“New application of X-rays”
“To inspect a bale, the box is opened and a current is developed. The bale under study is placed as close as possible to the screen, near the telescope at a distance of about five inches from the bubble tube. It is enough to look at the tube to see all the densest objects contained in the observed bale. Lace, silks, linens and the like can never be seen; The only items that will not escape inspection are metal items and cigars.
Our drawings show two inspection scenes. In one, a customs inspector, in the presence of a commission, examines a suitcase containing metal items. Cigars were hidden between the linen. But the most interesting scene is represented by the second drawing – the exposure of the smuggler. The woman, whose appearance made it impossible to suspect anything criminal behind her, was placed in front of an immodest apparatus, and it immediately produced a bottle hidden under her skirt. Of course, within another minute the experienced eye of the customs officer discovered something unnatural in her gait.”
(weekly supplement to the newspaper “Son of the Fatherland”, July 13, 1897)
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
