The Washington times., 1901-07-28
cusroMHousE OFFICIALS.
A Tip offered on the Continent May
Lead to Trouble.


Continental customhouse officials are
apt to ruffie the temper of British ladies
who travel with numerous boxes and
trunks. They sometimes have way of
! ransackiEg them and turning apple-pie
order into hopeless chaos which is irritat-
ing. But in sueh cases a phlosophic calm
and smiling countenance are the only
| effective remedies.
| In France the porters occasionally make
special claim when the trunks have
been passed without being opened. Il
! promised the officer two francs il he
would let you off without troubling you.
said a railway employe to me one night at
the Care du Nord. We'll, you did very
/ foolish thing to promise money that did
not belong to you,'' l replied, and 1 gave
him only what he had earned. But above
all things one should never offer money
! to a customhouse official
| A lady once came from Constantinople
| to an English port with a trunk full Of
| dutiable wares. The official came on
board. looked through her handbags and
| passed the trunks without examining
| them. and hurried on deck. Elated with
| joy, she ran after him with sovereign
| to show her sense of gratitude. The cap
tain warned her to desist, but she would
have her own way, and slipped the coin
into his hand The official looked at it
/ and at her. and then, returning the mon
| ey. went back to the saloon and thorough
| ly overhauled the trunks. That lady had
| good reason to regret her impulsive graft
| tude before he and his superiOrs had
| done with her.
| There is no country in the world where
customhouse officers are more reasonable
and courteous than in England. They
look at the traveller, note the tone of
voice in which he answers their question,
glance at his luggage and treat him ac-
cording to their summing up, which Is
generally correct.
In this connection i shall never forget
scene which took place one frosty Decem-
Der morning at Queenborough on the ar
rival of the steamer. There was a French
lady on board who had bag round which
one could see her thoughts were ever CEN
tired. She would clutch is convulsiy ely,
lay it down on the ground and eye it Curl
ously, look furtiyely at the other passen-
gers and then snatch it up and walk
away. An observant onlooker would be
tempted to conjecture that it contained
diamonds and pearls of great price.
Besides a few handkerchiefs and toilet
necessaries there was nothing but 40 ci-
gars in the bag-so the owner told a
Dutch Lady who had shared the same cab
in with her. L am taking them to my
husband, and don't care to pay the duty
but | am in dread lest they should be dis
covered" NO fear whatever" replied
the other. The customhouse officials are
very iberal-minded in England. You will
not be asked even to open your bag But
these assurances failed to allay the fears
of the Parisenne, who grew fidgety and
nervous as the time drew near for the ex-
animation.
Finally the Dutch woman took pity on
her fellow-traveIer. and said just as they
were crossing the bridge: Make yourself
quite easy on the subject Give me your
bag. Here take mine. You shall see how
smoothly everything will 60" They ex-
changed bags accordingly; the officials
proved to be .liberal-minded.- and there
was no hitch anywhere
As soon as they were comfortably seat
ed in a drst-class carriage the French
dame became profuse in her manifesto
tions of gratitude "Oh, pray, don't men
ton it," replied her fellow -traveIer; Il
know the English people well. and 1 was
aware there was no danger. Otherwise
should never have done what l did. /,
too. have a husband who is fond of
smoking, and L have brought him over a
few hundred cigars. Just look at this
bag that you were carrying for me- She
opened 1t as she spoke and the French
lady nearly swooned when she saw that
she had been carrying some hundreds of
Dutch cigars instead of her own paItry
forty.-London Telegraph