The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-08-14
MAKES FORTUNE
BY SMUGGLING
Swedish Rubber Baron" Tells
How He Profited by Trad
y inu 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.

Stockholm, Sweden.-"You want to
know what people smuggle? Go up
the river then, and you will o o find
out. They smuggle nearly everything.
10 1t Is rather difficult to answer the
question offhand.'" So said a custom
house officer at Haparanda. the little
Swedish town On the frontier of Fin
land, to Herbert Ericsson, a Swedish
writer, who went up the Tornea valley
to investigate the smuggling stories.
"While l was waiting for the Over
Tornea train to start. q motorcycle
chugged into the station yard" said
Ericsson.
sThat is one OF our rubber barons,"
remarked an acquaintance to me. A
rubber baron. In Haparanda talk. Is
4 man who suddenly gets rich on
smuggling rubber In from Finland. |
was In luck, for the Decentralization
/ will call him-traveled north In my
compartment. He was q pleasant fell
low. He did not remind me of the
smart spectators / had met In Norr-
land. He even looked embarrassed
when ! began to talk about smuggling.
Clerk Before the War.
'Presently he told me that at the
outbreak Of the war he had been a
clerk In one of Norrland's coast towns.
He had earned his money In rubles.
1T 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 as 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 be TAX
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 dow.
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 a dis
aster at the outset. His first consign
ment Of several kilos OF a~cetylsalicy-
Nc acid and 10C clinical thermometers
was seized by the Swedish customs au-
thorities and a heavy fine was I'm
posed.
"So be got into touch with some
F1nnish merchants who. for a price.
guaranteed to have a large quantity
o. rubber rings ON the Swedish side of
the river at z certain minute on a cer-
tain day.
s1Entering Into relations with q Arm
h Stockholm and finding that he could
make many thousand kroner profit
thereby, Karlsson told the Firms to 90
ahead, One night he went to Mattila.
where the rubber was to be ready.
Matilda Is d tiny station on the Hap
aranda-over -Tornea stretch OF rail.
way. and almost on the bank Of the
river.
Ne Sign o. Customs Officer.
"When be arrived there wal no sign
Of 4 Russian custom house officer
ocross stream. The revolution has al.
tered matters. The Cossacks who
used to patrol the Russian shore had
diuappeared. The new guards appoint.
u ~ the re~volutionaries found 1t more
Interesting to stay In Tornea. Ki rlsson
picked up the rubber. This was only
To first OF q chain Of such transac.
lions he managed with financial sue.
cesn.
sKarlsson has meticulously taken the
goods ~ gmuggled to the Swedish nj
toms authorities. to be assessed for
duty. Quantities Of tin, flour and lin.
reed oil have similarly come over the
river for many months past. Tin gives
the Firms IN advantage. I found one
case where q druggist had come to
grief BY taking delivery of and paying
heavily for = thousand kilos Of a cheap
alloy. The flour smuggling seems to
indicate that the Firms engaged must
b blackguards OF q particularly OBJ
nozious type. for they ship flour oui
of their land while they know that
tens Of thousands Of their fellow
countrymen are nearly starving and
that their government Is sending out
commisnlons full Of piteous appeals Il
other lands, America included. to spare
them Z little flour. Il seems curious
~ theso Submissions could not have
At-1{1ed ! week 1t the frontier and or
rn6lned ! guard to put q stop to thu
Eoln ~ louk there"
Esq., &Mx4z 4