New-York tribune., 1881-11-21
ABSEYrMINDED PASSEyGERS.
ARTICLES LOST IN ELEVATED TRAINS.

ARTICLES LOST IN ELEVATED TRAlNS
HOW MISSING PROPERTY CAN OFTEN BE REcoV-
ERED-woRK OF TIE PROPERTY CLLRN-IhE
THINGS THAT FOBGETFUL PEOPLE LfAVE BE-
HIND THaM
As a proof Of the prevalence of absentminHeu-
ness a visit the depot for articles lost on the ele
vated railway trains is convincing. a lEIB' NJ
reporter recently lost pocket-kniie IN one Oh 'lo
elevated ears, aud on asking an empioye was loIu
that 1t might possibly he found in the repository lor
lost articles at No. ] Front-st On going up two
flights of stairs in the building designated the
reporter found a small room used 10y the property
clerk, and across the passage-way another room III
which the missing articles were stored. OF course
the missing krife was not found. Knives are pro
verbally elusive. But the S ore room proved that
the conductors find good many ari iclrs ana tniH
them over 10 the company. Mr.. kcrNes' the cItIh,
said that the railway employees were very honest
class of men but he would hardly say rs nlch Tor
the passengers, although he admitted thdj ne
sometimes received articles found by PASSENGERS
in the cars. The conductors tOrwardeh hiahl
small articles that they could easily keep without
detection. As some Icwaru for tins the company
aims TO return 10 tine cmpioye who ionnd tho aIll-
Gle such pooketho0ks or valuable things as are
unclaimed after u long time.
There il considerable system in the compalN
method Of caring for lost packages. The conuuc-
tors give the parcels to the train dispatcher, " no
aScertanS their contents and forv ards them to Tue
property clerk, from whom he receives receipt lot
each article, ne property clerk dSsoIi0 Htih' H'
attaches tag with the name Of the finder, the line
on which the article was found. and also the de-
scription of the article and date. should there be
any address on the package the owner ~ hlorIhcu
bv postal card No charge is made by the company
for this for otherv sc caring for the properly.
OF course applicants must describe articles ciostB
before they will he allowed to sec them or take
them away. Once in year the accumulated un-
claimed parcels are sold In the room the reporter
the accumulation OF about eight months lAe
most numcrou, of the articles gone astray were
umbrellas, of which over 1000 were slowed away,
ranging from the mounted silk to the broken
handled cotton article. ParasOls and canes were
aisn numerous Several shelves were filled with
parcels lust wrapped up at the dry goods ana
other stores which hal doubtless caused much
ycXation To women just returned from shopping;
Some dinner pals. snovels and mechanics to2i
were reminders of the hard working men who could
l-ahord their loss. Careless school children nave
nearly shelf full OF books 10 witness AGAINST tle
though there also novels, scientific WCks ana one
handsome new Bible. Lunch baskets are also left
behind. There are a few big black bottles, that
were probably not much more lost than their owners
when they left them behind. Two large baskets are
full of pOckct-bOuks containing various sums OF
money. They arc mostly women portemonuW'S, a'
tho shopping sex have the exclusive Ught' appa-
Tcutv To carry purses in their hands, and consc-
qurutly To lose them.
There are several bushels Of travelling bags which
probably were lost hy persons passInI through the
city. and will never bc called FOR. one daV "a hlg
bass drum came to the property clerk ana lew
days after came the big bass German owner after H.
cornet was also sent IN rs II To support tl'
drum. one dav rabbit was left m car, Costly
tucked up M q basket The property clerk also had
the company OF poodle dog for awhile. woman
trlcuauhcd in great haste one day luuuiring tor
basket of cwcl, she bad brought IN from the conn
try When she had idcutitcd the Jewels she did
not reward the needy man who had been so honest
~ 10 return them. nor did she condcscend 10 say
Thank you." as she swept down the stairs. The
clerk says that not one 20 ten parcels has the
owners name on IL. II they were marked they
would be more apt to bc returned when iuund hy
fellow passengers. many uf whom do uOi know OF
the property clerk 5 office. Notices formerly were
posted telling passengers where to look for lost
parcels but for some reason they have been re
moved from the stations.
You viii probably receive many umbrellas to-
day q, 10 is rainy . suggested the reporter.
Not go many said he clerk aS it u had been
threatening i'm the morning and had cleared of.
Then people would forget their umbrellas whereas
to-day the rain will remind them of them. How
ever shall probably get % DOZEN