El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-03-25
SzgiSS Watching
Food SmuMggLe9.s
WithMuchCare
Germans Resort To Many
Tricks To Take Food
Over The Line.

Berne, Switzerland. March 25.-The
Swiss government has Just handed
/ over six additional motor boats 20 the
customs officials whose difficult and
dangerous work Is TO hunt down the
German smugglers upon Lake Con-
stance Smuggling along the Swiss
frontier has never reached very
alarming proportions. and. thanks &c
! the severe measures to cope with 1t in
force, IT Is now on the decline Just
as al the Swiss inland centers the pO-
I lice regard every German as a likely
spys so at the frontier the Swiss Gus
toms authorities take for granted the
home going German is a smuggler-
A great deal OF ingenuity is dis
played In the attempts made to de-
ceive the customs officials. Few Ger
man musicians returning home, from
the brilliant violimist down TO the Tuan
who plays the trombone, can resist the
temptation TO conceal foodstuffs in
their instrum ents- The case Of the
Munich court orchestra is classic in
this respect. The orchestra, which
counts over 90 members. jauntfly pre-
scented itself at the frontier after a
triumphant tour through Switzerland,
In the belief the customs examination
would be mere formality. The off
Gals thought otherwise; with the re-
suit that in the recesses Of the instru-
ments and in the luggage. 30 pounds
OF sausages. 50 pounds Of lard. nine
sides" Of bacon, three hams. some
tea. some butter, and a large quantity
OF eggs were discovered The food In
spite OF pleadings, arguments. and
menaces, was promptly confiscated.
How It Is Done.
The suspicion has reached a Ger
tainty that the German diplomatic
AGENTS eHnrrHd-nHNa food u~rrfaFa
frontier to friends or families In the
fatherland; but international custom
forbids the examination by the Gus
toms officials OF the diplomatic va
Uses The smuggling carried on BY
authorized German agents constitutes
more serious affair, alike for the al
lies less than ever disigclined to see
the blockade weapon blunted. and for
the Swiss, whose food situation Is SUI
ficiently critical at present The "a
rioning regulations and the restric-
tons concerning the sale and accumu-
lation Of food has happily led TO a
oiminution in the smuggling conduct
ed under German official auspices The
lines on which the official contrabaud
organizers worked before the intro
duction OF the regulations IN question
were extremely simple. German
agents, mainly commercial travellers.
who know Switzerland well. Travelled
through the country from Basic TO Lu
gano. from St. Gail to Geneva, buying
all the fOodstuffs and raw materials
possible at fancy prices. and forward
ing them. when bought. 10 storage de-
pots at Berne and Zurich.
Across the Lake.
The stocks thus accumulated were
kept at the deoDts until a suitable op-
portunity arose Of rushing them
across the frontier IN high speed mo-
tor cars or. # Lake OF Constance were
selected as the spot for transfer, IN
motor boats.
At present smuggling is practically
confined 10 Lake Constance The
Swiss shore Of the lake, in parts e1-
tremely des0late, is difficult to patrol:
and at an appointed spot at an ap-
pointed hour the transfer OF the
smuEgled goods from motor car TO
waiting motor boat may be effected
without much fear OF detection.