SYDNEY SMUGGLERS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1886, 21 October 1913, Page 5

SYDNEY SMUGGLERS.

THE GREASED HAND. OPIUM THROUCH A WATER HOSE. "Opium is still coming into. Sydney, but not as it used to," said a Customs official recently to tho S}dney correspondent of the Melbourne "Herald." " Thoy can't get it in China now. It oomos through India from Java. All eight-ounce tin is now worth £3. " Wo work in with tho Water Police, and we've had some fine jobs catching the men who land the stuff once the ship arrives in Sydney Harbour. Tho public no doubt think that searching a vessel for smuggled goods h a soft job. Finding a needle in a stack of hay is easy to it. Tho hiding places aro legion. " For instance, you won't expect to find opium hidden, in a heap of ashes. Yet that has been done. Another ingenious plan is to. cut holes in a lifebelt to accommodate opium or a box of 50 cigars. Tho canvas is stitched oyer thn hole again, and unless every lifebelt on the ship is ripped, up to seo if it contains contraband,, it cannot bo discovered when this device is employed.

" Another scheme Is .to construct secret panels in the cabins. You can t very well go qver every inch of the ship looking for tlicso arrangements. I havo known opium, to bo hidden in a sheep's carcaso. Tlioro is no end to tlie places the stuff may be put pending its landing in Sydney. " Our chanse comes when they try to land it. They do get it ashore, thereis 110 doubt, but we have brokon up so many schemes that there cannot be many left. One that worked for a long time is now obsolete. A China boat was coming irf one day when a doctor, who was in his motor-boat, saw a paint drum thrown overboard when opposite Bradley's Head./ , Immediately twq Chinese who wero in a small skiff, rowed out towards it. The doctor got there first, and when , tho drum was subsequently examined it was found to contain 50 tins of opium. A keen lookout was kept for paint drums after that, and although the smugglers , later on tried to get opium in by dropping drums when well outside tho Heads, thoy were always seized, and this plan was doneil. This went to show that the smugglers on the boats did not have to find a market after landing tho stuff. Thero is collusion between those on shore and on board. . . , "The keen observation of a Customs man ended in another good haul, and the scheme in this instance was a particularly ingenious one. Boats, when berthed, do not condense salt water, and there is generally a line of hose to aarry a supply to the ship from the fresh-water cock just beneath the plankin™ of the wharf to tho ship's 6ido. wTien the man happened along he noticed that in the case of one line of hose, while tho wharf end of it wont down into the hole it was not connected with tho cock. There was nothing remarkable in this, but what interested him was the fact that at intervals spmething passed through it from the ship. There was just a slight swelling like a snake swallowing sonicthing. His impulse was to drag up the wharf end of tho hose to see what was doing, but judgment told him not to. Instead ho vanished like a shadow, and found a water policeman, and both of them jumped into, a skiff, and, making as little noise as possible—tho oars wero muffled —they floated under tho wharf. In the dim light provided by distant ship's lights, they saw a 'j'B which made their mouths water, 1 J"® was a Chinese in a boat underneath the. end of the lino of hose catching tins of opium as they fell, and that was why they- were ablo' without attracting his attention to get up near enough to him to give him a crack with an iron bar. In the interests of justice they had to do it. They didn't want to stop the supply. If he had seen them, ho would, of course, have given tho alarm. But ho fell without a groan. They did not know how long he would be unconscious, and, so, .for mare abundant precaution they gagged him. And it continued to rain opium—to the extent of 54 tins. Thero wero already 47 m the boat. After a time no moro fell, and while tho water policeman took the Chinese and the opium awa'y, the Customs man tried to catchy the other man on the ship. But he did not succeed. "Another Chinese got the surprise of his lifo at tho samo wharf. The wharf on the road side is about 4ft. above the level of the road itself. From tho combing of the wharf to the ground are heavy slabs of wood from pile to pile,, with spaces between them of about six inches. One night a water policeman was walking along that road when ho saw a Chinese hanging about. Ho cleared him out. Then he walked away himself, and returned by- a circuitous routo. All was quiet, and the night was pitch dark. Presently he heard some Chinese lingo coming from underneath the wharf. He grunted in return —and from between .the beams came a hand holding a tm of opium. Tho policeman took delivery of it the opium. Ho was immediately, above the hand—the Chinaman could not have seen him if there had been any light. Tho first tin was followed by a second and a third, until there were over 50 tins altogether. Then the policeman thought there could not be many and so decided, to grab tho hand tho next time. And lie did. But it slipped out of his grasp like an eel. lo this day he swears it was soaped. Ana the earth or the sea or something had swallowed that Chinese for a minute search for him was futile. But 0 policeman was solaced by tho haul had already obtained.