Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-08-19
LOST AND FOUND.
The Rights Of the Finder Under the
Law.

Under the head of Lost and Found" I'm the
advertising columns Of our daily pa pers are fire.
| quently to be found notices Of articles lost and
sometimes notice of an article found Most
| of the things that are lost are found by some
one. Sometimes they are restored to the owners
perhaps quite as frequently not. Often the
| finder makes no effort to find the owner and
sometimes he is unable to do so. even after an
| honest and dgent effort. The Detroit Ne,cs
| says:
| singular case of this kind happened here a
| few years ago. young lawyer of this city.
| after returning from the Centennial Exposition
| at Philadelphia, found among his papers In his
valise United States government bond for $500
| or 81 coo. How it got there he did not know.
| He advertised it, but no owner appeare to
claim It. Most persons are not so fortunate. If
they are lucky enough to find anything valuable
they are generally unlucky enough to also find
| something else-the owner. But until they do
find the owner they are the owners of the thing
found. This was decided one hundred and sixty
| years ago in the following case, which has been
! followed ever since:
| young chimney sweep found piece of Jew
ery and took it to jeweler to ascertain its
value. Under pretense of weighing it the jew
| eer took out the stones and offered the sweep a
trifing sum for it, which the latter refused and
| insisted on having the jewelry Returned to him.
| The jewe1er returned the socket without the
! stones. The sweep accordingly brought suit,
and the Judge told the jury that the jew eler was
liable for the value of the jewels, and unless he
produced them and showed they were not of the
finest water the jury should give damages
against him for the value of the best jewels,
| which they accordingly did.
| Nor does it make any difference where the arti-
| Gle is lOst-whether i'm the street in q store, or
in private house; the finder is the owner OF the
| property until the owner appears. Sophia
| Blanchard, domestic servant in hotel in
| LewistOwn Pa. found three $40 bills i'm the
hotel parlor Like an honest girl she immedi-
ately took them to the landlord. Upon his sug-
gestng that they belonged to transient guest
OF the house, she gave them to him to hand to
| the guest. 1t was afterwards ascertaned that
the guest did not lose the money, and Sophia
demanded it from the landlord, who refused to
| deliver it. In the suit which she brought to
cover the money the landlords lawyers argued
that to allow servants to retain money found by
them in their employers house would encOur-
| age them to be dishonest; that an innkeeper was
responsible for the goods of his guest, including
money; that il money was found in q hotel the
law would presume it belonged to a guest and
| that as the landlord had to bear the RESPONSE
bility he was entitled to keep the money until
! the owner should claim it. But the court said
there was no presumption the money belonged
| to guest, and that Sophia was entitled to the
| money. The law ought to treat all alike. and
|
| tecting them in equality OF rights with others.
| somewhat similar case lately arose in In
DIANA and was decided in the same way. Ellen
| Quinn, miss OF sixteen, was employed in
paper mill. While engaged in asserting a bale
of old papers purchased BY the proprietor for
manufacture. she found two $50 bills in an en-
yelOpe. There was no mark to show to whom
/ they belonged. She handed them to her en-
! ployer to see if they were genuine upon his
/ promise to return them. He kept the money
and she sued him. He set up in defense that as
! the finder was in his employ as a rag sorter
what she found in such employment belonged
| to him. But the court said not SO. He also
/ insisted that as he had bought the package con-
tanning the bills by weight, he had bought the
bills. But the court said he dd not know they
were in the package and that their weight was
so small compared with their value they would
not consider it. Ler dc n.iniDajs cur-dt-the
law takes no account of little things.
And the courts have decided that railroad
conductors and omnibus drivers are entitled to
the articles they find in their cOnveyances, and
not the prOprietOrs of the cOnveyances. The
law. however, makes some very fine distinc-
lions between when an article is lost and when
| it is not. If an article is found lying on the
| floor of shop or store. the finder and not the
occupant of the building is entitled to it, be-
cause it was probably accidentally dropped
there. But if it is found on desk or table the
occupant of the building and not the finder is
entitled to it, because. says the law. it vol
UNFAIRLY left there by the owner in the custody
of the occupant In other words. placing a
thing on a desk or counter and forgetting to
take it away again is not legally losing it,
Thus. man while in a Boston bank for the pur-
pose OF making deposit laid his pOcket-bOOk,
containing valuable papers, on one of the desks
outside of the bank counters that banks are
accustomed to provide for the use of Gus
toners. Not knowing what had become of
it he published an advertisement describing it
as lost and offering largereward for its return.
1t was found on the desk by a boy, who re-
IL: a.
which the owner refused to pay. The court de-
cded that as the pOcket-bOOk had been vOlun-
tarily placed on the desk it was not lost, but
had been left in the custody of the bank, and
the boy was, therefore. not entitled to the re-
ward. SO, where customer in a barber shop
found pocketbOOk containing money on ia
bic in the shop, the court held that the barber
and not the customer was entitled to it.
very close case was tried in Indiana few
years ago. Mr.. Durfee bought q secondhand
safe OF Old-fashiOned make. He offered to sell
1t for 80 to a blacksmith, who refused to buy
I it He then left it with the blacksmith for SALE
giving him permission to use it, One day when
the blacksmith was examining it. he found be-
tween the outer casing and the lining a roll of
bills amounting to Sl65 Mr.. Durfee learned of
the find. and acting under the advice of law
yer demanded return of the safe and its con.
tents. The blacksmith promptly gave up the
old safe but kept the money and tile court said
he had right TO. So Mr.. Durfee lost both his
suit and the money
If the article found has the owners name en-
it. or if there are any other circumstances show
ing to whom it belongs. the finder is guilty of
stealing if he take it up with the intention of
keeping It. But if his intention at first was to
return the article to the owner, but he after
wards makes up his mind to keep it, he is not
legally a thief in most parts of the country,
whatever he may be morally.
Having Fun With a Deaf and Dumb
Man
From the Whitehall Times
Quietly entering barber shop the stranger
removed his hat and coat and taking card
from his pocket wro,e on it:
II want to be shaved"
A barber stepped forward, read the card, and,
pointing to chair. said to his brother artists:
Deaf as brass kettle and dumb as an
OYSTER
The man Strengthened himself out in the
chair, when his manipulation began lathering his
face.
This deaf cuss has cheek like a stone
wall, he said when a general laugh followed
''Stick a Din i'm him and if he lie aptiraIv