The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-12

the most unimpeaehable of handbags
might contain a lump of dynamite and a
detonator, the inexora Bile order went forth
that every piece" was to be searched
The staff, of course, was reinforced, and
every effort was made to reduce the wor>
ry and inconvenience to travellers, but
they were rough times for the officers en-
gagged. Not only was there just the cha~cs
that the attempt 10 examine the contents
OF a cigar box might blow an inquisitlvo
officer to smithereens. but travellers re-
sented the inquisition and the delay.
And l must say that of all people We
had 20 do with said an experienced Off
Ger, the parsons were by far the most
troublesome and unpleasant. They seemed
10 think that because they were parsons
hey ought to be taken on trust and their
luggage ought not 20 be searched"
very good story has been told Of
particularly dignifed and resentful clerical
gentleman, OF a very virtuous aspect,
about whose luggage, however the Gus
toms officers had had a tip" His lug
gage was searched and Notwithstanding
his indignant repudiati of the idea that
there could be any need for il in the case
of "a minister of the Gospel" weH-hHed
spirit bottle was found His horror seemed
to be genuine, and his passionate declara-
ton thar he was a teetotaler of the most
rigid order only added to the hunor of the
situation. However, when the contents
of the bottle came to be examined it was
found 10 be only water. Some graceless
fellow-traveler had, no doubt, tucked the
thing into his luggage had given the Of
ticers hint at what they might find,
and had then awaited the tableau.
The days of the dynamite scare are hap
PLY over, and the customs have fallen
back on the earlier plan of taking only
certain proportion Of articles of luggage
for eXamina ion. This is, no doubt, quite
sufficient as a deterrent for amateur Snug
glers, and reduces the customs orueal to
something very slight. Travellers arriving
in London do not often nowadays resort 10
the tricks that at one time were not in
frequent, and one may stand by a long
time without witnessing a haul. 1t does
occur occasionally. Among recent attempts
at smuggling was one in which partic-
ularly vicious little monkey played part,
which for the sake of his moral character
was, it may he hoped, unconscious. He
was brought over in cage, from which he
spat and scratched at everybody who came
near him, the assumption possibly being
that the customs officers would have as
litt.e to do with him as they possibly
could 1t was a green trick. and the only
probable effect of it would be to attract
attention 10 the cage in which the little
spitfre was imprisoned. At all events,
the cage was scruunized, and was found
to conceal two or three pounds of tobacco.
A somewhat similar maneuver was with
a wooden case. marked ''Snakes''-a nasty
thing to manage, of course, and it was
probably expected that the officers would
take that view of it and pass it easily.
The lid was slightly opened, and there
on the top, sure enough, the snakes were
to be seen The emissaries of Thomas
street however have a disagreeabte and
uncharltable way of prying below the sur
face of things. and the snakes. like the
monkey, We're found TO be really on guard
above a nice little cargo of contraband
goods.
Now and then they bowl out a passen-
ger in an attempt to get through with a
stock of cigars, or a few bottles of spirits,
and If the passenger is of the male sex
it is observed that he usually has the
grace to look rather ashamed of himself
1t is very sad TO have to say that the
case is quite different with the ladies,
who, as a rule, regard the exposure as a
personal grievance, and feel justified in
giving the offending officer a bit of their
mind, and the sweeter and more captivat-
ing their smiles have been when hoping to
get through, the livelier will be their share
of the dialogue afterward.
The custom house searching is not so
rigorous as 1t used to be. partly because