The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-20
COLLECTING CURIoS.
\ BUSINESS AT WHICH UNCLE SANS
SAILORS ARE EXPERT.
Many Find 1t very Profitable Stories
of Some Men Who Have Made 1t
Pay Wen With Opium or Dia-
mOuds
From The washington Star.

| money in the business than the officers of
cruising ships. As a rule, the bluejack-
cts make their collections to give to their
mothers, sisters or sweethearts, but there
| is considerable and growing class of ma
val sailors who engage in the collecting
business purely for profit and these men
do not have to make many cruises before
| they are in shape to quit the naval service
for good,
| Every American man-of-war that re-
| turns to the United States upon the con-
| clusion of a cruise of several years in for
eign waters has all of its out-of-the-w
hooks and crannies stuffed with the col
lecions of officers and men when the
homeward-bound pennant is broke from
the mizzen. The bilges are often so jam
med with the curio chests of the men that
the bluejackets have to put in hours in
| breaking them out and restowing them ev-
cry time the bilge inspection day comes
around. The men belonging to the en-
CINE room gang of a ship make use at
times of one or two of the unused boilers
in which to stow their boxes and packages
of curios, and when, as often happens
the chief engineer orders those boilers TO
is too deep for utterance. The deck men
run the risk of court-martial by stufiing
the ships launches and cutters full of
their purchased gear and in doing this
they employ an amazing degree of cum
ming, and their quiet, rapid way of
sneaking the stuff out of the boats into
other hiding places as soon as the ship
gets into American waters and prepares
to drop its mudhook Is hardly less dis
inc IsI
Although naval sailormen are not sup
posed 10 have anything whatever in their
lockers besides their clothes and small
stores, and the buejacket is not permitted
TO bring curios over his ships side. officers
do not enforce the rule with stringency
perhaps because the regulation applies to
the officers as well as the men. An officer
who himself has slowed away in one of
his ships spare store rooms a quarter ton
box of curios designed for the ornamen-
tation of his shore home is pretty apt to
look in another direction when he sees
bluejackets coming over the gangway
with bulging packages of curios under
their arms All that the officers ask in
ferentially of the sailor is that the latter
shall so conceal his collection that the in
specting officer shall not stumble upon it
on inspection days.
In secreting their curios the sailors have
them out Of the sight of their officers.
This is the evasion of the customs inspect
ors. The extent of the examination made
by the customs officers of men-of-war ar
irving from foreign ports varies with the
port. In a very few ports the customs Of
ficers go over the warship with as much
thoroughness as they do merchant vessels.
In a majority Of the ports, notably in the
largest, their search of men-of-war Is per-
Ac ba n1al
ed to pay duty on all the stuff they bring
home, for, TO the direction question, "Any-
thing dutable aboard?" none of those who
has a collection of curioS slowed away in
a store room will make reply, mo" On
such occasions they invariably point out
their goods for appraisal. Often enough
however customs officers boarding war
ships will fail to put this question to all
the officers eingly, and as no man, officer
or civilian is in duty bound to endanger
his blood vessels in frantic efforts to help
out customs inspectors in their work.
some of the officers get their stuff in free
of duty. These fortunate ones are envied
by their messmates.
The sailors do not have to pay duty on
their curio collections once in a dozen
cruises. The customs inspectors rarely so
forward to examine the living quarters of
the men, and even if they should make a
do some pretty careful delving. in order
to make their visits pan out On board
ing a warship, the customs officers, after
cursorily examining and appraising what
ever be pointed out by the officers, gener-
ally put to the commanding officer the
question:
Men forward got anything dutiable
aboard?"
Not that 1 know Of" replies the cap
trTt hA
men are as a rule, satisfied with the assur-
ance.
Thus the sailormen are able to watch
the customs officers boats sheer off from
the ship with their countenances wreathed
in broad grins, and in ten minutes they
are all below, breaking out their boxes and
packages, preparatory TO sending them
ashore by the bumboatmen at the first
opportunity The bumboatmen are of ines
Unable service to the sailors in getting
their curio collections ashore without at
tracing attention, and when a big ship
arrives in nome port they make consid-
cradle money as common carriers for the
bluejackets.
People in the large sea port cities VITO
purchase beautiful pieces of bric-a-brac
ana articles OF vertu in the little isolated
collectors shops at prices phenomenally
low cannot, of course, know that in very
is that the articles were brought to the
United States in American men-of-war
ere of duty, by the men for ard Yet such
is the fact, and the business is constantly
on the increase. Before shipping on YES
sells bound on extended cruises in foreign
waters old-timers make it a point to en-.
ter into arrangements with dealers in
curios, and they are enabled to more than
quadruple the amount of the pay they
receive from the government for their
services. Even If, upon their return to
this country, they should happen to be
nipped by the customs men and forced
to pay duty on their goods (and such a
thing happens only once in a great while.
at the smaller ports), they can make con-
siderable profits upon their transactions
for the sailors engaged In this business
are great bargain getters and infinitely
closer buyers than tourists who pick up
curios abroad. These enterprising sailors
do not buy off-hand the first things tbev
see when they go ashore in a foreign
land. In Japan, for instance the man