SMUGGLING BY MOTOR.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1746, 23 August 1905, Page 15

SMUGGLING BY MOTOR.

An. automobile played: quite an unusual rol© on the French frontier one day recently. At about 10 s o’clockat night the Customs officer at the little town of Warneton, seeing a big motor-car speeding down the road from the Belgian frontier, rushed out to stop it. There were two persons in the car, and, while the one acted as driver, the other threw a brick, which .hit the officer in the stomach and upset him. The motor continued on its way. A couple of hundred yards ahead two gendarmes, who had seen what had happened, drew a wooden bench across the road, thinking thereby to stop the car; but the attempt failed, and the bench was reduced to matchwood. Firings off their revolvers at the motorists, the gendarmes then mounted bicycles and gave chase. At Deulemont, a little further-on, the Customs officers, seeing the approaching car, placed a horsetrough .in the way. Though this had the effect of smashing in the front of the car, the latter was still able to continue its wild course, with the gendarmes in full pursu't. Finally, when the. oar began to show signs of resenting the treatment it had received, and the tires had punctured, the occupants abandoned, it and took to their heels across country —leaving behind in the tonneau 16001 b of tobacco.