Contraband. 
By W. G. Stirling. 
Whenever the Revenue laws expressly forbid the doing of cer- 
tain things, one is sure to find some persons with the desire of 
adventure, and others more readily from the desire of gain, to break 
them. 
From all the ingenious examples brought to notice, smug- 
gling to-day would appear to be reduced to a fine art, and one can 
•safely say that one has never learnt all that there is to be learnt 
about smuggling. 
Such drugs as morphia and cocaine are very easy to handle, as 
the fine white powder is light and easily compressed, and might 
well pass as salt or alum ; one comes across bottles of it in barrels 
of cement, bags of rice, in the double bottoms of a bird cage, the 
lining of coats, and the soles of shoes, etc. 
Raw opium, and chandu, i.e. opium prepared for smoking, 
is not half so easy to manipulate, having its peculiar smell and the 
weight which so often leads to its discover}-. 
Big “ jobs ” are usually run by wealthy persons who rarely 
appear, but pay people ready to run the risk ensuring them a sum 
of money should they get caught ! 
Big smugglers will even go the length of purposely allowing 
the capture of a consignment and by so drawing this “ herring ” 
across the track sometimes ensure the safe passage of a very much 
more valuable lot. 
The following few examples demonstrate some of the more in- 
genious methods resorted to and one cannot help but admiring the 
clever mind which has thought out and patiently worked on these 
methods in the attempt to defy the laws of the Colony. 
EXPLANATION OF THE DIAGRAMS. 
1. This ingenious device consists of a kerosine oil tin and a 
triangular receptacle soldered to the bottom of the tin which, when 
filled with liquid, makes it difficult to detect at sight the triangular 
tin at the bottom. 
2. This shows a well constructed drawer with a double bottom 
which slides out at A. 
3. The diagram A shows an opium pipe of bamboo (hollow 
from the mouthpiece to B, as indicated by the shaded portion) ; a 
metal tube A is inserted at the mouthpiece up to the hole at B. 
This allows the smoker to use his pipe with perfect ease and at 
the same time smuggle his supply. 
Jour. Straits Branch R. A. Soc., No. 83, 1921. 
