The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-09-21
THE WOMEN WHO sMUGGLE.
How They Are Caught by Clever In
spectresses on Landing.

women of keen perception, great force of
character and considerable nerve to keep
Uncle Sam from fairly being cheated out
of his eyes by other women. Smuggling is
| the way the latter do it, and do 1t well.
| Women like to smuggle, it would seem.
They have an elastic conscience in the mat
| ter that really seems to tempt them
| TO what is, of course, swlndiing the
government, but to themselves an act
of no special harm and of little conse-
| quence OF course there is the genuine
woman smuggler who knows just what she
is doing, just what trouble she is liable to
| get into and what the result will be. 1t is
| business with her, and she considers it an
| ordinary business risk. But she is caught
| just as certainly as the other little woman
! Is, who Zoo MT think it any special harm
| Jdst to save little by tucking away few
pairs of gloves which olly make her shapely
leg bit plumper, if they don't slip down
and give her queer shaped ankle, or filing
her corset with some rare and dainty lace,
| that If purchased here would cost Il pocket
full of money OH account of the duty.
Its such awfully jolly good fun, said a
very pretty gil recently, ito taft LITTLE
articles away in your - well, with
deep blush, anywhere where they won't
be apt TO look if they don't suspect you, and
then to watch those horrid women from the
inspectors office maui and paw over every
thing III your luggage and then no. find
anything because it's on you" The fair in
| spectresses deserve praise for the great work
| that they do, for there is absolutely moth
ing more slippery than a woman snuggler.
| There are more of the latter tJaI among
the mel. Out of the entire seizure in
year, the largest proportion will be
from females. Last year more than
$25, 900 was saved to the government as "A
result of the exaUination vi women paSSen-
gers luggage Women are far more wary
than mel in smuggling, and their devices
for bringing il so DIS If a dutiaole ture
are many. 1t Is usu llly the case that the
inspectress can tell by the face and contour
OF the person. AS a general rule, the
woman who has goods hid away will look
the searcher of her luggage calmly in the
face, seldom turning away, and il the
saarcher politely informs her that she thinks
that she has dutiable goods on her person, she
will, of course, be greatly insultei AMI invite
n careful examination. She gets it-and
little trouble in the bargain.
The self-assurance that O woman SNUG
gler has is of such great quantity that 1T
will lead her to do the most absurd and
foolhardy deeds; whereas, if she had less
perhaps she would not rely so much upon
its carrying her through, and would, there
fore, be more careful. The hustle is god
send to the woman who wants to smuggle.
They are made large and roomy, are of iron
| framework, and in them NAV be safely car
| ried yards of the most valuable goods.
| The most absurd thing for woman to
| do who has goods hid about her person is to
wear a heavy ulster when ii is too warm
| for one She will have to refuse to remove
it when graciously asked if it is not bit
| warm, and such refusal of course results In
a necessary investigation on the rart of
| the inspectress. The manners of the woman
| mn Crlyl ar a charming a n
therefore, it is in such kindly way that
they inform the tired inspectress that SIC
| is really tired and needs a little rest, the g.
| fore need not examine their trunks, as
they will tell the inspectress what
is in them and save her so much extra
trouble. But she doesn't look at it in that
| light, and does inspect the trunks, much TO
the regret of the owner. Thesesmugglers
possess a quiet and careless air, but tie in
| spec ress can always tell them by the way
| they attempt to sit down. Their bodies
| then have a stiffness that is hardly in keep
ing with the manner in which they carry
the head and arms, and of course they ale
| Immediately suspected of having gooGs
concealed somewhere about their skirts.
There are many curious places Of
concealment, and it can hardly
be improbable that many thou
sand dollars worth of dutiabe goods
are brought through by smart tricks. For
instance, diamonds and other precious
| jewels have been brought over fastened i'll
the front aud in the plumes of the bonnet.
| They are generally wrapped in black Gotten
and securely fastened in such manner that
it would be necessary to take the hat apart
| to find them. The heel of the shoe is another
| queer but secure place where jewels are
carried. The heel is false, having hollow
| place in the center, where, packed in cot
| ton, the gems rest safely.
| Sometimes woman is found with lace
wrapped around her form. Yard after
yard of 1t is thus securely carried until the
eye of the inspectress looks with suspicion
upon the peculiar shape of the wearer aud
| she examines her. Ia the bustles have been
| found toilet bags filed with all sorts of
odds and ends, such as silks, gloves, hat
| frames, yards or rather hundreds of yards,
of ribbon, stockings and everything dear
| to the eye OF the female. To lean
woman the curvatures i'll their corsets
fer snug resting place for
quite a number Of dutiable goods that can
| be carried safer there than almost any
where else. One woman was found with
| lace curtains pinned under her dress, taking
| the place of her usual underSkirts. Silk has
been found worn in the same manner, al d
| ribbon has been wound around the legs and
body until yard upon yard was conceded.
When discovery is made the woman
,muggler, of course, attempts bride but
the amount is absurd, always very much
smaller than a man would for a minute
think of offering. A woman
viii offer the inspector 81 and
consider it big amount Ten
dollars would break them all up. A mans
bride is hardly ever less THAI $40 and fire.
quently as high as $50. The women in
spectors will accept no such favors, how
ever. When n woman is suspected, the
inspectress Informs the suspect of the neces-
sity of undergoing i spectlon, and she is
requested 10 go to her stateroom. Then sho
| is ordered to remove her outer garments,
then the hustle, and, if the nspectres, CON
slders il necessary to go further, she re-
moves the remainder of her clothing.
1t is said THAI a good deal Of solid infor-
nation regarding snugglers is furnished by
many dres;nakers. During the season these
dressmakers send their fofewomen abroad
to purchase goods They keep thor eyes
open, know all the women who % abroad
TO buy goods in the hope OF evading duty
on them, and ssnd the information straight
TO New York. Another source oil informa-
ton h the stewards and stewardesses on the
big steamship lines. They receive per-
centagc on all goods seized, and they will
most remorsclessly disclose the names of
passengers who are smugglers. They mostly
always know.
Some of the recent seizures from women
smugglers are as follows: Mrs. Smith, her
! Nf.N.. a \