Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1891-05-16
N the GRIM SEIZURE ROOM.


m THE GRIM SEIZURE ROOM.
The Little Don T.s. s.a.ss'srs Are AfraiS
to Enter.
There are few mese interesting places
In the government building in New
York than the dingy little cubby hole ON
the ground floor of the custom mousse
known as the Seizure room" Ihose
who have never visited this gloomy den
have an idea that it is of immense size
and iail-like in appearance. Inc rama
cious idea that this department Is IN
charge of a small army of men whose
motto: 1--WE never sleep" IS written
on ths:- faces, is also generally enter
| taiped halo Of hustle and activity
| is supposed by outsiders to surround
| the room where thousands and thou
sands of dollars worth of smuggled
goods are confiscated annually. One
look into the place will dispei the
picture.
The room is not more than twenty
FIVE feet long by twenty feet wide. In
the middle of it IS a long table, on
which seized goods are sorted before tns
making up of the inventories and otb-
cial reports. On every wall are nniky
shelves running from the ground almost
to the ceiling. Peering boldly out fro1s'
| the edges of these shelves are hundreds
| of packages bearing on their side tS's
numbe that give clew to the date OF
the seizures. and the quantity OF the
commodity seized.
To your left as you enter are huge
boxes and trunks. These are all t,iled
with those expensive articles OF wear
ing apparel, ETC., that the American
visitor to Europe loves to buy and hates
to pay duty on. These larger pieces
. are all labeled like the small packages
" o-tc nf
,, bundle have, within the past three
months. been carefully examined, in
, ventoried and appraised, four times
every year The room is cleared out
and its contents sold at public auction.
Take q look in the seizure room any
afternoon when either one of those
!, lynx-eyed special agents. Brown or
. Donohue, has made a haul. You VIII
!, then gain a perfect idea of the system
;, of examination in vogue in the grimy
little den that smuggicrs dread to en-
), ter The long table in the center 1air-
lv groans under its imposed weisht OF
silks, satins and laccs. The fashion
able uptown dressnalsers are rcsponsl-
BILE for the tables valuable load. They
: - ATTEMPTED to defraud Uncle Sam, asd
:. have been caught in the act.
Three immense steamer trunks have
been relieved Of their contents and
three separate piles of the articles have
- l,een made. One man with an iroa
pray mustache has thrown aside he
- coat and is ready for business. An
- other is at the end of the table WITT
" pencil in hand and regulation inventor.
sheet before him. The former dut.
le ends with the designation of the quail
or ;+y of each article seized. and the latte
u records the designation and general de
~ scription.
ae The first garment, handsome ever
ai ;no dress by Paris maker, is dc
" scribed It's material is pink satin, 1t
10 trimmings of pink lace, the size OF Ii
wa;st and bust SO much. No sooner ar
Us the measurements made than the exaIr
iner writes the significant phrase, =
clear case of smuggling. for the woina
- who declared the garment was Tor me-
fs' self is of mammoth proportions, and tn
~ bust and waist measurement OF tn
OF Gown in hand are for a sylPh-like form
The first pile is gone through metho'
'es i.a!lv in a comparatively short tim
on and the record shows five dresses, thrt
re- Jackets, two hundred pairs OF ladie
le' evening kid gloves and a lot OF mlsc'
:" laneous articles that had been lngehroG
ny ly secreted in the pockets ano loias
at dresses and the toes of shoes. The Sc
OF ond and third piles are gone through
10 the same way, and at the CONCLUSION
the examination one of the efhcla
III ventures the remark that ~ nc4e Sa
'.s is richer by about $1,000
ian Old "Isaac," who has been in this G
aP partmept for no one but himself kno'
the how long. is now busy putting the ;
ns' ticles back in their respective truni
eN- When this Job is finished it is Sc
W that there is fourth and a new D
o"1 of nondescript articles at the far c
ng, of the table. These have been weed
IN out of the three piles by the expe
Ter enced examiner. What are the
nc,- Soiled Enen. underwear and dress
aoi, that have been worn.
'taA They are known as personal prop
tv," and the female smuggler Is at
nan erty to take them away whenever
eco feels disposed. But it is not likely II
eN- she will call for them. She *o
ars' rather suffer the loss than again +;
can the men who have brought her into {
dol GRACE They are bundled up by
can methodical Isaac and the ma re OF
h's- owner is printed on the pacs>s re.
Such is the simple method of eNa
ut ination in the seizure room Ihcrs
lIc no more excitement or confusion
) 10 ticeable than there Is in the slna'
u H. and most inactive of the goVcrnfff
play offices. Nothing surprises the othci
.ars' They lool, on everything that comes
ings 80. lii &C orist for the rovernm,
lelp. .a .bo;r duty ends with the exam
ouns ton and description of it-N. Y. Ne
c an
1t is Tho usual First Case.
his Young Doctor Ito nervous patien
!. A In the first place, madam, you
npiy drink less tea
pS, Patient-I don't like ten, ana M
is or drink it ~
-er a Young Doctor (stammerlng)-l
noon take a cupful every night before r.
sh. ;~r rSp;ris