Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-10-22

Iub ofdt VI tNo N'Vuh'
nyrIIS is a plain, unvarnished tale Q
Il an exciting adventure which oc
curred to me while | was in the Unite,
States customs service, There wer
phases of it which were never know
to the public at the time and there
were reasons-diplomatic reasons
which made it necessary that We shouIt
work under cover. But these reason
no longer exist and l am betraying nj
official condolences and injuring no in
z nocent persons when ! now-as | pro
pose to do-give the complete and au
thentic story to the world.
How much it meant to the govern
ment I was serving and how much II
meant to myself the reader must de
termine as we proceed. 1t may be
said that 7 was Mt fault in some OF
the methods that were employed.
Maybe | was. ! can only ask, what
would you have done if you had been
in my place? ] can simply lay the
facts before you without the slightest
reservation. aud ask you how you
would have acted under the same cir.
cumstances.
had Just taken the oath of Office
as a special agent of the United States
Treasury Department when ! received
a hurry call from the collector of Gus
toms of the district. As the colored
messenger ushered me into the somber
looking office | felt as if ! had up
expectedly iutruded upon a lodge of
sorrow. Collector FrGad sat at his
desk, frowning and twirGng his eye
glasses, with the air Of a mau who is
at his wits ends.
Bromley Barnes. the veteran inves-
tigator of the service. sat opposite the
collector, and it is significant when
say that it was the first time ! had
seen him without a smile on his amia
bic face. His thumbs were stuck in
the armpits of his vest and his eye
brows were knitted as if he were try
ing to solve difficult problem by mere
force of will.
The appraiser of merchandise. the
chief inspector and the boarding officer
of the port We're ranged about the
desks with looks Of expectancy on their
faces.
AS entered the collector rose from
his chair and paced the room nery =
ously.
lie was medium sized man. woar-
ing a black frock coat and carefully
creased trousers. He strokcd his lux
nrlant brown mustaChc as he moved up
and down the room, aud swung his tor
toise- sheel glasses from the end of q
long black ribbon.
The collector was n bit pompous in
his manner and inclined to be orator.
cal in his speech. Yet he fitted into his
surroundings as picture fits into a
frame that has been specially made to
hold it. The walls were covered with
portraits of former collectors of the
in hn
mahogany grandfather's clock, whose
ticking was the only sound TO break
the silence that had fallen over the
little group of men. The collector
paused presently, and carefully adjust
ing the tortoise shell glasses on his nose
peered at me aggressively. He pointed
to vacant chair.
Sit down and listen.
L obeyed, wonderingly. He walked
over to his own chair and pulling up
his trousers so that the crease would
not be disturbed began to talk to me
In a voice and with the manner of a
man who is making an address to a
large and unsympathetic audience.
One of the chief purposes of this
Office" be declared, "is to collect duty
Z upon articles shipped from Europe into
the United States. These articles in
clude diamonds. Now, / have reason
TO believe that diamonds are being sys-
tematically smuggled into this port.
nave SO Informed my men, but in spite
OF their vigilance the smuggling con
tInues. Barnes, here, who is reputed
to be one of the shrewdest men in the
service, has been on the job and still the
smuggling goes on. Am I stating the
case correctly, sir?"
Thus addressed, the veteran inyesti-
gator broke into the Grafton with an
evident sense of relief.
The collector" he said in his clear,
crisp manner. is especially provoked
by case that has occurred within
the past twenty four hours. A week
ago we had cablegram from the con-
tidential agent of the Treasury Depart
ment located at Rio Janeiro, Brazil,
stating that a passenger-whose name
was not given-had sailed on the Dom
Pedro with large quantity of pre-
cious stones. That in itself was not
unusual, but it was also stated that this
collection included the famous Red Dia-
mond known as the Star of the South I"
stone."
''The Star of the South / repeated
mechanically
Yes, continued Barnes, with a
trace of impatience. You have made
q otuus VI uldlDOnub anu precious stones
and you, must have heard of this famous
stones"
II have" replied, hesitatingly, "in
general sort of way"
Well" continued the old man with
a sigh of resignat ation, you are prob
ably aware that aside from South
Africa, Brazil has the most wonder
full diamond mines in the world. Away
back in 1858 some prospectors were
working in the mines of Began when
they found this marvellous diamond. The
rough stone weighed something like
eighty carats. 1t was cut into two
diamonds by the fortunate owner and
when finished they proved to be of an
irreproachable purity, transparent and
as dazzling as the MONDAY sun"
II take it, ! remarked, that they
were delicate rose tint"
Nothing of the kind" interrupted
Barnes. They were red blooded red
That is what makes them the rarest
diamonds in the world. There are many
diamonds which get the rose tint by
refraction. There are several red stones
that come near being the real thing, but
SO far as l know these twin stones
known originally as the Star of the