, 1880-01-04

nnd-twenty thousand dollars worth Of smne.s.s .se
diamonds being hooked By cautious Superas5ias1s
out Of German lady's chignon.
Staten island q do not know It's name I bn, ut g
one Of the most picturesque forts eyer ~ =
that we were boarded from pretty little stesnsr!
tom House. Everybody answering to he n,n. n4s.
of passenger trembIcd. Everybody seemed
Rnlled Jade, and our wfthers were unvrunee
Now was the moment to :. declare " as to rhsf
solemn oath as to the truth Of your lecla,a%ttos %
Perfectly unconscious us to whether had AM.
thing to declare or not, descended to The -.
official. q benevolent old gentleman with .anv1 ,se
: hair, sat enthroned In state at the head Of y.
table, where Capt. Banks had, during elesea
Some subordinate inauisitofs and sTeen Tua1,: sa2:
sefes ltte5ed xith sa fors II IN desarafsn 5asts
slt think that I vas number aa1a eth three On u
the chief inquisitor my name. He boTeS
grnvely, and said that he had communicated
for me. felt slightly unnerred. What could
territory of the United States forthwith? ]? Not
at all: It was IN invitation from valued Amer.
fcan friend Of many years standing to dine xtth
the next day. felt reassured, and immediatev
swore to am sure know not what-1or am
parcel blind and hard Of hcaring-auite cheer.
fully Then made Tay for ;th crowd ot ad
thronsed round that terrible table Some lem =
the Indies subsequently dissolved into tea;a
Some more philosophic OF the gentlemen con.
eoled themselves with those cocktails for the
confection of which Robert, one 1T the SALOON
stewards, is so Justly celebrated There vas 0f
course, a good deal of swearing gone through h.
prodigious deal more swearing performed ID
an unofficial manner on the Scythia's deck and
In the dock-shed during the asorizing period of
baggage examination.
f-y an$r
aver that do not know, and am selfish enough
to confess that do not much care. It is case
of every man for himself in = custom house,
omnivorous tariff, such as the present American
one il said to be, suppose that most persons
strive to eynde the duties as far Us they possibly
would escape the whipping in the way OF sur
charges Ny own experiences were BRIEF am-
pie, and emincntly satisfactory. The enormous
dook-shed into which we were turned loose sroa
the Scyrhtas gangwaY presented one OF the
most extraordinary spectacles that ever b.
held Imagine the Long Room at the London
Custon-House brought into combination with
ST. Pancras- Throw in one OF the huge corridors
of the Bezesteen at Stnuboul, witn q soupcon Of
the Agricultural Hall at Islington- Imagine this
brawny porters wheeling towering masses Il
luggage on hand -barrows, and in the corners 1t
the she'd picture the powerfully horsed wins ot
the Express Company ready to carry .a aTay @ tho
passed the Custom-House, to the various hotels
at which the owners Of the luggage intend to
stop. The transport ot baggage 81 R has & eeen & r.
mum Of discomfort to the traveller. The uua-
BILE and the travail lie in getting trunks and
portmantenls through the Custoua-House-
undergone another transformation. Did yuu
ever read BecRords "a 'Vathek"? II you hass
ever perused TINT delightful romance. cary
your mind back to the description Of the Hall of
EbIis, with its countless multitudes Of troubled
souls wandering hither and thither in two opro-
sit tidal streams AS contemplated the ner
aspect Of the dock-shed the locale Of the Hall lot
on the North River, New York. There were tho
countless multitude OF anxious souls wandering
up and down, hither and thither, in doloroas
By trusty eu1issarics from tho Brovoo.t, eaa
st Jerry, an old retainer ot that estabitshmens
and an old ally Of mine had, with the MD OF Ger"
1ou6ed to me from chaos7 but all the - anxious
souls - had apparently not been so fortunate.
1nquiring countenances, peTturbed coante"
The scene became Dnntesque and GustaEe-Dose.
like in its intensity. Imagine Francesca d
Rimini IN anguish stricken quest Of her Saratoga
trunk. This day she f1irts no more. You might
ofIer her chicken salad, stut1ed tomatoes, Blue
Point oysters, d Chickering piano. and Tiffany
bracelet, to say nothing Of your hand and heart
and 81 oEK Is
Where is the Golfer containing her robes Qtts.ssl
And echo answers, +tWheFe p Stay, another
echo In the souorous voice Of an Irish porter
makes reply, stShure it's hercl'' and tho boz
net~bo1 and the Golfer with the long-t63!ed
dresses are disinterred from the baggage OF
confirmed old bachelor, q Congressman from
Wisconsin.
A yellow ticket, bearing number, had been
handed to me when signed my declaration.
was taken to an official to whom made ths
most diplomatic Of bows that could master at<
er ten days tumblfng about the decks OF tho
Scythia; and the authority handed my declasar
tion aud myself over to an elderly gen.
tlcman In private clothes, but vhe
hole. and who was the searching oascen.
My interview with this functionary lasted pre-
cisely seventeen minutes We had some tee
packages, large and small, to examine; aud
every package, down to railway rugs and shea
of sticks and umbrellas, was opened aud care-
fully scr,ltinized. The officer was scrupulousy
and, indeed, amicably polite. and tncIdentaLy
mentioned that his was fur from m agTeeao!e
duty, but that he was bound to do it. 1,was uot
made to pay single cent, so suppose thasl
had nothing liable to duty. AS each trunk Of
bag was relocked the article was chalked, and Y
another ten minutes the express had gos ny
heavy luggage, and with my fighter needmen9
was snfe and sound in the Brcvnost coach sna
On my way to that most comfortable OF hostet.
rfes. s. Well out Of it, thought; still codla
not help thinking that the Iuuch-dreaded aa
New York Custnm-House Il, nLe
something else which you may havo heafo@ @s
not so black as it has been painted.