Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 September 1894 — Clever Diamond Smuggling. [ARTICLE]

Clever Diamond Smuggling.

•Talking of smuggling reminds me of a t lek 1 saw resorte i to by a passenger in one of the big steamers a couple of years ago,” said a loquacious gentleman at tho Savoy hotel the other evening. ‘’You knew there is a duty on diamonds in America, as 1 here is on almost everything else, and one of the passengers had t hree laiue stone, worth five or six hundred pounds, which he had purchased in London. Tho problem of how to evade yaylng the duty/on the stones worrle him considerably, but at last he evolved a plan, and a few days before the steamer arrived In New Yo khe proceeded to exo uto It. “Tho chief oilier had a little Skye terrier, and the passenger, after considerable coaxing, indue ed him to sell the dog. As soon as the smuggler gained possession of tho animal ho tied him up and gave him nothing to eat until just before He went ashore, lie then procured some fat meat from the cook, and cutting off a piece a little larger than a walnut, made a hole in it into which he placed one of tho diamonds. “A dog will generally bolt a piece of fat meat without chewing it, and of course, a diamond will go down with it The hungry dog swallowed the meat, as his owner expected he woul', and in a short time the three < iamonds were safely stowed away in hlo into ior. The diamond smuggler had no difficulty In evading the vigilance of the Custom officials, and was soon up town, leading tbe dog by a string. ‘ I met him again a few days ago, and ask him how he recovered his stones. ’Easily enough,’ he replied. As soon as 1 got home I shot the dog, and found the diamonds after a short search. Of course I was sorry lor the d< g, but dogs are cheap, and the tariff on stones is high and I never allow sympathy to interfere with business.”