The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-06-29
FAR Sex Are the Principal
Offenders N an Effort to
Evade the Payment Of Gus
toms Duties.

According to Ludwig Nissen, president
Of the American Jeweisrs' Protective As
sociation. who has just departed for Eu-
rope, American tourists rob Uncle Sam
annually Of Selooo,ooo by smuggling
stones 10 90 per cent. That means that
the value OF gems smuggied into Amer
lea each year u Sto,ooo,ooo. says the
New York World.
With q view to minimizing this sort
OF smuggiing the jewelers. Of America
last year formed the Precious Stone
Importers Association" Since then they
have disbursed many thousands OF dollars
In rewards for information concerning
the smuggiers, men and women. who
have eluded custom-house scrutiny. These
rewards have not been paid to detective
agencies. but to members OF New York's
four hundred who have ''peached.'
Forty million may seem q very large
amount 10 be smuggied In past the
sharp scrutiny Of the customs" Mr.. Ms
sen said. but when you realize that
all Of the ssoooo,0oe worth Of precious
gems imported during the past two years
could be carried In a small grip. you see
how difhcult IL the task Of detecting
smuggiers."
Here Mr.. Nissen pushed button on
his desk and gave an order to the boy
who answered It.
pearl necklaces" he explained. THE
combined value Of these necklaces is
$4,000
Strings of Pearls.
A clerk brought In three black Jewel
boxes. Opening them, Mr.. Nissen took
from their satin beds three strings of
iustrious pearls. graded from a large per-
feet center pearl to small perfect pearls,
which ended in q diamond clasp. and held
all three In one hand.
See, can easily put this half mil
lion dollars worth of pearls into my
waistcost pocket" suiting the action
to the word. you can see no differ
ence- You do not see my pocket bulg-
ing out any more than IL would IL I
happened to have some loose change
in II. That is what makes the detect
ing of precious gems SO very difficult.
We have an extensive system. now.
however. which / believe in time will
assist in greatly diminishing the
amount of smuggled gems Mr.. Loeb.
as collector. has given US support in
making seizures, and many lady
during the past year has been sur
prised. after she had considered all
dificulties past, by being called upon
to account for certain gems she had
bought abroad.
How did the collector ind out about
them? She had passed through the
customs all right and believed herself
safe. She soothes her conscience. IL
1t troubles her at all. with the sophis-
try that she has bought and paid for
the things and they are hers. The
husbands of these women put no re-
strictions upon them, and they haught-
lily refuse to see why a government
dares to do so.
Women Famous smugglers.
"'Ninety-fve per cent of the SNUG
Cling is done by women. For many
years they had their own way. But
things are changed now. No matter
how Machiavellian their maneuvers,
no matter II their stories would make
Ananias blush with envy. some time.
somewhere. somehow. the truth is CO.
ing to leak out and humiliation and
punishment will come to them.
TT may be that Mrs. Newlyrich, who
has been snubbed by Mrs. Oldfamily.
has learned that the beautiful neck
lace which adorns Mrs oldfamily's
charms came into the country without
the formality of showing itself to the
customs. little anonymous letter
telling me about 1t comes TO my office