The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-04-02

the luggage of the passengers. If you i haven't courier to look after you and
 your belongings the best thing is to l give yourself up to Cook, the travellers I friend and protector If you have writ ten ahead to engage apartments at any
 of the hotels a dragoman, or interpret
 CT will be sent down to meet you and
 help you through the custom house, but Cooks men always come aboard at all
 the eastern ports and are a blessing to l tenderfeet.
 As each boatload passes toward the
 landing place it is stopped by police man, seated In the stern of Turkish
 caique, or canoe. who counts the num- Der of passengers and the number of
 pieces of baggage. What this is done for I was unable to discover but the
 most reasonable theory is that it is in tended as a check upon the police in | order that no stranger shall enter the
 country without their knowledge. The guidebooks, which are closely censored by the Turkish government, that they may not contain anything offensive or reasonable to the sultan,
 state very plainly that couriers and
 dragomans from the hotels can "ar-
 range" with the customs officers so that
 the inspection of luggage will be only
 formal. The only thing that they are
 after is books. Their orders are very
 strict In that respect. They are posi-
 lively forbidden to pass any books,
 newspapers, manuscripts or sealed
 parcels, all of which must be submitted
 to examiatiou by the censor, who de- stroys all works pertaining to the Mussulman religion, the personality of | the sultan, the foreign relations or the | internal affairs of Turkey Guns. re- vOlvers and that ort of thing, which | are prohibited in most countries, are | admitted without objection in Turkey | We were advised to conceal all our guidebooks, notebooks, manuscripts and that sort of thing in the bottom of our trunks in case of an emergency all though our dragoman, or guide, said he did not think any of them would be opened. When they were landed and carried into the dilapidated and dirty old wooden building of one story used for a custom house all the trunks. bags and rug rolls were arranged in row upon bench and the dragoman pro- ceeded calmly to negotiate with the in- oPNNeci S' iipW iiiucii itt pau lO pass ! them do not know, but it was not a large sum, and we were soon sent on our way rejoicing. |
 The baggage of passengers leaving Constantinople is examined quite as closely as that which comes in, and the same process occurs. The customs off, cers often demand larger brbes from outgoing than incoming travellers, and will threaten to detain their luggage if the money is not paid.
 The same corruption and the same practices exist in other branches of the custom house, only to a greater extent. Imported merchandise is seldom in- sperted. Merchants doing business in Constantinople usually have regular with the customs officials to admit their goods without examina- ton upon the payment of certain sums, which cover both the customs duties and the bribes These practices must be known to the higher officials, be- cause they have nearly all been pro- noted to the positions they occupy. and they required certain amount of reve- lue from eech inspector or appraiser every month. The latter must raise it the best way he can. There is a regu- ar tariff of course, and fixed rates of 1uty for different kinds of merchandise,,l put 1t is seldom observed, even in the ,ases of strangers.
 All travellers in Turkey must haveJ 'teZkerehs," or travelling permits, which are granted upon the application if the minister or consul of the country rom which they come, and are an &C., on the part of the Otto- nan authorities of their responsibility e. or the safety of the bearer. Natives lave ordinary passports, but no man an land at port or buy steamship IT railway ticket without showing a ocument of this kind, which not only ] s a protection to the traveller, but also ives the police authorities an oppor- unity to watch suspicious persons.-W }. Curtis in the Chicago Record Her Id.