desperate and reckless villains. Human life is held so cheap here,
and murder has become such a profession, that no respectable person is
safe who ventures into these localities. You may often see at the
Morgue, where the majority of the bodies show marks of violence, the
lifeless forms of those who but a few days before left their pleasant
homes in other portions of the country to see the metropolis. A visit to
a concert saloon or a dance house, merely from what they consider the
most innocent curiosity, has sealed their doom. A glass of drugged
liquor has destroyed their power of self-protection, and even without
this they have been assaulted. They are helpless, and they have paid
with their lives the price of their "innocent curiosity." Then the River
and the Morgue complete the story; or perhaps the River keeps its secret,
and the dead man's name goes down on the long list of the missing.

Strangers, and all others who would see New York, should content
themselves with its innocent sights and amusements. Those who seek to
pass beneath the shadow willfully take their lives in their hands.

LXXXV. THE CUSTOM HOUSE.

The Custom House is one of the most prominent and interesting places in
New York. It is one of the largest in the country, and is provided with
every facility for the prompt despatch of the vast business transacted in
it. Five-sixths of all the duties on imports collected in the United
States are received here.

The Custom House building was formerly the Merchants' Exchange. It is
one of the handsomest structures in the city, and its purchase cost the
General Government one million of dollars in gold. The building is
constructed of solid granite, with a fine portico and colonnade in front.
If is fire-proof throughout. It occupies the entire block bounded by
Wall street, Exchange Place, William street, and Hanover street. Its
dimensions are a depth of two hundred feet, a frontage of one hundred and
forty-four feet, and a rear breadth of one hundred and seventy-one feet.
The top of the central dome is one hundred and twenty-four feet from the
ground. The main entrance is on Wall street, but there are entrances on
every side. The Rotunda occupies the space beneath the central dome, and
is one of the finest interiors in the country.

Within the Rotunda are arranged rows of desks, running parallel with the
walls. These are occupied by four "deputy collectors," three "chief
clerks,"