Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-01-19


attempted evasions Of the law When
George b. Cortelyou was made secretary
Of the treasury, one Of the first things he
did was to place declarations in tho
hands OF passengers long before they ar
rived at port. The average tourist pre-
fered to pay duty rather than make a
| voyage across the ocean with a guilty
| conscience as his chief conips MON.
One Of the favorite articles Of the
! smugglers' trade is the diamond. Al |
though uncut stones are permitted to
come into the country free of duty, cut
stones are taxed heavily. The most ac-
conpished diamond smuggler in the his
tory of the country was a Belgian, who
bought his wares In Antwerp Amster-
dam, Paris and London. He had a
brother in New York and made frequent
| trips to that city. Although the customs
authorities suspected him for many
years, they could not obtain the neces-
sary evidence to arrest him. He would
| invariably come over to the United states
on n certain ship, returning on its out
going trip, always securing the same
stateroom. The only evidence that could
be obtained against him was the fact
that his brother always had diamonds
to sell after one of these trips. But in
spect his baggage as often as they would,
the customs authorities never could find
trace of a stone. At last. however, the
| Two brothers fell out, and the one In New
| York Informed the custom house of his
| brothers method. He always was ac-
| companied to the steamer by his brother
| when he sailed on his return voyage
As no one thinks of watching an out
to''s snip ior Viola'ohs oi 'ne customs
INV ~ wan easy LOT MN 10 'aAe we wa"
"'o''e from 'hen hiuihs p'ace :" "'
N'a'eioo'" ana mana 'hen' W ms oio'"e'
jug. peioie tne Vesse' uepar'eu'
"'i' imam "cN''''e' 'o'''i' was
| "e ''"eieu ii''o ''e si"'e at N'''''"'
'"'o' every "heeI Oh ''e Veinii'e"'
s'"ppe" LOT hVe 'n'n"'es' ",'u "''''ousn
'..e '"''''''H "Sp' 'oiS "e'e III ''e '''''9'
Vi n" eAa'i'i'a' 'oi VI ""s
n"e' VI. we p.erS Vi Ne" o'N' every
.n."t 9toou sum lo' ''e eppo'''eu '''ie
me '"iS S"ehce was oeins observed
ous'oi. ''SPec.or "o.Iceu i"s"'o"aolS
oresseu man whose SILK nat appeared 10
oe n'.ie Top heaVy' nc acc'oehta'y
knocFeu " OH WIN MS cane ana "hoie
nst iui OF me siiVer"are cropped out
| 'Po' "'o'"ef occaeio' "'aH 'a''e INV"
'ne sansp'ank cio'heo IN .he CARP OF
clergyman carrying IN ms mana "hat
appeared 10 De an or'noooH eoi''on OF
'ne Nio'e' 81" went we" ui'''i ne nap
Peheo 10 stunnp'e ana iaiI a secret
spring IN ms pesudo b'oIe was uhloosed
""u ou' '"iieu inlse Hu'i'oei vi ui"
!
Ieerls como INTO inc onNeu SUITES as
precious stones duuaoie al ~ per cent
"hen uhs'runs' "hen strung they are
cIasseo as 1e"elry' duitaoie al to per
cent some years ago there was steady
importation OF pearls ana the customs
a"'hor'lies con'iuded tna' they were 10
ne useo TOT single straho' An expert
put then tosether ana founo they hao
heen perlec'E Matched ana AS a mater
or fact ala constitute string OF great
value II was held that me mere pres
ence OF absence OF the s'rin9 dio not de-
termlhe ~hether they were strung or I'M
strung pearls out Inc question was
"hether they mao Deeh seiected TO con-
hutute Single str'hg on thie theory
the customs on'c'ais ieVied outF Oh
Nio'oo on 'nem' Inc importer TOOK
'he case 10 'ne COURTS. ana 'he 'o"er
courts aii'r'heo 'he uec's'oh Oh the GUS
tom mousse ha'er IL was oppehleo 10
the supreme Court or the uhiteo STATES
ana that oooy oec'oeo mat the presence
or absence OF the strins NseH' perhaps
costing ooi'ar OF TWO Is the de'erfnlh-
ing FACTOR as 10 "he.ner So'''o Iot
OF pearls shaH pay 'iV'ooo ou'y or so0'-
90 duty'
DressmaKers are the principal viola
tors OF the customs law The extent TO
which the sleeper-trunk frauds were car
ried sufnced TO rob Uncle Sam Of mil
lions of dollars of duties. These frauds