Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 November 1885 — The Officers Passed Them. [ARTICLE]

The Officers Passed Them.

A year or so ago a merchant vessel was sent to Havana to bring back to the United States some shipwrecked sailors. While there they obtained a lot of cheap cigars, which they corded up in a great pile on the deck. Over this pile, which looked very much like cord wood, they threw a lot of old sail cloth, and when the customs officers asked them if they had any dutiable goods on board they pointed to this pile and said it contained cigars. The customs officers thought they were being guyed, and did not look at them.