RAID FOR DIAMONDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14691, 27 May 1911, Page 2 (Supplement)

RAID FOR DIAMONDS.

METHODS OF THE NEW YORK

CUSTOMS.

The indignities to which American ladies returning from Europe must sometimes submit wero illustrated by the experience of Mrs. Joseph Hull, wife of the president of the Merchants' National Bank, Savannah, who, with her daughters, Mies Elizabeth and Miss Nannie, arrived in tho Lusitania. They brought 20 pieces of luggage, and were kept freezing on the pier while the inspectors removed tho contents of each trunk, searching for false linings and hiding places. At length Miss Nannie Hull, who is convalescent after an attack of typhoid fever, was allowed to proceed to an hotel in the custody of her father. Then the inspectors turned on tho indignant inothor and inquired, "Where's the diamond necklace?" Protesting that they did not know of any necklace, Mrs. Hull and Miss Elizabeth Hull were taken back to their cabin. "We were made," she subsequently said, "to take off oven our stockings, and every bit of our clothing was searched. It was an outrage!" No diamonds wore discovered, but the inspectors' seized the trunks of the ladies on tho ground that tho mother had declared only £20 and tho daughter £8 worth of foreign purchases, whereas the amounts, they allege, ought to have been £80 and £50 respectively. Mr. Hull, who is a well-known banker, has proclaimed his intention of suing tho Custom officials for damages.