Evening star., 1938-02-16
Pirates OF Big Business:
No. } OF a Series.
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, Feb, 16.-Mandy. the
colored washerwomar. was a station
on the "overground railroad"
The trains on the road looked like
any other trains, the rails they rode
looked like any other rails. but the
freight they carried was handled as
stealthily as any human freight which
passed over the underground rail-
road" Of Civil War days.
Mandy's baskets were among the
freight. Trains took on her laundry
as regularly as they took on coal.
Mandy was comparatively new,
although extremely interesting. sta
ton. The "overground railroad had
begun long before her time. 1t had
begun with prohibition
"Smugglers' row" out on the At
lantic at the 12-mile limit had just
been broken up. The big bootleggers
needed more accessible source Of
alcohol and q new distribution system
They chose Canada and the railroads
Just as innocent farmhouses on
either side of the Mason and Dixon
line were turned into havens for
smuggled slaves, just as luxury liners
on the ocean routes were turned into
vehicles for smuggled diamonds and
narcotics. so the trains that cross the
border between the United States and
its northern neighbor were turned
infn fnn1S nf hn
Distributing Syndicates.
Porters. cooks, dining car attend
ants and train crew members were
organized into a vast distributing syn
dicate which reached from the liquor
stores of Quebec to the speakeasies
Of big American cities.
The first cog Of the huge machine
began to turn inside the doors OF the
Quebec dispensaries. Legitimate drinks
were parceled out there, 50 many bot
ties to a customer-so many and no
more. Customers stood In line and
took their turn.
In every line were stooges for the
smuggling ring. They would get their
quota Of bottles, deliver them to
hotel or other designated jobbing
center and get back in line for more.
When > shipment had accumulated
it would be carried to q train and
turned over to the syndicate employees
aboard it. They would secrete it in
water coolers, unused Pullman berths,
linen closets, ventilators, vestibules
between the cars and under the car
floors.
From 80 to 40 cases of liquor could
be delivered thus on one average
sized train. Chances of detection were
slight, for customs men would have
been forced to stop all trains at the
border and make a thorough search
Of passengers and cars If they were
to find the contraband; and that was
obviously impractical.
The illicit trafiic brought in rich
profits to its operators-until repeal
came. Then the smugglers were left
with . distribution agency and moth
ing to distribute. They hunted = new
product to handle.
Diamonds, Narcotics Good Bets.
They tried everything from butter
and eggs to silk and cigarettes, but
to make the big money they lost with
repeal they had to concentrate on
merchandise carrying high duties.
Their best bets were diamonds, mar
cotics and Swiss watch movements.
Mandy, the washerwoman, had to
do with watch movements.
The customs agents knew that the
were being smuggled into
the United States, because reputable
watchmakers were complaining OF
cut-price competition. They knew
the movements were coming in on the
railroads. They knew they were COM
ing In from Toronto. But they never
saw them no matter how hard they
looked
They hung around Toronto for