A singular adaptation of the locomotive has just been made in Russia.
Information having been given to the authorities at Alexandrovo, on the
Polish frontier, that the locomotive of the express leaving that station
for Warsaw had been ingeniously converted into a receptacle for smuggled
goods, it was carefully examined during its sojourn at the station.
Though nothing was found wrong, it was deemed advisable that a
custom-house official should accompany the train to its destination, when
the engine furnace and boiler were emptied and deliberately taken to
pieces. In the interior was discovered a secret compartment containing
one hundred and twenty-three pounds of foreign cigars and several parcels
of valuable silk. Several arrests were made, including that of the
driver; but his astonishment at finding the engine to which he had been
so long accustomed converted into a hardened offender against the laws
was so genuine that he was released and allowed to return to his duties.