El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-02-14


becoming harder and bigger. the gov
eminent men are using their every
means 20 uncover smuggling schemes
and TO arrest the perpetrators
In a room OF the federal building
there IS piled high hundreds OF gal
Ions OF whisky, many bottles OF
narcotics and other coutraband. all
OF which have been seized from the
illigitimats traffickers- And each
seizure contains a story Of its own
A fortune reposes IN that room. which
IS guarded By a series OF strong locks.
fortune upon which Uncle sam
would rave lost the duty where duty
was payable. or would had his laws
scorned. where the product cannot be
imported or exported even by pay
ment OF duty.
A Really Clever Scheme.
Among the cleverest schemes yet
employed by the smugglars is the
ment men decided to give the lumber
hauled by q certain man. a very care
ful inspection Apparently 10 was use
less labor to unload. to probe and
50 shake each OF the heavy rimbers
But the customs men did that work
and found In that load Of lumber 50
gallons OF pure alcohol The liquor
was contained in five gallon cans. OF
which there were T. The smuEgler
had carefully followed out four big
timbers, with outside measurements
OF Il BY u inches and a length 20 ac-
commodate three five gallon cans
each After placing the cans inside
the followed timber. the smuEgler
had replaced a sawed end OF the log.
fastening the lid securely by counter
sunk screws The pit for each. screw
vas carefully filled with glue and
over all was placed a tiny block o.
wood. exactly matching the grain OF
the wood
When the apparently solid timber
was shaken, q gave forth q sound
as OF splashing liquor. The investiga-
ton revealed the four timbers with
their costly contents. The man who
attempted the smuggling was ar
rested and released on $1,000 bond He
Jumped" bond and IS now a fugitive
from Justice
The same principle was used by
the smuEEler who attempted to bring
across the border quart bottles Of
liquor fastened into the followed rear
axle OF his wagon This man Is serv-
ing q sentence for the crime.
IN the case OF the timber. the
sIrnugslesr had used wood pianer on
the timbers after "doctortng' them. so
that the excellence OF his workman
ship almost baffled the customs
agents II Is thought that he had
made q number OF successful snug
Cling expeditions. as he is known TO
have been frequent importer OF
'tlmbers-"
Liquor In Gas Tank.
Another clever ruse which was IN
covered by government u.en was the
false bottom gasoline tank" This
was apparently a bona fide tank on
King Eight touring car. Federal men.
after the car had made many trips
across the border. became suspicious
They removed the tank and found
that n MHnHHrInH int
partments. one OF which contained
gasoline and the other and larger
one contraband whisky amounting to
q pint bottles The soldering in OF
the false compartment was cleverly
done and is believed to have been
the work OF an expert In order that
federal men might smell gasoline
from the air vent which In reality
was the fake" compartment the
smuggler had connected his bona fIde
tbut extremely small gas tank with
me ar vent ny tiny pipe II IS
believed that the compartment was
used Ter smuggling ammunition into
Mexico as vel as liquor into e Paso.
One OF the men apprehended in con-
necttcn with the case Is now serv-
ing sentence Of two years and two
days in the federal penltentiarv AZ
Leavenworth, Kan The other has a
sentence OF one year and one day 70
complete. The tank Is among the
exhibitions Of the government stored
In the federal building.
False Bottom Cans.
MIX cans with false sides and bot
toms are another means attempted
BY the smugglers In evading the law.
The cans were constructed so that BY
turning a sort Of secret combination
the false top Is released, showing a
concealed tank within the milk can.
The tank was 50 constructed IN a set
of grooves that IL was easily removed
BY the smuggler after passing IN