New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-06-15
By Bassett Digby.

BY Basset DlgpN.
YOICING the sentiment Of travellers
" without the finer apperceptions.
man once remarked that there
usre but two kinds Of frontiers-those
that awaken you in the middle of the
,isbt and those that let YOU bide. lie
Gas timid shirker of terror, mirth anu
vratb-those fun-blooded emotions of
which civilization and the conventions rob
w nowadays. He did not relish the wave
Of horror that sweeps over the traveller
who has not cunningly slowed away his
datiabe gear when awakened at a. m.
b the heavy hand of an ineXoraole
Tsuton customs official with a gold
ssshed uniform fierce mustachios and a
horde Of vigilant underlings at his beck
and call out there in the starlit night.
A blameless lamb in world of wolves
an upholder Of law and order, a pillar OF
his church and a bulwark Of his party
he did not relish the humor or the fine
free Olympian wrath of being reused
from his beauty sleep TO deny, with "A
Eearisome series of neins or mons or
NETS. detailed series Of smuggling accu-
Stions. denials that his lions were girded
with laces and silks his cork leg brim-
ming with brandy, his innermost pockets
sbulge with priceless perfumes.
THE JOY OF SMUGGLING.
Crossing a frontier. to all intents and
purposes, is going on trial as SNUG
glsr, with the odds in your favor-a de-
Hghtful ordeal You are always aglow
With triumph as you enter the land
beyond. II may be the glow of vindi-
eted innocence, which is sweet. 1t may
be the glow Of thankfulness at having
been let off pretty lightly in the matter
q customs dues on stuff you declared.
This is sweeter But sweetest Of all is
that glow Of Machiavellian cunning tri-
unphant which you experience as the
train thunders on into the new land ana
yOu realize that, unscathed, you have
brought a box Of excellent Habanas over
the frontier. You have Struggled. You
are smuggler. You muse on your boy
hood heroes and you begin, unconsciously'
70 adopt swashbuckling air You won
der whether there is a smuggler's union
and how to find IT,
There may. too. be an even sweeter
glow, the JOY Of having been caught red
handed and let off alive after you have
given up all your money, your watch and
stickpin and a mortgage on your home;
after you have signed an apology to the
crowned heads and presidents Of Europe
The archbishops and deans and respectable
uadesfolk after you have been logged
and led on mouldy crusts after you have
anguished in a damp dungeon overrun by
beetles, with a gramophone going night
ana day In the next cell; after you have
'een pricked by he'd hot goads and broken
1pon the rack. Then. mayhap, you wrap
Jour rags around you and stagger' with
sfagging feet and a song in your heart
out into the sunny fields OF the new land
ana mount in spirit 10 the Valhalla or
Oass. Personally, I've never heard OF
any smuggler caught ID. f." at frontier
VINO has come back TO tell the tale.
THE FRONTIER RITUAL.
Yes the ritual Of the frontier is a good
ulhs' Let il not be relaxed.
never cross the English Channel on
mat last afternoon connection with the
nOon Train from Paris without feeling a
ulu smouldering hatred for the dapper
n'ue Brltisher who saunters around the
'"1l steamer between Calais and Dover
sno nonehalantly chalks his o. K. on your
0ssgage without examining IT. II is the
's"est frontier crossing in the world. this
"0On Train connection from Paris. it is
Wreiched precedent
entering Russia on the other hand, is
IVY forever. ! would hazard that II Is
sood deal more thrilling than being the
Hlneipal in a CORY murder trial. IL is
'~ehdld. epic-and. with the eyes OF your
a' you see writ in flaming letters or
ABOVE the COssack guarded portals,
ABANDON hope all we who enter here"
a curious thing happens when you are
sO0ut 10 enter the domain Of the Car on
s Baltic seaboard route. Your train
te's INTO the station of the little town OF
.Yu'nuhnen, the last town Of Germany.
'' lew hundred yards from the from
w. Here, for no apparent reason, your
nn'a'n--and, indeed. all trains bound for
1sAa-waits. waits for an hour. At the
~ OF the hour a porter brings out a
me metal disk attached TO handle,
a.u Of ping pong racquet. and bands II
.sfentlally 10 the tall, red-capped sta
NV' master He raises II, and with
s-'oen jerk the train glides slowly on.
" lew seconds you come 10 a bridge
LAY carries the tracks over a narrow
muddy stream.
The RUSSIAN BORDER LINE.
a sentry box is on the bridge. Outside
soldier. with drawn sword, stands
ss'oiy at attention as the train passes.
ns muddy creek that flows under the
Russia
another hundred yards and the train
~" at the frontier post OF Wirballen.
'0or baggage is bounced upon by the