The Hawaiian gazette., 1909-05-11
USING MAILS
FOR SMUGGL|NG

N"hHiHttahit liHf hh@ tidpteu hluce
the opium prohibition law went into
effect here but A. yet no big arrests
have been made for attempts at Snug.
Cling. The customs authorities are
none the less watehful on account Of
the apparent calm, and are keeping
the closest kind of look out for any
attempts to smuggle the "dope" into
Honolulu.
A man closely in touch with China.
town affairs said the other day that
the Chinese seemed not TO be lacking
in opium with which to "ht the pipes
as of old. He ventured the opinion
that the drug was being Struggled into
the Islands by encasing il in packages
of mail stuff to all outward appearances
having innocent contents. Numerous
schemes have been worked in the past.
but it is understood that no zone has
in the past been caught here using the
United States mails.
How successfully Uncle Sam has
been swindled by use of the mails on
the Atlantic Coast is shown in the
following article, clipped from the New
York Tribune:
The custom house experts at the
postofiice have their hands full check
mating the clever moves of those who
are constantly devising new ways to
disguise dutiable things as innocent
looking parcels.
eve used to pass cakes through
without question: said one of the ex-
aminers. cit seemed too bad to lay
hands on Christmas pudding sent by
relatives in England to some exile in
this country. 1t also disturbed the SEN
timental side of customs officer to
demolsh a section of wedding cake
that had been sent from the old home
in Germany to Fritz in America. So
we let those sacred things pass through.
But one day we had an awakening.
One of the customs men heard that a
neighbor had obtained a new watch
from abroad. 1t had come through
duty free, and the gleeful girl who was
wearing it could not keep quiet about
the clever way the postofice had been
deluded. 1t seems the watch had been
baked right into the cake and had come
through without discovery. Now, this
forced us to take some step to prevent
repetition of such smartness, and
ever after that we held on to all cakes
or puddings that came in packages
through the mail A letter is sent to
the person to whom the package is
addressed, and this person lit is almost
always a woman) has to come to the
postofice and cut the cake or slice
the pudding right in front of the Gus
toms officer. Do we catch Tartar
occasionally Well, you may take 1t
for granted that any one who would
try this trick is a Tartar, to begin
with, and so we don't get off without
scene when the cutting time comes.
"a trick that fooled us for time
was the sending through the mail OF
one glove a trifie creased to give the
idea that 1t was merely worn glove
that had been left in Europe by a
tourist. With the glove would come
letter to that effect, You went away
without one of your gloves, etc. or
course we passed 1t through unsus-
pectingly. But we got so many Of
these that it began to look suspicious.
So we held on to one of them, and by
the next mail there came another glove
from the same address to the same
person. The glove was the fellow to
the other. Then we got another left
hand glove and later the right-hand
glove to match 1t. The trick was sim
pie and admirable in its simplicity.
j Gloves were being sent through in
quantities, one at time.
but the queerest trick we exposed
the other day. A woman was accu-
mulating a large stock of fancy cor
sets without troubling about the duty
;; that should have been paid on them.
The trick was to send half a corset
through the mail We knew of no
rule about paying duty on half a cor
set 1t appeared to us to be a mere
; - of tha a WnmaIl'a f.
tire and not important enough to con-
, slider as dutiable.
$50 we passed the half corset along
. and thought no more of it. But half
! corsets began to drop in with all too
great frequency. 1t looked as though
n corset remnants had suddenly attained
I considerable Importance In someone's
r estimation. So one of the men put Il
q up to his wife, and she took some
;. thing less than fraction of a second
n to puncture the scheme. The half
v corset was useless in itself, but when
Q the other half arrived there was a
It French corset ready for wearing.
}. 1--WE find fine silks done up in pack
4 ages of herbs, watches, diamond rings
l. and bracelets concealed in the leaves
1t of books in holes cut for the purpose.
t. and separate diamonds hidden away
II in bottles of transparent liquid where
t, the gem is scarcely visible. No doubt
y many dutiable articles escape us, but
d we are getting wiser every day to the
tricks of the mail smugglers."
y y - - - y - - y - ~ - ~ u - - = -
Sc Mr.. Fairbanks went into splendid
sr defense of the action of the Senate
II in the Philippines matter and defense
i'd of the results of the Treaty Commits
r. sion's labors in paying $20,000,0JO tC
il. Spain for the captured islands, another
lie unprecedented action of victorious
n nation over a fallen foe. The action
T. in regard to Cuba, the later one witt
RS regard to the Philippines and many
ID other minor affairs growing out of the
ie war, he said. rebound to the majesty
ID and high ideals of the great Republic
}. The speaker dwelt at length on thu
Mt last sad chapter of the martyr Presi
at dents life, and spoke of the visit h
"a mada m Mr. Mckinley Mt Canton