fOpyrlRht, 1903, by Allen V. Gillespie.)
IFOR A MERK yearly plttanre,
M I averaging less than 1100 apiece,
iv,vw iui?ii are uaiij uanug prinoa
walls for the sake of smuggling
Imports past the customs officials
c ' the United States. This array of smug
Kl.rs. according to the prominent Wash
irgton official who furnished the data. Is
male up of sallormen, who are largely em
ployed to bring the goods to porta; small
boatmen, who meet the ships when In sight
tf port and pick up the tarpaulin-covered
cnsrs thrown overboard; "fences" In all
the more Important ports of entry, and
many a tobacco and liquor dealer both on
tliis and the other side of the Atlantic,
whoso lines of goods are those chiefly
smuggled. i
These men engage In smuggling pure
and simple. They have nothing to do with
getting undervalued goods through the cus
tom houses. They match their will against
thoie of the customs officials for every
cent there is In the game, and they acorn
anything less.
But as exposed as are our thousands of
miles of seaboard, the best that these
smugglers can do, In numerical strength
half as large as Uncle Sam's standing
army of a few years ago. Is to beat the
government out of considerably less than
on -half of 1 per cent of the total amount
of duties annually levied and collected.
Small as this $1,000,000 seems when com
pared with the $240,000,000 duties on $1,000,
000.000 worth of imports, that sum Is event
ually diminished one-fourth by the un
ceasing detective vigilance of the customs
department,, so that If the net profits of
smuggling some $760,000 in all were
equally divided among the smugglers, not
a mother's son of them would get so mueh
as $100 for bis perilous work.
The smuggler has to blame Uncle Sam's
fine system of customs espionage, both
here nnd - al road, for making his Illicit
calling more hazardous the longer he sticks
to it. . Indeed, so closely watched la the
part of New York these days hitherto the
fertile Held of the smuggler that even th.
boldest customs evader thinks twice before
attempting to do business there. As .a
result much, of the smuggling trade ban
been transferred within the last year to
San Francisco, and that port bids fair to
establish smuggling records that will admit
of fair comparison with New York's. . - ,
Until recently , the smuggling In of Su
matra tobacco from Holland was carried
on almost wholly t New YorJj. Now, how
ever, owing to numerous detections, arrests
and convictions In that c.'ty, the smug
glers of Sumatra are operating through San
Francisco.
This tobacco is shipped In what are
called "hands." The leaves, each shaped
much like the human hand, arc laid one
upon the other and tied together at that
portion of the leaf which corresponds to
the wrists. In bunches weighing about two
pounds or one kilo. This constitutes a
"hand." ...
.. The .Dutch saJlormen, who are employed
to smuggle them, secrete the "hands"
orrmwhere about-the ship, often iu bags
beneath the contents of the coal bunkero,
and when their vessel makes port they
await their chance, wrap the "hands"
around their bodies and then slip ashore
and dispose of them to one of the many
"fences" with whom they are acquainted.
The "fence" Is generally a sallormen'a
saloon keeper. The money be pays out for
the smuggled goods he can usually count
upon getting back over his bar. But some
times the sftllcrmen grow tired of this
sort of game and turn on the "fence," as
. Instance the following case:
A dozen sallormen of a certain ship
brought over about $500 worth of Sumatra
tobacco In the coal bunkers. This they
wrapped around their bodies a little at a
time for several nights and carried to a
"fence." On the night that the last of the
tobacco was sold to the "fence" abont
$100 worth a group of sailors managed
to secure the man's ear and hold his at
tention in his barroom while their fellows
sneaked upstains and discovered the to
bacco stored la a dingy room over the
HT I ' wltBe8- ,d the lawyer,
I you Bay that your hearing is
gooa .
"Yes. sir."
"How Eood? Give me an Il
lustration. C'aa you hear my watch tick?"
"No, sir. It's three days since I saw you
going into the pawnebop, and the watch
must have run down by this time."
A story Is told of a lawyer whose quick
wit never deserted him. whether in office
or court. One day a client entered the
office and. throwing back his coat, said,
irritably:
"Why, sir, your office is as hot as an
oven."
"Why shouldn't It bo?" was the calm re
sponse. "It Is here that I make my bread."
A journal entry by u clerk or court In
the state of Washington was made as fol
lows: "After bearing the argument by counsel
and the evidence Introduced, and being
somewhat mixed In his opinion, the court
proceeded to um up tho case, remarking
Smugglers Worry Uncle Sam
saloon. They lost no time In climbing
through the transom and robbing the pur.
chaser. Then they took the tobacco to a
rival "fence" and resold It there.
This little story came to the knowledge
of the customs detect 1 7es wnen, a short
time after It happened, tbey arrested the
"fence" from whom the tobacco was stolen,
and the prisoner, as he related bis misfor
tune, increased the merriment of his cap
tors by his copious tears of grief over the
loss of his money and tho Ingratitude of too
Dutchmen.
The rowboat men, who pick up 1 ho esses
of goods thrown overboard In the lowe.
harbors, sometimes dispose of their spoils
to "fences," but moro often they laud them
at out-of-the-way places and surreptitiously
ship them to dealers In different parts of
the country. In this way they aie moro
certain of outwitting the detectives.
The detectives, however, aro not easily
put to rout. The case of a man who tried
to dispose of fourteen boxes of cocaino
aptly Illustrates their activity.
The boxes about 4x2x1 inches In di
mensionswere stolen while they were iu
tho appraiser's stores In New York City.
As soon as they were missed, the drug
gists of the metropolis were warned not
to receive any cocaine coming from any
unusual source, and thus tho thief's chance
to dispose of the drug in this way was
blocked. Finding his eSorts to rt rid of
the cocaine unavailing, the man decided to
ship It to nio Janeiro, Brasil. and dispose
of it there. Here again his plans were
spoiled, for, a short time before the co
caine arrived In port, the Brazilian market
had been glutted with the drug and the
fourteen boxes could not be sold at any
price. It was, therefore, resblpped to this
country and the customs officials, hoping
to apprehend the real thief and not his
cat spa ws, let the stuff be brought in at a
southern port. Once more all attempts to
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V:::;;''.';..i-i.- t.i
I'Mv-Kt'v y,t. f ,
v. ; ' r "
Bright Bits of
of angels on this earth aud particularly in
Spokane, misunderstandings were liable to
occur in any family. Court ran't consider
as plea a partial failure to provide and
support, complaint doea not state failure to
provide as claimed in the trial. The pass
ing of blows do not show a fixd disposition
to be cruel. Court Is of opinion that the
upon the frailties of human nature and as
to the fact of the unaccountable absence
parties can and should live together. Ap
plication for divorce Is denied and the easo
Is dismissed."
A number of years ago suit, was brought
against the cashier or the State bunk of
Iowa Falls to recover ou allfg.l deposit,
which deposit tho. bank denied, according
to a story in the Green Dag. During tho
trial at Eldora (ho derendanls attorney
made a very convincing argument for his
client and took pains to tell the Jury ot
bis client's high social and religious tend
ing and of the confidence of th people
which he enjoyed and endeavored to im
press - upon the minds of the Jury that
the defendant ws not the kind of a man
sell It were blocked by the vigilance of the
detectives, whi had kept trace of all tho
movements of the cocaine, and then the
thief, despairing of ever realising on bis
Ill-gotten gains In America shipped the
drug to Tarls. whence it had first come,
and sold It there.
But he reaped no profits. Instead, hi
expenses for fcightoge to Brai'I and Kurope
made him an actual cash loss of $0 by tho
transaction.
Still In one way the thief outwitted
his pursuers. While they became reason
ably certain that they knew him, he. In
turn, kept them from being cocksure, nnd
s a result, the ofllcers were afraid to
make an arrest, and a case was never ma.lo
out against him.
Tho customs detectives abroad are Yan
kees, every one. Foreign detectives are
not employed by the Treasury department
for the simple reason that they cannot
trusted. At o.ie time Uncle Sam had seme
foreign sleuths in h's service, but they
proved to be band In glove with crooked
Importers and smugglers. When this was
found cut the system was mads strictly
Yankee In character.
Ono of the clever games of the Anie:lcan
detective abroad la to turn smuggler him
self, with the connivance of bis superlnis,
In trder to catch the crooks. Just at pres
ent the government is working a some
what similar trick at ports whero goods
are being entered at gross undervalua
tions. Contrary to popular opinion, scarcely
any smuggling of Jewels is attempted by
American houses. Foreign dealers usually
engage In this work and trust to agents
to dispose of the precious stones in tho
bt way that they can. This is not al
ways an easy task, for the morn reputable
domestic firms demand a history of the
jewels before agreeing to purchase them.
'
FRANK STEWART OF TINQLEY, la., AND HIS TWELVE
Life at the Bar
to make a mistake In the handling of
other people's money. T. H. Mllner, a
witty as well m a very shrewd lawyer,
represented th3 other side, and In address
ing tho Jury said:
"Orntleuten, I heartily concur in what
my brother has said of the defendant. I
agree with him in each and every state
ment that he baa mads pertaining fo Mr.
'a good self, but I would have you
consider ileply this one fact Cunada is
full of just euch men."
Some Interesting anecdotes and coas'p.
new and old. of the law courts are uivoti
in tbe English illustrated Magazine. The
writer of the artkto, Mr. A. J. Hughes,
was ence present In court wben a Juror,
who opened the ball by saying, "This caac,
my lord, reully lies in a nutb"ll." re
ceived tho reply, "You crack it then."
There have been tiinmt wlum clever wit
nesses have goMen tho better of counsel
in a skirmish or words... When I ha farrier
was asked whera te got his knowlndge of
the mure 'a oje from, he said: "From the
marv's omn mother, sir." Irish lawyers
Of lafe years the American lapidary has
been more cautious than ever before, with
the result that attempts to get In diamonds
and other stoues duty free are becoming
moro and more rare. It would seem that
this field Is now limited to rich Americans
who bring back necklace and other trink
ets for tholr wives and daughters nnd.
hating to pay heavy Importation tolls, are
led to try to beat their government out of
the money due It.
The customs officials tell a good slory
of a South American who. not knowing
that uncut precious stones aro duty free,
went to tho trouble of smuggling in a lot
of them. Then he engaged a fellow coun
tryman In New York to dispose of them,
agreeing to pay him $10 for the tatk.
Instead of playing fair with his employer,
the agent at once hastened to the customs
house and sought cut an official.
"I can tell you of a man," he confided,
"who hm smuggled In some emeralds and
has emp'oyed mo to sill them. If you will
give me $20 1 11 tell you who he Is and
where you can arrcBt him."
"Diamonds, eh?" queried the official;
"cut cr uncut?"
"Uncut." replied the Informer, "mabe
a hundred of tbem."
The cfllclat laughed.
"My dear sir," ho si .id. "go back to your
employer and tell htm that he has uso
loasly smuggled In his emeralds, for when
they are uncut, as In this case, the law
lets them In duty free."
But while attempts to smuggle In many
other articles of merchandise have largely
been given up, there Is no apparent cessa
tion In the effort to get In tobacco and
liquor. These are staples with the army
of 10.000 smugglers, who. Osplte their
strenuous scheming average considerably
lens than a quarter of a dollar a day aplec
for their trouble and labor.
Js f-m" 'i -V"t ', ' . -
sf..fi
STRAFPINO SON3.
aro generally endowed by Dams Nature
with quick wits. Among them all, perhaps,
Cut-ran held the palm for lightness .and
vivacity. When someone told him that no
student should be called to the bar who
did not possess a landed estate of his own
he retorted: "How many acres make a
wlseucre?" But It was a Scotchman, ap
propriately enough Lord Brougham, who,
seeing his noises take fright, yelled to the
coachman: "Drive into something cheap!"
tt
Congressman Moon of Tcnnesaeo was one
a judge la that state. The state's attorney
of his district was lax In attention to duty,
but endeavored lo make it up In talk and
impresslveuuas of manner. One day ths
district attorney oroni to speak on a col
lateral question. "Your honor," said he,
"I should likn careful attention, for I am
going to talk bard, common sense." Judge
Moon turned to tho sheriff and said: "Mr.
Sheriff, please preserve the strictest order
so the bar aud tho spectators may hear
everything tho district attorney says, for
he proailbes to give us a most radical in-novation."