Morning journal and courier., 1884-01-28
How Baggage is Handled.
An Hour With the Trunk Fiend at 8
 Railroad Depot.

An Hour With the Trunk FieMd at B
 Railroad Depot.
 From the New York Worldl
 i've handle all trunks carefully" said an old baggage-master of well known railroad company as he deftly dropped a huge Sarato- ga trunk so as to strain every rivet and nail that bound it. ''The old idea of baggage smashing is dons away with Trunks are made too solid nowadays and can stand a deal of handling. Some years ago passen- gers with light trunks bound them with strong cords, kno wing how careless baggage men were but now we rarely receive any with ropes around them. Seldom do we get @ trunk that has been broken or torn while in transit. Baggage-masters are too careful the rules of the company are very strict since they were obliged to pay for the care lessness of their employees Trunks are made of various materials.
 s'The neatest and most substantial Is the sole leather trunk. It can be easily handled, will withstand much wear and tear, and can be pitched and tossed without doing any damage Good sole leather trunks pensive, ranging from $25 10 $50. English tourists always have them. Metal trunks are also much in use. They are manufactured of zinc and tin, cost comparatively little and are very durable.
 Commercial salesmen carry the largest trunks Of course the various trades need different sizes in order to hold their samples.
 f'The clothing drummers' trunks are the largest. Twelve will easily fill half car. They are generally made of wood and good amount of iron bands, steel corner pieces, and have from three to four locks. They are difficult to handle, being generally very heavy. It is not the weight we object to, but the uDgainly size. Then the hat sales men-their trunks are large, but not very heavy. Some of them would make fair sized shanty. All drummers object to pay ing overweight on baggage. They resort to all kinds of subterfuges, but our rules are inviolate, so they reluctantly pay the charges.
 Hast week we received huge trunk from the trainmaster; it was in three sections. The cover came first. the next train brought the body of the trunk, but we found that the locks and straps were missing, so we teis- Rraphed ahead and three hours iater received them. We rarely lose trunk; we have perfect system of tracing any lost article. If loss is reported we usually send 8 tracer after the missing package and find 1t some- where along the line. Sometimes we fail to recover the desired parcel and in that case the company will at all times do the right thing rather than be involved in litigation.
 Hast year we handled over 200, 900 trunks at this end. We keep a record of every trunk, bag, package or parcel passing throush our hands fof which we give 8 brass check Only seven were lost in transit. I come in contact with some curious people. Some claim baggage for which they have no check. Others say they have not received all that was delivered at the other end while many eranks call for packages, that are afterwards found by train-men, which they unconsciously left in the cara and imagine they had them checked and lost the brass plate.
 s'Women are the worst to deel with. Only lately lady had small package checked. Through an oversight of the parcel clerk we failed to send it on the first outgoing train, but on the folio wing one, thereby delaying the delivery about three hours. Failing to complaint with the superintendent, who af- ter careful investigation discovered that the parcel reached it's destination little late. The parcel clerk lost his position. I was surprisrd to learn afterwards that the pack age in question contained two pounds of or- diuary mixed candy valued at forty cents Still it cost the clerk his job.
 s'Another lady called some days ago and presented a check from another railroad. She insisted that the trunk was left with me. After soupdly abusing me she left, firmly vowing to sue the company. No argument could convince her that the desired trunk could probably be obtained if applied for at the right quarter.
 sWe are obliged to be civil to every one.
 s'Why, look here, he continued, pointing to an ill assorted fot of bags and trunks ; ssthis is our unclaimed collection. We Keep them for year and then dispose Of them' If any are very valuable we send them solno i | where to be stored for another year. men i if no claimant appears we sell tnsnA ~ pay storage fees. var t~;ot.d
 s.Is the railroad corporation ever sEicAso by sberpers who set np false claihsI
 "Weli, should think so. Very lately the