The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-11-13

|
that throng of sunburned faces barrica
ded out at the end of the platform
there. The train has rolled in and the,
have turned out, and the barrier ha
been drawn across keeping them bacl
while an army of porters hand out tn
luggage and pile 1t UP on hunks ready
for the customs officers.
The task of searching is not quite 81
formidable as it was. Up till the tmt
of the dynamiters' scare it had at gu,
ports been deemed sufficient to take
about one piece" of luggage in five fol
examination. But when the dynamiterS
came along with their internal ma
chimes" and the most sober sided OF
portmanteaus or the most unmpeacha-
BILE of handbags might contain a lump
of dynamite and detonator the mex
orable order went forth that every
''piece" was to be searched. The STAFF
| of course was reinforced, and every ct
fort was made to reduce the worry and
| inconvenience to travellers, but they
were rough times for the officers en-
gagged. Not only was there just the
| chance that the attempt to examine the
| contents of a cigar box might blow an
| lnouisitive officer to smithereens, but
| travellers resented the inquisition ami
| the delay.
And I must say that of all people
we had to do with said an experienced
officer, ''the parsons We're by far the
| most troublesome and unpleasant
They seemed to think that because they
We're parsons they ought to be taken
on trust and their luggage ought not Ia
be searched
A very good story has been told of
particularly dgnified and resentfll
clerical gentleman, of very virtuous
aspect, about whose luggage however,
the customs officers had had Tip.
His luggage was searched, and not
withstanding his indignant reputation
of the idea that there could be any need
for it in the case Of "a minister of the
Gospel" well-flled spirit bottle was
found. His horror seemed to be geuu-
inc, and with passionate declaration
that he was teetotaler of the most
rigid order only added to the humor OF
the situation. However, when the con-
tents of the bottle came to be examined
Z was found to be only water. Some
graceless fellow-traveler had, no doubt
tucked the thing into his luggage, had
given the officers hint at what they
might find, and had then awaited the
taEieau.
The days Of the dynamite scare are
happily over. and the customs have
fallen back on the earlier plan of taking
only certain proportion of articles of
luggage for examination This Is no
doubt, quite sufficient as deterrent
for amateur smugglers, and reduces the
customs ordeal to something very slight.
Travellers arriving in London do not Of
tan nowadays resort to the tricks that
a. one time were not infreuuent, AMI
one may stand by long time without
witnessing a haul. 1t does occur ocoa-
Among recent attempts at
smuggling was one IN which a particu-
larly vicious little monkey played par.
which for the sake Of his moral charac-
tee was, it may DE hoped, unconscious
IFe was brought over in a cage, from
which he spat and scratched at evary-
body who came near him, the assump-
ton possibly being that the customs Of
ficers would have as little to do with
him as, they possibly could. 1t was |
81 cen trick and the only probable eff
feet of it would be to attract ottention |
to the cage in which the little spittire |
as imprisoned. At all events, the |
cage was scrutinized ard was found to |
conceal two or three pounds of tobaG.
%. A somewhat similar manoeuvre |
was with wooden case marked |
'Snakes"-a nasty thing to manage, of
course, and it was probably expected
nat the officers would take that view
r. nd 40. t11- Tho lid
,l'gi tIy opened, and there on the top,
;ure enough, the snakes were to be
,een The emissaries of Thames street,
;ow ever, have a disagreeabe and I'M
way of prying below the sur
ace of things, and the snakes, like the
monkey, We're found to be really uE
'uaro above a nice little cargo of con-
raband goods.
Now and then they bowl out passen.
cr III an attempt to get through with
stock OF cigars. Or lew bottles of
p,rits, and If the passenger is Of the
1ale sex 1t Is observed that he usually
as the grace to look rather ashamed of
inself. 1t is very sad to have to say
hat the case is quite different with the
aides, who, as a rule, regard the expo
ure as a personal grievance, and feel
1stified in giving the offending officer
bit of their mind, and the sweeter and
lore captivating their smiles have been !
hen hoping to get through, the live !
err will be their share of the dialogue ,
s
The Custom House searching is not so {
gorous as it used to be, partly be- t
luse there are fewer things liable to s
uty. Many travellers however, are ,
lriously ignorant on this point. There ]
ems to be an iperadicable belief that /
ce is till among contraband goods-as, C
course. 1t used to be. There Is we'll c
1own story in Custom House annals Y
a certain little poodle dog, plump r
i'd podgy that used to go backward y
I'd forward across the Channel until b
, got to be recognized as regular a
ayeler But in course of time 1t was L
,ticed that he always came home S
good deal fatter than he went out,
I'd this led to closer observation, | C
hen it was found that the little i'm n
,stor had two coats on his back-his a
yn and a curiier one he had appropri- o
ed from another dog. Between the W
70 was a thick swathing of valuable il
,e. of which it seemed large quantities G
- hoo, rr,,l a,1x, iz., W.