The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1885-12-31
Custon.House Women,

Custom-House Women.
Meeting lady employed in the Gus
tom-house, I asked her to give me an
idea of her pay and duties. to which
she consented. She said: 1T is gen.
orally supposed that the pay of a lady
in the custom-house is so large as to
enable her to retire wealthy in the
course of few years, but the truth is
we receive about Sl7 a week, upon
which we must maintain ourselves and
families. Husbands? Oh, no, there
are no husbands allowed us. No mar
ried woman could ATTAIN a situation in
the custom-house, and a single woman
would be dismissed if she were to
marry while in The service of the gov
eminent. We are compelled to pay
our own car-fare, although when we
are required very late at night, or in
very bad weather, carriage is fire.
quently sent for us. We are often on
duty far away from home at neal
times, and on such occasions are COM
PEELED to patronize the restaurants,
which makes quite an item in our ex-
penses.
I'VE are given a percentage upon
any contraband goods seized by us.
What makes these government posi-
tons so much in demand is the abso-
lutte certainty of the pay and the al
most equal certainty that the employ
ment, once obtained, will be perma-
nent. There are eight only of us lady
inspectors in New York, and among us
we divide the work of inspecting every
vessel arriving on this coast, so you
may believe we are not idle.
1T would be dangerous for woman
to 60 alone at l or 2 o'clock in the
morning to some of the docks we have
to 60 to. therefore a man is always sent
to take US to the vessel and accompany
us home again if we 60 back before
daylight. The most irksome part of
the duty of a lady inspector is that she
has never an hour that she may call
her own. She never dare make an ap-
pointment to go out over an hour, or
go to a matinee, or even to church. for
fear that dispatch may arrive in her
absence telling her to be at such and
such dock to inspect a (named) YES
sci. In thirty-fvc minutes after re-
ceiving the telegram she must be at
the place indicated.
I'VE are rowed out to the vessels,
and as in winter the weather is cold and
often stormy, the exposure is trying to
the health, and a disagreeable task
even to the most robust. Nevertheless,
once lady gets into a berth in the Gus
tom house, most difficult thing to
accomplish-she stays. There are no
designations and very rarely death,
so that it may be said that there are
never any vacancies.
"A woman must be born detective
to make good inspector. She should
know almost the first time she lays eyes
upon lady whether or not she has any
smuggled goods in her possessions
Then, When it comes to searching a
woman. it requires great deal of tact
and delicacy to carry your point and
yet give no just cause for complaint.
And firmness! dear me! Some of them
beg so hard not to be entirely denuded
that it would melt a heart of stone.
what are usually secreted in a
lady's dresss' Oh, diamonds and
other precious stones. They conceal
these everywhere-in the hair and in
the paddings of the dress; in the seams
of tho clothing and in the shoes. The
Italians are natural-born smugglers and
smuggle coral chiefly. First and second
passengers smuggle by proxy and
more generally than in person.
''Steerage passengers are not re-
quired to declare their goods, so that
,,,onx v>ooy,1o xnh1 rpouF - e~o,,~~1o
light but valuable goods, like lace and
diamonds pay the passage over of a
steerage passenger, on condition of his
or her getting through certain contra
band articles. 1t is rather risky, be-
cause the trusted person may walk off
with the goods, and the owner cannot
recover them, or if he does, it is only to
have them nabbed by the custom house
officer, but there is less risk of detection
in the steerage than in the cabin.
II remember an amusing incident:
A gentleman returning from Europe
brought back half dozen valuable
gold watches as presents to his family.
How to escape paying duty on them
tormented his mind until he was near
ing his native land. Having become
we'll acquainted during the voyage
with six gentlemen who had no watch
es, he asked each one to wear watch
until he got ashore. They all con-
| sented. Four of them brought the
watches ashore unchallenged by the
officers and returned them, but the
other two vamoosed with the watches,
leaving the gentleman to make the
best of his loss.
Had he made any row or arrested
the thieves he would have betrayed
| that he himself was trying to defraud
the government.
Among the other accomplishments
of lady inspector must be knowledge
of languages, unless she wishes to be
put to great inconvenience and consid-
cradle expense in feeling interpreters.
Immigrants arrive here from every
place under the sun. A lady searchel
has kot to converse with them all.
Among the Storage passengers q
knowledge Of the various pat0is of q
language is as necessary as of the pure
tongue ITSELF
Keeping . diary is not what it il
cracked up to be. Thirty days Of 10
curacy b about tho limit Of the en-
durance; but Dr.. Bulls Cough SyruI
haS never vet diaanD0inted anv mi