Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1918-08-15
MAKES FORTUNE
BY SMUGGLING
Swedish "Rubber Baron Tells
How He Profited by Trad.
ing on Frontier.
WAS CLERK BEFORE THE war
Made His First Money Dealing In
Russian Rubles-Then Engages In
Smuggling Rubber From Fin.
land and Gets Rich Quickly.

! 0UU3VuIU8 tHUOVSV t7uss
K land and Gets Rich Quickly.
Stockholm, Sweden.-"You want to
know what people smuggle? Go up
the river then, and you will soon find
out. They smuggle nearly everything.
SO 1t is rather difficult to answer the
question offhand.' So said custom
house officer at Haparanda, the little
Swedish town on the frontier of Fin
land, to Herbert Ericsson, Swedish
writer, who went up the Tornea valley
to investigate the smuggling stories.
"While 1 was waiting for the Over
Tornea train to start, a motorcycle
chugged into the station yard" said
Ericsson.
"That is one OF our rubber barons,"
remarked an acquaintance to me-. A
rubber baron, in Haparanda talk, is
man, who suddenly gets rich on
smuggling rubber in from Finland.
was in luck. for the baron-zKarlsson
I will call him-traveled north in my
compartment. He was pleasant fell
low. He did not remind me Of the
smart SPECTATORS l had met in Norr-
land. He even looked embarrassed
when I began to talk about smuggling.
Clerk Before the War.
presently he told me that at the
outbreak Of the war he had been
clerk in one of Norrland's coast towns.
He had earned his money in rubles.
ut is not generally known that
many hundred Swedes have made big
fortunes out of rubles. It happened
like this: After the occupation Of
Poland and other regions Of Russia,
the Germans found that the population
refused to take marks in payment for
such supplies MS were paid for. The
people demanded rubles, and rubles
the Germans did not have. The only
way Of getting them was through
Sweden. The Russian government
permitted no more than 500 to he TAXI
en- out of the government by each
traveller, but with the incentive of a
good reward smugglers were not lack
ing. The Haparanda agents bought
up these rubles and sent them down
to Germany by bales.
"When the Germans had bought all
the rubles they wanted Karlsson tried
to smuggle drugs to Finland. That
failed absolutely. He met with dis.
aster at the outset. His first conslgn.
ment of several kilos Of acetylsalicy.
lie acid and 100 clinical thermometers
was seized by the Swedish customs an.
th0rities and a heavy fine was i'm.
posed.
$50 he got into touch with some
Finnish merchants who, for price,
guaranteed to have large quantity
of rubber rings on the Swedish side Of
the. river at certain minute on Ger.
tain day.
Entering into relations with firm
In Stockholm and finding that he could
make many thousand kroner profit
thereby, Karlsson told the Films to 60
phead. One night he went to Mattlla,
where the rubber was to be ready.
Mattila Ia tiny station on the Hap.
aranda- Over ornea stretch Of rail.
way, and almost on the bank Of the
river.
Ne Sign Of custems ots,eer.
'sWhea he arrived there was no SIGN
OF a Russian custom house officer
across stream. The revolution has al.
tered matters. The Cossacks who
used to patrol the Russian shore had
disappeared. The new guards appoint..
ed by the revolutionaries found II more
Interesting to stay in Tornea. K;.rlsson
picked up the rubber. This was only
the flrst of 2 chain Of such trapsao.
items he managed with financial sue.
cess,
"karlsson has meticulously taken the
saeds 30 smuggled to the Swedish ems.
toms authorities, to be assessed for
duty. Quantities Of tin, flour and lin.
seed oil have similarly come over the
river for many months past, Tin gives
the Films an advantage found one
case where a druggist had come to
grief by taking delivery Of and paving
heavily for thousand kilos of chean
alloy. The flour smuggling seems to
indicate that the Firms engaged must
be blackguards Of a particularly oh.
n!l I?Xie,! type. for they ship flour out
q thelF lana while they know that
tens Of thousands OF their fellow
countrymen are nearly starving and
that their government is sending out
commissions full Of piteous appeals "a
other lands, America included, to snare
fHem A little little flour. II seems curious
!Hat tstseSs elMMlsSia1s could nat have
tarried week at the frontier and an,
ganized guard to put a stop 10 the
drain Of flour there.''
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