Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-21
BAGGAGE INSPECTION
CAPT. BROOKS, EXPERIENCE
WITH CUSTOMS OFFICIALS.
How the Contents of His Trunks Were
Spread All Over the Pier
in New York.

with purpose to test the customs serv-
ice for which his country is so widely ia
nous, Capt. N. NJ. Brooks, superintendent
of foreign mails, has just gone through the
ordeal of having his baggage inspected at
the New York city customs office. He has
resolved fervent1y and earnestly never to
do so again. Hereafter, he said this morn
Ing, he shall obtain the letter regularly ex-
tended government officials travelling in the
course OF their regular werk and avoid hav-
ing his baggage exposed to the courtesy
of those Chesterfields who distribute all
your belongings all over dirty pier"
There were several reasons why Capt
Brooks chose this particular course. He
had gone to Havana for recreation, and con-
sequently was disinclined to ask for cour-
teSleS on the ground of official position.
He had heard from many other travellers
of the indigntties to which they had been
subjected, but his baggage had always
been passed with the merest and most
formal inspection possible. His party mad
prepared the baggage in a form most sus-
ceptible of examination, and he thought the
experiment would cost him the least meas
ure of inconvenience consistent with tle
law.
Capt. Brooks Story.
I'VE had spent only $50 or whereabouts
while in Havana" he said, by way of set
one had given me four boxes Of twenty-five
cigars each, the ladies had bought few
pieces of lace, and there was some candy
done up in sealed packages, all. bearing
the trademark of the manufacturer as the
seal. We put all these things near the top
and 1 made declaration of them all and
signed 1t in regular form.
"On the pier our steamer trunks, suit
cases and handbag were thrown in heap
among a lot of ordinary wharf dirt. You
can imagine what the pier looked like with
hundreds of people and teams passing back
and forth and no apparent effort to keep IT
clean. I sent the ladies on to the hotel
and camped out for the inspector.
He came along in minute. These your
trunks he asked. Yes L told him, they
word. nothing was sacred. He opened each
trunk and examined each tray. When he
came to clothes packed away in piles or
bundles, he ran his hands through every
thing. Whenever he encountered anything
hard that had to be examined in detail. He
came to a box, or example, in which one
of the ladies packed her stickpins, collars,
neck ribbons and similar articles Out went
the whole business all over the wharf. The
chaos was complete in about five minutes.
The candy suffered pretty badly. AS L
told you, it was in its original sealed pack
ages. l asked the man if it was necessary
to break them open. In about two words
he cleared away all the doubt in my mind
and in two minutes the candy was lying
around loose My four boxes of cigars
Jared the same fate. l had unwrapped one
of them that he might examine 1t readily,
but that fact seemed to excite his suspicion,
and he insisted on appraising one of the
others. Off he went with it. BY the time
he had finished with everything else l grew
tired of waiting for those cigars and left.
And that was the last l ever heard Of that
appraisement.
He Was Mad.
"Of course was mad But | knew there
was no use making any fuss, and just tried
to bear it as best 1 could. Still, it was
pretty hard when he began to throw our
underwear about that dirty pier. Soiled and
unsoiled, it was exposed to the view of
every one within eyesight. When we got
the trunks to our hotel and opened them we
found that lot Of this dirt had stuck. But
that was not all. The candy had melted
and blotched half the thugs in the trunks.
There was fearful mess where a few
hours before everything had been packed
neatly and carefully.
abroad the customs officials manage to
get along with courtesy. But if | were in
one of their customs offices and had borne
the inspection to which l was subjected in
New York | would make American travel
ers suffer, you may be sure.
Next time l have my baggage inspected
/ shall have the protection of letter from
the Treasury Department.