The Washington herald., 1912-12-08

who, by defrauding the government, have
been enabled to undsrsell their COM
petitors.
An American buys a $4,000 necklace
in Paris" I said to him. You learn
of the act and a polite but prigmatical
agent Of the customs service meets him
at the dock when he comes home. VIII
you kindly elucidate your modus oper-
andi?"
"I'll not scramble my eggs at this juno
ture," Mr.. Wilkie answered. I'VE know
when an American pays $4,000, for a
necklace in Paris or when he makes a
large purchase in any line. either in
Paris or elsewhere. but as to how We
get the information I have nothing to
say-that is one of the secrets Of our
. business. II an American were to run
around and spend $4,000 for a number
of things, however. We might not hear
of it, In that event, the inspectors
on the docks at New York would be
expected to find the goods in his posses
sion on his return home.
And the inspectors, probably, would
find the goods. They are smart and sea-
soned men. Travellers occasionally COM
plain of them, but considering the thou
sands Of Americans who yearly go and
come, the complaints, relatively. are
small in number. The inspectors are IN
structed to be courteous and as expe-
ditious as possible, but they are also
told to be thorough. An American can
bring 500 worth of new personal be-
longings into the country free Of charge,
but il a woman has a gold-headed cane
or a man has a sample of Paris mil
linery it will be taxed.
How Old Travellers Pack.
"Old travellers place all the things they
purchase abroad at the top OF their bag
gage; inexperienced travellers pack them
at the bottom. Some trunks are pulled
TO pieces, consequently, and the inspect
ors are condemned, whereas the travel
ers themselves are to blame. Many per
sons believe, I suppose, that dutiable ar
ticles put at the bottom OF trunk will
escape the scrutiny of the inspectors. An
old traveller knows better
Are women more inclined to smuggie
than are men?" l asked.
That is a metaphysical question and
a sex problem. 1 decline to discuss
such a matter. 1t can be said how
ever, that women, as a whole, while
honest, do not realize that the national
government is maintained chiefly by the
money collected at the custom-houses.
They fail to get the masculine view OF
the case, and look on the examination
and taxation OF their baggage as an
outrage on their personal rights. Now
and then, therefore, woman lands and
does not inform the inspector that hid
den away somewhere in her baggage is
a 500 sable coat Escaping from the
docks, she goes triumphantly to her
home.
Then other things, strictly feminine,
perhaps. occur seQuentially. The woman
shows her coat to her intimate friends.
They pretend to admire it. and she
smiles and whispers that she smuggled
it through. In a day or two one OF her
most cherished comrades writes us an
unsigned letter. Thereupon a special
agent calls at the house OF the lady with
the coat He is courteous and sympa-
thetic and diplomatic enough to be a
regular ambassador in Europe. Well, in
the end, he walks away with the coat.
1t is tied up, and from the exterior may
look like the family wash.
"'Tell your husband the inspector
ccunsels in his most compassionate tone
of voice, to come down to the office
and bring a lawyer
The husband appears with his at
torney. We say: The coat was bought
for 800. Very well; pay us 800, also
duty Of so per cent, or total OF
1850 Thus the coat, so gayly SNUG
gled. costs the .womans husband $3.50. |
exclusive of the sum he pays the law
yer. That is the money cost. The men |
tai cost-the wear on pride and nerves
is still another matter Thus ends the !
transaction, so far as the government is
concerned. Now. the coat, you under |
stand. was only illustrative. The article |
smuggled might have been a diamond
sunburst, but the march of events would |
have been the same-victory, eXhilira- |
ton, exhibition, betrayal. humiliation. |
and large cash payment"
The Tricks of SmuSEIers.
Are professional smugglers causing
you any trouble?''
NO more than usual Such people are
always at work or are likely to be. II
they have any new tricks We haven't |
gotten a party of Italians who meekly |
climbed out of the steerage not long |
ago. We had word beforehand and |
were waiting for them on the wharf |
Their baggage seemed honest at first |
glance. At a guess, the inspectors eX-
amined can of tomato-paste. an Italian |
delicacy that is often brought here by
The can, except for an inch |
Of paste at the top. was filled with coral
jewelry. When all the cans had been
opened there was jewelry enough to
stock a retail establishment.
''Dressmakers and milliners are unus-
line. Sleeper trunks until
were sneaked on the docks un-
detected. A dressmaker would pack a
number Of Paris gowns in trunk, take
I to the baggage room Of a steamship
and leave 1t with an employe
who had been bribed into the transac-
ion. The dressmaker sailed on one ship;
he trunk, addressed to Mrs. John Smith,
,ollowed on the next ship as left over
baggage. Unloaded in New York, the
runk would stand around for a day or
wo. Then an eXpressman would appear
With an order Another bribed empIoye
II the steamship company would give
he trunk to the expressman. We traced
several sleeper trunks to their desti-
lation, compelled the owners to pay all
he way from $500 to 5000. and put
hat particular method OF smuggling out
# commission.
But another way of beating the gov
,rnment was Immediately thought out
" millfners and dressmakers. We know
when any American modiste is making
arge purchases at the gown and hat
md watch for, her. By and by, she ap-
'ears. Nothing is found in her trunks.
Looks Like a Million Dollars
"A week later, however, 4 woman
'omes down the gangplank looking like
million dollars. She has half q dozen
runks filled with Paris dresses. Her
lame. she says, is Mrs. A. DeMuggins
Astorfeller. Yes, she was once an
american but for years and years has
'een living in Europe on the income
Ter husband left her. am a non-resi-
ent, she exclaimsI These dresses she