Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 December 1895 — How a 45000 Book Was Ruined. [ARTICLE]

How a 45000 Book Was Ruined.

A short time ago one of those trifling attempts at smuggling to which even the best of our citizens are prone—the sending of foreign article* to home friends concealed in mail parcels—was detected by the Postal Department. A small bit of Italian jewelry had been sent from Florence, hidden in a small book. The book had been opened, a cavity gouged out in its pages with a knife and the jewelry deposited inside. This was all very clever and the cheerful smuggler has no doubt congratulated himself on his smartness in so dodging the payment of duty. But the fact of interest in the case is that the little old book which he used for the purpose happened to be a rare “Aldine,” and in his ignorance he bad .ruined a volume worth SSOO in order to save the duty on a piece of jewelry worth not more than $25.