60 March 2019 _ PopularMechanics.com
boat to load a few cases at a Canadian river port, take out clearance
papers for Cuba or some other foreign land, and then row across to
the American side with his cargo. All that has been stopped by the
new international agreement. Under the age-old international law,
the rum ships in the Atlantic and Pacific could anchor but three
miles from shore and in plain sight of the coast sell their cargoes to
motorboats and rowboats from land. With a fast motorboat, even in
broad daylight, an enter prising smug gler from Long Island and the
New Jersey villages could go out and take on a cargo and then race the
revenue cutters to shore and unload before the slower government
boats could catch up. But the government proceeded to negotiate new
treaties extending American jurisdiction against smugglers to an
hour’s sailing, or about fifteen miles to sea, enormously increasing
the difficulties of the small boats of the smugglers, while the new
rum-chasing navy of high-speed boats, armed with one-pound
rapid-fire guns, can overhaul them in the fifteen-mile chase, or, if
the enemy seems disposed to show his heels, a shot or two is enough
to make the most daring come to a halt.
The seagoing defense forces are backed on land by Prohibition
forces and the Customs agents, who not only patrol the landing
places along the coast but guard the thousands of miles of Canadian
and Mexican frontiers. Fantastic tales have been circulated of
devices to circumvent the Prohibition forces. Nearly every seaport
has its story, usually vague, of a rum-running submarine, while along
the Detroit River boatmen tell weird, and probably untrue, tales of
liquor being shot across from Canada in tor pedoes, or pumped over
through a submarine pipe. The fact that motorboats have been used
so extensively to ferry the wet cargoes over from the Canadian shore
would indicate that both tales are false.
While liquor, foreigners, and drugs continue to hold the center
of the stage, both because of the spectacular nature of the smug-
gling operations and the great profits the smugglers are rumored
to have made, Uncle Sam’s border guards are on the lookout for
many other things.
Every ship that clears from a foreign port, and every mailbag from
overseas, is a potential carrier of contraband. Deep in the hold of the
incoming ship a bale of rags, invoiced as paper stock, may conceal a
score of narcotics, liquor, jewelry, forbidden bird plumes, obscene
books, or any one of a hundred other articles, either forbidden or
heavily taxed. A packing case of china may open as Scotch whisky;
boxes of gloves may reveal rare jewels.
Much ingenuity and a wide knowledge of the workings of the
Customs laws and service are displayed by the professional
smugglers. Ten percent of each shipment of freight is sent to the
appraisers’ stores for examination, and, as the boxes or packages
are chosen at random, there apparently is not much chance for the
smuggler to escape detection. One narcotic smuggler, however,
shipped a large number of bales of merchandise bearing a low
rate of duty, with a supply of drugs concealed in each. Posing as an
importer, and armed with a certified invoice and bill of lading, he
visited a customhouse broker, gave the name of a client, and asked
the broker to enter the goods for him. He paid the duty and charges,
and the broker cleared the goods and surrendered the bales to the
The Electrical
Culture of Chicks
NOVEMBER 1912“IT SPROUTED WINGS...
SO I FLEW IT”
AUGUST 1971JANUARY
2000