LADY SMUGGLERS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10587, 17 October 1910, Page 6

LADY SMUGGLERS.

In the midst of the indignation ex'-. 'cited by''the midnight "blanket and mattress-shaking expedition" in" the Mauretania., the New York Customs 'officials confounded all their critics by a' 1200-gume'a-pearl,'.necklace cunningly concealed ; in the hat-plumes of the wife of a well-known millionaire jivbo'arrived in the Baltic. The scene at the docks when the matronly smuggler was 'unmasked was nnbst.vdramajtic., .Glancing. .tliEougli.vthe. Customs declaration made'by .Mrs-J. Reynolds : Adriance the - officials noted ■the seemingly scrupulous, exactitude with which it was drawn, up.,. n "Have you no necklace to declare.-' they inquired. The lady, whose husband is a bank president and a manufacturer at Poughkeepsie, .replied with an emphatic, negative. • "Then, -Observed the deputy-surveyor, Mr ; Raccaiifhave no/objection to the matron searching you?" The suggestion infuriated the bank president, who spoke strongly of the high-band-ied :v and''inquisitorial:./ the 'authorities. But Mrs Adriance appeared quite undisturbed, and intimated that she would gladly submit to the search. . ■ • -Returning-to -the Baltic, the suspected lady, permitted.the searchers to inspect all her belongings. ' Beyond a : goid mesh- bag and a few yards of lace ithey /discovered, nothing. As the 'Treasury had .received positive lmorma,tton from, .spies, in Europe that Mrs ■Adriance had' actually completed tne • purchase of a necklace, the authorities iwere for a moment nonplussed. One ot .them noticed,that the lady was tearing up a piece ,of paper. ' They demanded the document and met with an mdig-. 'riant "This is a private letter! :You'"have/no right to inspect it, siie Tsaid, as she scattered the pieces on the dock. The officers gathered the trag.ments, pieced them together, and found'the bill for the necklace. "If you refuse to give up the" necklace you will .be locked .up," the lady was 'informed. ; Her: '•... husband then 'asked for permission to speak to her privately. "She has the necklace, he announced a few minutes later, "and is ready to produce it." Mrs Adriance retired, and attempted to lock the door, but the female searcher placed Iter foot on the threshold and entered in time to see the fair smuggler remove her hat—a straw turban, trimmed with peacock blue velvet, and adorned with two blue wings. Tearing the loose velvet at the back, she inserted her hand in a deep fold near the outer edge of the brim. Suddenly something gave; way and a shower of pearls fell to the floor.' They had been most ingeniously sewn in a tube of soft black material of the same color as the Sat, to which it was fastened: in a manner to defy detection. The liat .and pearls,, together' with other jewels to a total value of £23,000 be- ' longing to the fair offender were immediately seized, and Mrs Adriance was arraigned before ,■ the United;. States Commissioner, on a charge of attempting to smuggle £I6OO worth of goods. Mrs Adriance maintained a 'nonchalant attitude. Bail was allowed' in £ISOO 'for her to await the action of the Federal Grand Jury. v •