Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-02-14
LADY INSPECTORS.
THEIR ARDuoUs WORK OF DETECT.
ING SMUaGLERs ABOARD SHIP.
Not an Hour to Call Her own-Tact and
Deiicacy Required in Searching
Out Fraud-out ON the Water
After Dark.
Icelia Logan in New York Work.


lCelia Logan in New York World
Meeting lady EMPLOYED in the custom
house. / asked her to give me an idea OF
her pay and duties, to which she con.
sented She said: at is generally sup
posed that the pay of . lady in The custom
house is SO large as 10 enable her 10 retire
wealthy in the course Of few years but
the truth is we receive about $l7 week,
upon which we must maintain ourselves
and families. Husbandsy oh, no. there
are no husbands allowed US No married
women could obtain situation in the
custom house. and single woman would
be dismissed il she were TO marry while
in the service of the government We
are obliged TO pay our own car fare al
though when we are required very late at
night or in very bad weather a carriage is
frequently sent for US We sre oftea on
duty far away from home at meal times
and on such occasions are compelled to
patronize the restaurants, which makes
quite an item in our expenses
We are given percentage upon any
contraband goods seized by us What
makes these government positions so much
in demand is the absolute certainty of
the pay and the almost equal certainty
that the employment once obtained. will
be permanent There are eight only of
us lady inspectors in New York ard
among us we divide the work Of inspect
ing every vessel arriving on this coast so
you may believe none Of us are idle
A DIsAGREEABLE TASK.
sit would be dangerous for q woman
TO 90 alone at 1 or 2 o'clock In the morn
ing to some Of the docks we have TO 20
TO. therefore a man 10 always sent 70 take
us to the vessel and accompany us home
again If We do not go home before day.
light The most irksome raEt Of the
duty of lady inspector is that she has
never an hour that she may call her own
she never dare make an appointment to
90 out for over an hour or 90 to q mat.
jnee, OF even to church for fear that a
dispatch may arrive in her absence telling
her to be at such snd such q dock to in.
spect a namedl vessel In thirty five
minutes after receiving the telegram she
must be at the place indicated
We are rowed out to the vessels. snd
as in winter the weather is cold and often
stormy. the exposure Is trSing TO the
health, and disagreeab,e task even to the
most robust Nevertheless. once a lady
gets into berth in the Gus S3m house,
most di Fcult thing to accomplish
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 a born detective to
make a good inspector. She should know
almost the first time she LAYS eyes upon q
lady whether or not she has any smuggled
goods in her possession Then, when il
comes TO searching woman. it requires q
great deal of tact and delicscy to carry
your point and vet give no Just cause for
complaint And firmnessl dear mel Some
of them beg so hard not TO be entirely
denuded that 1t would melt heart Of
stone
~what are usually secreted in la3y's
dress! Oh, diamonds and other precious
stones They conceal these everywhere
in the hair and in the paddings of the
dress. in the seams of the clothing and In
the shoes They have shoes made as il
for large bunions. which they fill with
precious stones The Italians are natural
born smugglers. and smuggle coral
chiefly.
SMUGGLING By PROXY.
@First and second-cabin passengers
smuggle by proxy. now more generally
than in person Steerage passengers are
not required to declare their goods. SO
that many people who want to smuegle
light but valuable goods. like lace and
diamonds, pay the passage over OF a steer
age passenger. on condition OF him or her
getting through certain contraband
articles. Il Is rather risky, because the |
trusted persons may walk of with the
goods. and the owner cannot recover
them. or If he does It is only to have
them nabbed by the custom house officers.
but there is less risk of detection in the
steerage than in the cabin
Il 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 tormepted his mind until he |
was nearing his native land Having |
become well acquainted during the voyage |
with six gentlemen who had-no watches, |
he asked each one to wear q wa tch until |
he got ashore They all consented -Four |
of them brought the watches ashore rn- |
challenged by the off GERS 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 considerable |
expense in fleeing interpreters Immi- |
grants arrive here from every place under |
the sun A lady searcher has got to con-
verse with them all Among the steer
age passengers knowledge Of the various
patois of a language is as necessary as Of |
the pure tongue itself