Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1878-11-08
A LADY SEARCHER'S STORY.
The Devices by Which Women De-
fraud the CuStoms-- Diamonds in The
Hair. Lace in Dress linings aud
foods in Eyerything...ioM 10 Get
Pig.Lead Cheaply.
Npw YORK star

New York star.
In neat brown stone mansion M
town lives y keen-eved, Sharp-featurcd
woman, who is employed us searcher
in the eustom-houSe.
Madam, you know something If
the tricks of smugglerS, do You not ="
said the reporter.
"lcs, and especially female SNUG
glerS, who, may say, carry on their
neiarious business With the moSt charm
III etlroutcry. OF course, there are
petty smuggers Of both SEXES, but for
cunning, boldncss and determination
the women cannot bc approached. DO
vou know that women are born cheats
Oh. well, | mean in this direction. \
woman's dress affords her moro facili.
ties for hiding small but costly articles,
and it is far less easy 70 detect them
than men, and almost impossible 10
eircunNeut them, as the elder Weller
would saw, when they set their wits 10
work 1t takes an experienced search
or to say whether u woman has got
anything concealed about her, and, rs
we cannot search everybody, some of
the clever ones manage to get through
without detection
Some very funny instances have
come under my own observation. |
once searched y young lady, u thin
! faced, delicate creature, and my reason
! for doing SO was that she appeared
rather abnormally developed ABOVE the
waist. Wen | found in the lining Of
! her corsets aquantity Of jcwelry, valued
at several thousand dollars. She was
evidently new hand AT the business,
and was quite amazed when we inform
cd her that the iewelry must he contis-
Gated to the uses Of the government.
"Ics. quito numberof lady search
ers are employed by the custom.housc
authorities. When II party is sus-
pected, she is taken into private
apartment and then carefully stripped,
garment after garment; even her boots
and stockings are removed, and her
underclothing examined vigorously.
This is done despite the most affecting
protcstations on the part of the victim.
1t very often happens that II lady will
pass the stripping ordeal successfully.
Nothing is found on her, and the
searcher is afraid mistake has been
made, but i lucky rip Of the corsets,
dress or pantalettes brings to light n
glittering mass of carefully concealed
precious stones or costly laces."
suppose" said the reporter, " the
lady-searchers have to drop all senti-
ment i'll making their searches"
Why, certainly. We are the most
matter-of-fact women in the world.
These female smugglers imagine that
their sex will protect them from II per
sonal examination. An amusing III
stance Of this comes to my mind. One
of the lady passengers was detained by
the authorities, on information received.
A stout, elderly-looking female, who
had been her companion during the
voyage, accompanied her to the search
room. The stout lady was loud III her
denunciatlons, and threatened NIL sorts
of vengeance on the bold, bad men
who were giving her friend 50 much
trouble. But the searchers found on
the suspected person n large quantity
Of fine laces and several Cut diamonds.
Now, here's the Joke. When the old
lady and her friend We're about leaving
the room, one Of the lynx-eyed search
ers noticed something peculiar about
the hang Of the unsearched woman's
dress. In an instant we knew some
thing was wrong We lifted the skirts
of this respectable party, while both
women shriekcd Now, hanging round
this woinan's dress, securely tied with
tape. were some highly valuable violins
which are subject to a heavy duty.
" remember another case; that Of II
middle-aged woman, who reused my
suspicion by her jet-black hair. You
see her face was wrinkled, and !
thought it strange she should have such
fine hair. | politely minated my de-
sire to search her, and commenced by
exploring the mysteries of that beautl-
full hair. Why, it was Il wig, 50 skill
fully constructed that the chignon con
cealed number of precious stones. On
this discovery we decided to make fuller
examination, and were amply rewarded
for our trouble.
can old trick of female smugglers is
to have rare jewels and laces sewn in
folds about various parts Of their dresses
and underskirts. ! once seized some
fine Lyons velvet done up in this way.
Sometimes ! find precious stones light
~ covered with cotton and sccreted IN
the bosoms Of these ladies. saw one
searched who was completely enyeloped
il lace, wound about her person, lace or
such cob-web texture that roll Of
three yards Of il could be passed
through small lingering. In the
dayg when wide lOoD-skirtg were In
vogue | saw slightly built lady walk
ing as | thought rather heavily, and !
felt sure she required my services in re-