The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1884-08-29
LOST BAGGAGE.
The stuff that Absent-minded People
Leave Behind.

Leave Behind.
The Lake Shore general baggage agents
office presented the appearance of a second
hand clothing establishment in full bloom
Tuesday morning in consequent of fresh
installment of articles lost OH trains wiie
was received from stations along the line.
There were hats of all sizes and description
from the lightweight stiff dude head wear
to the low. crushed-crown. soft hat with the
rim pointing savagely toward high heaven
before and behind, and fiattened out so
naturally that one could almost see in imagi-
nation the banged-hair, spring-bottom-
pants, member Of the royal order of red
necks who wore it, Then there were over
coats so numerous and of such variety as to
cause the average secondhand dealer To
seek his virtuous couch and die from sheer
excitement after seeing them. Some of
them looked as though they had been
stolen from the lap of winter worn by an
Omaha blizzard in a moment of intense
agony and then run over by freight train.
but the great majority were such light
weight, Silk-triinmed-lappel ,bouquet-in-but-
ton-hole. harbingers of spring, that the re-
porter could almost hear the merry twitter
of the birds, borne upon the gentle zephyrs
from out the leafng trees of the wild wood.
Piled up in one corner We're boots. Boots
that stood proudly erect in all their pris-
tine, ironspiked, cowhided ruggedness,
looking as though they had been welded
together in a boiler shop, stood side by side
with boots whose paste-board soles had
long since departed from their pegged and
ceinented bodies while others lay upon the
floor in all their delicate refined, oily soft
ness. with silent but pathetic knobs here
and there upon the uppers, which would
strike a responsive chord in every bunion-
burdened toe in the country.
mo, it is not getting customary for
people to undress in cars, remarked the
agent in answer to the reporter queries,
although the articles sent to US would
be apt to lead to that conclusion People
who do considerable travelling become care
less. and are always willing to sacrifice APP
pearanees for comfort Thus it happens
that trains have some times been Seen
rushing across the country with pair u
fevered feet hanging from the window of q
smoking car. in all their stark staring naked
ness.
This also explains why the baggage
agent office is at times made depository
for every article of clothing known to civil
ization from the strong and hardy
sock to the listless and debilitated
shirt collar. People love to lose the oldest
things Imaginable on excursion trains.
Among the lost articles sent to us from one
of them short time ago was found, aside
from the various articles of clothing, a
baby's nursing bottle, switch of red hair.
a loaf of black bread, set OF false teeth. "a
dog pistol, petrified mince pie and
small glass tube with suction rod attach
ment. which looked like small air-pump,
but was not.
Perhaps one of the most remarkable
things we ever received was leg. Lake
Shore conductor dragged it up here one
day and laid il carelessly on the desk, scar
ing the office boy, who was industrously
whistling She's darling, she's daisy,
so bad that he has never been able to get
his mouth entirely unpuckcred to this day,
while the rest of the clerks Were prepar
ing to go out and relieve themselves, when
they discovered that the leg was wooden
one The conductor explained that an III
ebriated individual, thinking the air was
somewhat oppressive on the train, had
created a panic compared to which wall
street was a calm placid affair. by un-
screwing his lee and tanning himself with
it vigorously, and finally in fit of absent
mmdedness. limping off without it the first
time the train stopped. 1t lay around the
office for long time, but no one ever call
ed for it, The office boy, in his more quiet
and languid moments. would strap it on
and hump wildly around the office with it,
but it finally fell into disuse and was laid
away in a dark and cobwebbed corner.
where an enterprising mouse discovered
and raised a family i'll the heel of it.