The Columbus journal., 1885-09-16
Tracing LOST BAGGAGE.

he system Used BY All Express C0mpor
nies to Recover Missing Packages.
All the big express companies nova
days have systems by which lost or mis-.
directed baggage can be traced to the
point where it disappeared. and when
baggage is damaged just who is respon.
sible. and when and where the damage
occurred.
There is very little baggage lost
now." Agent r. A. Mckinney. of the
American Express Company. said yes.
terday: Il mean entirely lost. There
are lots of things reported lost every
day. but We generally manage to find
them"
'Will YOU explain the process by which
missing baggage is traced?
''When . man comes in and inquiries
for Q lost package he is asked to show
his receipt. which is compared with the
stub in the receipt book from which it
was torn. and which bears q cores
ponding number A tracer Is then sent
TO the freight Office to q clerk whose
business it is to look over the tissue i'm
pressions of all the way bills to New
York. He takes down the number and
date of the way bill on which
the package is entered. II there
IL no record of the missing pack
aEe in the way bills. blanks
are filed out describing the package.
and sent to every Office in the country
where we make up q package trunk, A
package trunk is a receptacle in which
many small packages are placed for
safe transportation. The description
which is filled in the blank takes in not
only the name. address and date on
which the package was received by the
company, but also gives detailed &C.
count OF its contents. At the same time
duplicates of the tracing which has tho
name and address are mailed to every
place in the United States of the same
name as that on the package. Then tho
clerk in charge of the tracing depart
ment refers to the reports of our $500
Offices to see if any package correspond
ling to the missing one has been wrongly
sent to any one of these Offices.
You must understand" Mr.. Nc
Kinney continued. that it is by no
means unusual for senders of packages
Ito misdirect them. 1t is a frequent
occurrence for person who wants to
send q package to John Smith. Cleve-
land to write John Smith, Cincinnati
$50 at many offices misdirected baggage
accumulates. At the end of every four
or five days the agents send in reports
of this leftover baggage. as it is called.
II there is nothing in these reports to
correspond with the lost package. then
we forward tracer over the route that
the package ought to have gone. II
there is nothing about it on any of the
way bills, he finds the messengers
''WhO are the messengerS|
"A messenger is an emplOye who
takes care of money and valuables after
they leave the express Office and until
they are delivered to the agent of the
office to which they are sent. H. travels
on the cars. and has charge also of all
the baggage. Each messenger has .
run. A messenger who travels between
here and Buffalo has run Of 40 miles;
that is. he looks out for things for that
distance. They are tried. picked men.
and must be physically as well as
morally sound. for it is q trying life.
But to go back to the tracing. The
messenger has to put his initial on the
way bill opposite to every package he
carries. II he finds any packages left
over he enters them in q way bill of his
own. He has a log book. which is
called the messengers overs and
shorts II the package is entered on
any way bill. then the messenger can
be found whose initial is opposite to it.
and the messenger should be able to tell
something about it.
If nothing can be learned of the
package after the investigation. or if it
is traced to a certain point where it
disappears for good. then We notify our
agent at the place to which the package
was intended TO be sent to call on the
consignee and get from him state
ment of the contents and value of the
package. and a certificate that he has
not got it. We always look upon the
consignee as the owner. We get from
him an order to pay the shipper before
we pay for the package"
"HOw about trunks?"
They are rarely lost. and it's very
seldom. indeed. that anything is missed
from them. When We receive trunk
We weigh it. and put lead seal on the
lock. 50 that We can readily tell if the
lock has been tampered with. II, on
reaching its destination it is not called
for at once. it is placed in the On
Hand or Old Horse department. ~
We call it. 1t is then weighed again.
and its weight compared with the first
weighing. This is a check on its being
opened. If it is called for at any time.
and the ownership proven. we gladly
give it up"
What is done with it if it is not
called for?''
ut remains in the on-hand depart
ment for year along with a lot of un-
claimed other things. Then it is sold.
All unclaimed baggage is advertised for
. month every year"
'.Are there many trunks unclaimed?"
Last year there were only eight
Altogether there were not over 800
pieces Of baggage and packages at the
last sale"
rs there ever anything valuable in
them?"
mo. Most Of them are unclaimed
because the owners do not want to paw
the expressage. Years ago an occs-
sional valuable package was bought ut
the sales, but those days are past"
If baggage is damaged what do you
dO?'
''As soon as we are notified of il we
send an adjuster to examine it. and
agree with the consignee as to the
amount of damages. If We can not
come to an agreement ourselves We
leave it to an arbitrator. But the latter
condition of affairs rarely occurs"
DO YOU ever attempt to fix the re-
sponsibility for the damage?'
always. We refer to the way bill.
If the package is checked off it is sup
posed that it was in good condition
when the check was made. and thus fix |
the responsibility or the messenger or
emplOye who is careless enough to let
ii occur"
I'VE get some singular freight" Mr..
Mckinney cont ;nued. ..To-da we re-
ceived two prairie dogs from Columbus. |
Nebraska. They were sent to lady in |
this city. but she refused to take them,
Al \