SMUGGLING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 577, 4 August 1909, Page 8

SMUGGLING.

AND COLD-BRAIDED SENTINELS. THE TRiCKS OF AN ILLICIT TRADE, E Smuggling is a precarious side-line to income, in these days'of elaborate Customs regulations. .It savours of none of the reck- . less daring incidental to tlie : life of'the old- * timo smuggler. Strategy' or guile, are the J essential qualifications of the present-day "l, smuggler, whose constant enemy is the braided Customs officer. In spite of the pre- 1 cautious taken by the Department, and oc- 1 ] casiona! prosecutions, many people ride rough shod over the laws of the port, and even when they are suspected cannot always be p brought to book. .• •'' 'gt •• •' ' ■: '' of Tho Men Who Watch. »j In-addition to the regular, wharf officers fo employed locally by tho. Customs Department P< four special watchmen are constantly on the; w> lookout on tho wharves for-persons- who at-. 01 tempt -to evade payment on dutiable goods. d< Two .of the'■' Watchmen do day duty and two; pi operate aVnight,,but they, have ,their hands; it full iu covering the area from the Taranaki; fo Street Wharf • to' tho King's 'Wharf:/ "The "• watchmen : are empowered to stop anyone ui whom they have reasonable grounds to sup- as pose, is taking away (wilfully or unwittingly) tl any dutiable goods. / lii the event of the per- cl son stopped refusing to giro his name'and la address-and to allow; tho parcel to bo opened c: thb watchman/ can' take him before a Justice ?; of the Pc-ace, and then, if the explanation is £1 not satisfactory, take .further steps. On the 9' arrival of a foreign trade vessel the captain is bound by ..tho regulations to give a list of. '!» the dutiable, goods in the possession of each P of his/officers and crew, .and,, in the event o] of-a ; 3earch by.the Customs disclosing goods' other.thaii those on tho list', the person in a whose possession the goods are found is liable, to prosecution : for harbouring, uncustomedgoods. 1 . //■'//. , ■■ :: p Whore Cold Braid Went Too Far. • . 0 i ■The/Customs officers who;,have'to. deal with P i. people coming off ships, have a rather delicate jf fca'sk.''A short" time ago a well-lpown .livil » engineer who 'had been- making a few.'house- S1 hold'purchases in the city had occasion to ®. godown the wharf after.dark to post a letter ™ on 'board a steamer.:; ./Walking casually up the wharf . after, having posted',the' lettery fche gentleman ; iiv 'question was; interrogated by a Customs' officer and 1 asked. to • disgorge.' ■ * A'" ° full, explanation was given; by the. owner" of * the'-parcel/-who detailed tho contents.' and 0 produced his bus-iness l card'to convince the 11 official*.-: ' The' explanation' was not/ deemed J satisfactory; however, and/the /official ivas a joinedr-by a. policeman,- to ; -whom the owner P o.(;the parcel.'also oxplained, : but still he wrts t looked uj)bn : with the 'drab .eye of suspicion, d A demand that ho. should carry the, parcel c t0.,a., room where it would bo-'searched was' met..-was' a 'point-blank' Tefusal. '• Th6re,' Tas . the: parcel, /-sa.id its owner,/whose:.pationce was.Voxhausted; and if they wanted- to im- j pound it they could do'so, or if they'wanted j to it they could • take it up to- the i room -themselves and-db.it; He would not. . The .result,: after some delay,, was that' the j suave Cdstoms. officer carried tho parcoly arid, s escorted. by. an. insensitive policeman' and 'the , raging 'owner of the parcel,' the procession: ( file^-.up, "the.'.wharf.' :The' parcel was duly , opened:and;found to contain a loaf-of bread, j •six 1 buns,-, and'i-two : t>ies. and--handed hack , to-.the. irate, 'owner; -who/departed after giving a fervid 'ttddre'ss on Customs', methods.. • i The other side- of'the picture is shown by , ■ the difficultyin which' an' officer can.find him- ■ self by- taking, a . j^rson's'i,word/for. what;a ; parcel pontains; A'-'Custoims officer';..who .kiiew 1 the/' man he' was dealiilg 'with//intimately, accepted his.word that/a oortain parcel-which : that man was taking off'the'-wharf,was ■ a toy Engine, The toy engine was : subsequently 1 found to be a dynamo,, worth -a/considerable ' amount of money, arid the ,officer in question j was disrated- for .alleged carelessness. -.'/ ; . ■ Female Smugglers. ' ,", ij One/of the most:'difficult J 'bperators"to de- ' tect'in'the smuggling/bUsin&Vis; the/woman , who.,makes \up.i her-mind to defraud, the > .Customs." Female 1 attiro is. such->ithat l it | . .lends , itself "to covering a-.multitude- of!, sin's 'against' the Customs laws. —Many- yards , of ! . valuable lace conic into the Dominion duty ; free, through female importers winding tho easily-stowed material round their liody. ; >.. Ostrich feathers arid'other-small goods are i ' similarly,,conceal^,' and double/corsets/have' • guarded in any. a valuable fjrom 'the' gaze of •' th-e inquisitive ' Customs officer. The. female : j .searcher is/liqt yetj ; as far' as 'Wellington-is. ' concerned. ; A /good . story > is- told, of •' an [• elderly' invalid lady n;ho frequently tripped ■/ .to/Sydney arid- back.'. 'Th© lady in question, .- who'had mean'sy but also, a-decided objection ! to paying, duty on ;suiidry...articles she; used ■ to purchase,in Sydney for local/bazaars, etc;, 1 iwas .'invariably /''surrounded' .. by ■ - cushions c throughout:her'. trips,.but-the iushipris/rare'y if ever returned with, the same -padding/as - they contained going- over./"When:. the jn- -' ! valid gathered her-cushioits and'.wraps' ; for K the' leave-takirig" at/ Wellingtony ; the i guile-. - less' Customs .officers did. not ,suspect •the / coritents 'bf 'the cushions.or-there would ';are / bcerf'trouble.. : ' /,/' •//; Winning a Suit.. Petty smuggling is not by any means unknown amongst. men, as the Court ■ proceed- . -ings tell from time to- time. -, Steamship officers, 'sailorsand' civilians ' come under the ban at intervals, mostly for attempting to [. conceal uncustomed 'goods,: and. again ;for o trying ,to run the. gauntlet by " brazen , ef- !• frontery'. ; An ! employee flf! one of the~ water--front' warehouses ■ used' to tell the story of ■ how he got-a new: suitiashore from.;an Erig- °. lish' steamer.,". He'/kriew :it was -useless en- / deavouringV to carry the;, parcel ' past ;'.the Customs' .officers, and so resolved on a'novel J, plan of 1 campaign, 'which waSj - '- shortly, that 1-. he put on an old pair of trousers, and, leayd 'the. rest/ of his./outer'.gatmerits,' in tho :s office,- slipped into : ani .overcoat' and proy -ceeded on board the steamer.- Here his' accomplice'produced -the new suit, which tho trickster changed into,/and, putting on the d overcoat again, departed., , The operator f- boasted- that he was riiore .pleased at having J "beaten"/ thei - Gustoms ■ for ;a few shillings 3S duty than if he had saved £5. • . e! . An Elahbrate . Ruso.; An. inveterate; Sinuggler,' .whose deeds. of 'P long ago;- when the regulations .were not p'. as. Strict: as riow-a-daysy .still rank amongst the .first flight, gpt/a' valuable consignment of uncustomed 'jewellery past a .Customs 10 tide-waiter by the following means. ; The .is; tide-waiter: had/ been' -a -seaman, - and was fond of dimng on" ships, a' penchant' which was known to,.the smuggler,:who was' em- ■. ■ ployed on a' Home boat. Meeting -the Cusin .toms officer one xporning, the man of tho k- sea mentioned casually that he was havy- ing a' few friends down to dinner on, board he that evening.: Would the Customs'.officer come? Of.course/lie would; and did. Dinn" ner went with a' rollicking s\ring until , the poultry was served. The tide-waiter ordered v! goose, but neither. he nor: any of the other guests liked /it. The. host- explained that ' it was pickled goose. "Pickled goose," , re- . marked one of the guests who was in league : with his host; "my wife loves it, but .we !?. e can't- get iC/out here.".' The dinner finished 5 , ih due courso, and was. followed by. pmoke. p:' story,''etc.,:sand the party, at longth:began s j-' to tako -leave. "By the way," remarked, the 115 host 'to,.'the gentleman Whoso . wife had ' c jd- liking for pickled goose, "you might as ;he talce the rest of that:goose for your wife.' at- The offer/was decliried. with grace, but the ig). host irisistedy- arid broke .down the argmnem ng» that: the '/Customs might make' trouble bj f* 10 calling, on tlio tide-waiter, who gallantly 10 4. volunteered 'to seo that it was alright' as. fai the a 8 tho 'Customs went. .Ho x would see th< goose safely.'off the wharf. Tho host'wen' away to' get ' some paper, and wTap the' goos< up,: and the/ goose- to -his -friend ™ who: was/piloted off ' tho_ wharf by the -un ; u(1 suspecting 'tide-waiter. '< That goose was ,th ur . repository of a valuable : consignment o gin jewellery. ' '■;./' /'