Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-04-30
IN THE GRIM SEIZURE ROOM.

IN THE GRIM SEIZURE ROOM.
Tho Little Den That smuggler. Are Afraid
to Enter.
There are few more interesting places
In the government building in New
York than the dingy little cubby-hole on
the ground floor of the custom house
known as the seizure room" Those
who have never visited this gloomy den
have an idea that it is of immense size
and jail-like in appearance. The falla-
cious idea that this department is in
charge of small army of men whose
motto: eve never Sleep" is written
on their faces, is also generally enter
tanned. A halo of hustle and activity
is supposed by outsiders to surround
the room where thousands and thou
sands of dollars worth of Struggled
goods are confscated annually. One
look into the place will dispel the
picture.
The room is not more than twenty
five feet long by twenty feet wide. In
the middle of it is long table, on
which seized goods are sorted before the
making up of the inventories and Off
cial reports On every wall are bulky
shelves running from the ground almost
to the ceiling. Peering boldly out from
the edges of these shelves are hundreds
of packages bearing on their side the
numb ers 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 filed
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
on the shelves. The contents of every
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 look in the seizure room any
afternoon, when either one of those
lynx-eyed special agents, Brown or
Donohue, has made a haul. You will
then gain perfect idea of the system
of examination in vogue in the grimy
little den that smugglers dread to en-
ter. The long table in the center fair
~ groans under it's imposed weight Of
silks, satins and laces. The fashion
able uptown dressmakers are RESPONSE
BILE for the tables valuable load. They
attempted to defraud Uncle Sam, and
have been caught in the act.
Three immense steamer trunks have
been relieved of their contents and
three separate piles of the articles have
been made. One man with an iron
gray nustache has thrown aside his
coat and is ready for business. An
other is at the end of the table with
pencil in hand and regulation inventory
sheet before him. The formers duty
ends with the designation of the quail
ity of each article seized, and the latter
records the designation and general de-
scription.
The first garment. a handsome even
ing dress by Paris maker, is de-
scribed. Its material is pink satin, its
trimmings of pink lace, the size of its
waist and bust so much. No sooner are
the measurements made than the exam
iner writes the significant phrase, GA
clear case of smuggling, " for the woman
who declared the garment was for her
self is OF mammoth proportions, and the
bust and waist measurement of the
gown in hand are for a sylph-like form.
The first pile is gone through method
ically in a comparatively short time,
and the record shows five dresses, three
jackets, two hundred pairs of ladies'
evening kid gloves and lot of miscel
laneous articles that had been ingenious
" secreted in the pockets and folds of
dresses and the toes of shoes. The sec
ond and third piles are gone through IN
the same way, and at the conclusion OF
the examination one of the officials
ventures the remark that ''Uncle Sam
is richer by about $4,000
Old ''Isaac," who has been in this de-
partment for no one but himself knows
how long, is now busy putting the ar
ticles back in their respective trunks.
When this job is finished it is seen
that there is fourth and new pile
of nondescript articles at the far end
of the table. These have been weeded
out of the three piles by the expert
enced examiner. What are they?
Soiled linen, underwear and dresses
that have been worn.
They are known as personal proper
ty," and the female smuggler is at lib
erty to take them away whenever she
feels disposed. But it is not likely that
she will call for them. She would
rather suffer the loss than again face
the men who have brought her into dis
grace. They are bundled up by the
methodical Isaac and the name of the
owner is printed on the package.
Such is the simple method of exam
nation in the seizure room. There is
no more excitement or confusion no
ticeable than there is in the smallest
and most inactive of the government
Offices. Nothing surprises the officials.
They look on everything that comes to
their mill as grist for the government,
and their duty ends with the examina-
ton and description of tn. Y. News.
Knowing Dog.
Here is true story of Vermont
sheep-dcg which Scotchmen will find il
hard to match: Capt. c., of Brad
ford, VT, has a shepherd dog which
| was accustomed to bring home the cows
at night, always separating them from
the other cattle, and never allowing any
but mich cows to come up. One day
Capt c. accompanied the dog in driv-
ing the cows to pasture. At one place
Il