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Show THAT BRONZED SEAFARING MAN.<br><br> Yesterday afternoon a man with a bronzed face and the dress of a petty officer on ship-board, carrying partly concealed beneath the skirt of his jacket a good sized package, peered into the office of United States Commissioner Shields and dodged back into the hall. The Commissioner called out. "Do you want to see me? Come in." The man thereupon entered the office and in a whisper asked Mr. Shields if he would not like to buy a silk dress pattern or a broche shawl very cheap indeed.<br><br> "How can you afford to sell so low?" asked the Commissioner.<br><br> "Well, the fact is," said the man, in a low tone, "I don't mind telling you. I follow the sea, and I bring over a few articles with me on every trip, just to speculate on."<br><br> "Oh," said Commissioner Shields, "then you smuggled them; is that it?"<br><br> The bronzed stranger winked. The Commissioner said he thought Mr. Drummond, on the floor above, might like to buy a shawl, and to the floor above the bronzed person went. Special Agent Drummond of the Treasury Department, examined the man's stock, which was of inferior quality, yet calculated to deceive persons knowing little of such fabrics, and when the bronzed person intimated that it was smuggled, Mr. Drummond said<br><br> "My good man, I'm a revenue officer and shall have to put you under arrest."<br><br> The bronzed man turned yellowish green, and said he had been lying.<br><br> "You'll have to show the bills for this stuff," said Drummond. He produced the bills, which were from a cheap East Side store and as it is not an offense against the customs laws to lie about domestic manufactures, he was let go.-N. Y. World. |