dollars worth a yea are smuggled into the country On man made no fewer than twelve sue eessful journeys to and fro, carryin diamonds inside a hollow walllin stick; upon one occasion that stic was worth 10000 pounds II may b noted by the superstitious as a proc pl lll6 III lUCA OL NlIS iuiitpSl 1o, lud the smuggled was caught on his thir teenth attempt to evade the customs Another smuggler took the trouble t remove the charges from a number c revolver cartridges, fill the space wit diamonds and replace the bullets, Tn foolish fellow was so tickled with
 sense of his own ingenuity that h could not keep silence. and boasted [ a fellow passenger of his clevernes