The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-26
TRUNKS AND THEIR CONTENTS.
What Baggageman Can Tell When He
Feels in Talkatfve Mood.

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
A pile of trunks. There is nothing odd in this
sight 1t can be seen any day at a railway sta
ton, but when one looks at it and notices the diff
ferent sizes, shapes and kinds, he perhaps thinks
OF what may be in Them and where they came
from. Then the pile becomes interesting. Some
OF the ones in question could hardly be called
trunks They are merely large wooden boxes,
painted dfngy red, and bound around with vide
pieces OF strap-iron, sometimes fastened with a
paddock and staple, sometimes merely tied to-
gether with piece of rope.
Queer looking trunks, aren't they2" said a
baggageman sauntering into where Rochester
Democrat scribe was examining them.
YES"
and when you think of it, ," he continued
philosophically, those old boxes could tell
good deal if they could only talk. As 1t is, they
remind many of US of the time when we came
across the green water to find home with other
immigrants, for these immigrants trunks,
and many of them contain all the possessions of
some poor family which has come to the city to
live"
These trunks must be rather hard to han
die" said the scribe, as he pointed to some large
sample trunks handsomely painted and studded
with brass nails.
Eyes, they are sample trunks and very heavy
Most of those here belong to clothing drummers.
! suppose there is cloth enough in of them
to make twenty good suits Of clothes If it were
only taken out"
Here are the trunks, though he added,
pointing to four large oxal-top receptacles Gov
cred with dark leather and furnished with
nckle- plated locks and trimmings. Those be
long to some lady who is going away for the
summer. We had great many of this style
earlier in the summer but it is so late now that
they rather scarce. What do yousuppose
woman wants so many of them forf'
''Oh. for her dresses and other things"
Yes, | suppose so, and when you come to
hink it over, it is wonder that an average
woman gets along with with four for all she usu-
ally wants to take with her." and sitting down
on a trunk the philosophic baggageman contin-
ued:
There are costly silk dresses fresh from the
hands of Worth Tor George William CurtisE
bonnets and hats in bewilderng profession tiny
slippers of silk and patent leather, perfect-ft
ting shoes of bronze and other shades to match
the dresses and a thousand other things both
great and small which go to make UP
the woman of fashion. But this is by
no means all that the trunks contain In
corner of one is a pile of selected reading, and
what is itl Mostly Seaside Library stories with
perhaps few of Ouidas and Mrs. Stephens
works thPowed in. One trunk is fitted up with
neat little drawers One of these drawers, if
opened, might be seen to contain several bottles
of perfumery, three or four little round powder
boxes containing a white powder andi a mystic
rious article looking little like small buster.
1t is a buster in a certain sense of the word and
is used when the little round boxes are opened,
but the rest must be guessed at"
Hold on a minute" said the astonished re-
porter, t'You fairly take my breath away.
Where did you learn so muchF
81 thought I'd astonish YOU said the baggage
man with laugh, but the fact is we had
smash-up here a few weeks ago. and the tops
were knocked off two trunks like these. had
great curiosity to see what was inside of them,
and found things about as told you, only
great many more of them"
well, 1 should say you had remembered
what was in them
Eyes, 1 did remember pretty well Do you
see that pile of trunks against the wall|
Yes"
"Well, those all belong to a theatrical compa-
ny. You could tell by the number of cards fast
ened to them if in no other way and then the
atrieal trunks always wear 'bangs'-I mean are
banged up. You can generally tell them in that
way if in no other. Then there are the old fam
lily standby's tied up with a cord, and hired girls
trunks; but this pile goes last on the train com
ing in and must be loaded up, so I'll have to
stop" and he was gone