Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-03-02

\ sac Oh In0 SACK. "A rev OIOpS Vi 6"SoS
from his brow would materially affect
! small sample. He was even seen 70
spit in sample Thus was he able to
keep down the grade OF the sugar
upon which the duty was paid. and thus
| was a specific loss of $4,000 at this !;
port recovered by the government.
! The sleeper trunk" fraud in New
York was made possible through the !
corruption OIL
Sleeper Trunk govern
Method Disclosed. si SIT Fashionable !
| dressmakers were involved. They |
would purchase gowns in Paris and
pack them in trunks such as travellers
use. These were turned over to ship |
| ping agent in Paris, who had been cor |
rupted From his lists Of travellers !
who had recently returned to America |
| he would select names and to them he
| would send the trunks of gowns as
left baggage" When these trunks ar
rived in New York the individuals to
whom the names really belonged would |
not call for them, they were expect |
] ing no baggage. They would remain /
| around the steamship baggage rooms |
| for while and would be set aside as
| 'sleepers," a name applied to uncalled- i
| for baggage. 1t was hire that cor
rupted American inspector came In. He
was paid handsomely to mark these
pressman would appear with check !,
| and claim the trunk. this check having
been sent on from Paris. Thus would /
the gowns reach the dressmakers with |
| out the payment of duty.
| But two of the dressmakers quar- !
relied. One of them. thus angered at i
another. wrote to the customs ofhciais
| about the sleeper trunk" scheme. The |
| thirty-six were arrested and paid fines |
ranging from $500 to $4,000 each.
| Americans who visit Canada are
sorely tempted to purchase FUR over i
| coats These may be bought much |
| cheaper there than at home. But there J
is the possibility, even probability, that
the purchaser will be held up on the /
| border and forced to pay DUTY. Inc |
| fear of this often prevents MS making |
| the purchase.
| found that it would be possible for him
! to make many sales II he would guar
antee that the duty need not be paid. |
He found a way to sell coats under |
! these conditions. To be sure. 1t neces- |
, STATED his going into the lumber bust !
ness on the American slde, out that
| was simple To his lumber yard he !:
| shipped large amounts of the materials i
there sold. and In each shipment were
| hidden the overcoats he had disposed !!
| of to Americans. Having them thus
on the American side, he would take !
J them to the express office and they |
would go forward. All worked we'll !
until the volume of business done by |
a small express office attracted the at
! tention and aroused the suspicion of !
! a customs agent. 1t was then easy to !
| get to the bottom of the smuggling
scheme. The overcoats that had al |
ready been shipped to Americans were /
! traced and their recipients were forced !
! to pay the duty. On this score $4,000 /
was collected in Chicago alone.
| r
/
The profit that may be made by SELL !
| ing opium upon which no duty has |,
| been paid re-
Ingenious Schemes suits in some
| to Smuggle Opium. genious snug !
Cling schemes that are anywhere
Matched for the deception Of the Gus !,
! toms official Ships arriving at PACING !
ports from the orient call forth most |
careful searching and unrelaxing vigi- !
lance. The inspectors, for instance,
once found Theoretically sealed In cans
and floating In the water tank from
drank enough opium to have put all
| San Francisco to sleep. On another
occas sion a pipe which seemed to be one
of the water mains OF the ship was
A pound of this drug, outside the
| United states, may be purchased for
S. while the prevailing price Withln
| it's borders is $3.50 or Whereabouts. !
There is, consequently, handsome |
profit for the smuggler.
The most elaborate scheme for SNUG |
| Cling opium into the United States |
that was ever detected mad Jamaica
| included the introduction Of Cinnamon
into this country in violation Of the |
| immigration laws. Two wealthy |
Cinnamon in Kingston were the source |
of supply for unlimited opium and
orientals, and any ship captain or en-
| terprising American who could ind a
way was invited to embark in the
business. This government had much
difficulty with this system until star
man was borrowed from the bureau of
Investigation and sent to Jamaica.
the fashionable hotels, representing
himself as retired American Of
means, somewhat sportively inclined,
who sought to while away the tediun,
but who was not not averse to the
making of bit of easy money.
He found out who were the indlvid-
uals active in the smuggling of opium
friends with them. After months of
associat ton he was taken into their
confidence with the idea that he would
er which would make it possible for
them to operate on much larger
scale. AS capitalist ne pretended to
d With He the mes1 to ae Ss s hSE
gler as a companion. he was taken
aboard a ship bound for Philadelphia
that the detail of getting the opium
in might be demonstrated. He saw
the stuff actually brought into Phiia-
delphia, accompanied the smuggler
while he marketed 1t in that city and
in New York at the fancy prices rep
resented. In the end he had f1rst-hand
levdence against the whole gang which
made it possible for the government to
break up the Jamaican plant and shut
off that supply Of opium