, 1891-05-16
FREAKS OF SMUGGLING.
QUEER ARTICLES SENT BY MAIL
FROM THE OTHER SIDE.

Women Find It DimeuIt to Resist the
Desire to Bring In Presents Free Of
Duty-PeoPle who Are In Other Re
sPeets Honest. Cheat the Government.
Women are especially susceptible to
h enticemeuts Of smuggling. 1t has
been said that no woman can resist the
temptation to make an effort to carry
goods subject to duty past a custom
house officer. and it is a statement made
by certain officials in the customs service
that if every passenger on board incom.
ing ocean steamer were thoroughly and
completely searched as he might be, it
is probable that not one out Of fifty
would be found to have resisted the al
lurements OF Just n trifing bit Of SNUG
Cling TO add romance to the home com
ing. Oftentimes such carrying in Of
dutisble goods is merely inadvertence.
lack Of knowledge or oversight.
Presents bought for the dear ones at
home" nave been overlooked when an es-
innate was made Of the dutiable goods
and were only recalled to memory when
found by the customs officer. Many a
name high in society and well known in
religious, financial or professional circles
has been upon the books OF the specinl
treasury agents Office, but it is . fact
worthy Of note, and which reflects much
credit upon the department, that such
matters are kept as secret as any portion
of the work.
There IS no necessity" said n man
who had made smuggling the study Of
his life, and who is employed by the
custom house. for dragging these legal
and governmental skeletons-in-the-cluset
into the light of day. Oftentimes it is a
sad fact that they have occurred, and for
our own satisfaction for we are, withal,
at times, men Of some sensibilitiesJ we
prefer to let them drop and remain I'M
mentioned. Then, again, there may be
certain arguments used Of a more or less
persuasive value which would naturally
induce the inspector to give as little pub
licity as possible to the details Of thecase
A IN BOOKS.
Il do not mean by this to imply that
the practice Of bribery is in vogu 20 any
extent. This fact may not be due to
original lack Of sin, but it is true, never
theless, although honesty is enforced 10
a certain degree by the remembrance Of
the previous good record Of the special
treasury agents department"
Perhaps the most novel and popular
form Of amusement for tho smuggler
nowadays is 10 use Uncle Sans post
bags for his exciting trade. \ number
Of books have lately been entered at the
postofice, sent from foreign countries,
which We're not altogether intended for
reading purposes. Several months ago
there was received at the New York post
Office a handsomely bound volume Of
Italian poetry. The book was printed on
a high grade Of paper and bore the date
"Padua, 1888" Its title was lie Trege
die Di Giovanni Delfno." 1t was prob.
ably supposed that the p~ostofice author
tiles would pass the book on looking
at its title on its examination. Unfort-
u~nately in this, as in all cases where
books are in the mail, the volume was
opened and carefully examined.
A section Of tho center Of 200 leaves
was cut out, through the book, and in
the cavity thus formed was placed n
green table spread, with cotton embroi-
derry, upon which an extreme valuation
Of three dollars could barely be placed.
Buyers Of antique books who ave ex-
amined the volume, which is now in the
customs seizure room, say that had it
not been mutilated it would AVE readily
been worth 800. 1t was addressed to
Judge William Allen, of Southampton,
Mass, but Judge Allen has never read it.
OTHER VOLUMES.
Lately this volume has been followed
by a volume Of the Report of the Brit
ish National Fisheries Exposition"
which was not all a report, for quite a
collection of jewelry was placed in a
neatly scooped out orifice in the center
of its leaves. Extremes met when a
Latin dictionary was put in use Us a
carton for transporting a pipe, and the
"Odd Fellows Quarterly Magazine" did
duty as a packing case for two razors.
a novel called THE Great Tontine"
held two diminutive and very prettily
decorated Chinese vases, but the height
Of i~ncOngruities was reached when the
Sermons of Bishop Rrookield, OF Lon
don" drifted into the New York post
office artfully surrounding several sets
of false teeth.
1t is not generally known that no mer-
chandise other than books can be shipped
through the mails from foreign coun-
tines. Cigars, cutlery and chinaware,
lewelry and fabrics OF cotton and silk
are often started on their long journey,
with notations accompanying them stat
ing that they are samples or gifts, but
these casual remarks never save the
goods. They find their way to the
United States custom house seizure room,
and there remain until the yearly auc-
ton.
Steerage passengers of the kind who
seek the services Of philanthropical PEG
pie on landing are no freer from the
faint Of smuggling than their more aris-
t~ocratic brethren above deck. One Of
the customs inspectors saw an Italian Of
mean dress and poor appearance who
wore on the little finger of his left hand
a diamond ring which glittered in the
rays Of the sun shining over Miss Lib
erty's left shoulder as the vessel was
coming up the bay. He thought the oc-
currence unusual and investigated. Two
thousand dollars worth Of jewelry was
taken from the immigrants person. He
had fallen a victim TO his own vanity.
He was unable to resist the delights OF
making a display before his fellow pas.
sengen.-New York World.
One word more" said a speaker,
and / am done" And the reporters
found when that word was written
down that 1t contained 1900 syllables.
The Far,,,g ,-nrl ~ -