CUSTOM HOUSE

Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 3: Catarrh to Dion, p. 628

CUSTOM HOUSE (Fr. douane, Ger. Zollamt), the office at a seaport or frontier where the customs duties are paid, vessels entered and cleared, &c. In England the custom-house officer has the right of personal search only when he has good cause to suspect that contraband goods are concealed about the person. See SMUGGLING.

Source scan(s): p. 0639