The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-05-31
UNCLAIMED AND LOST.
ARTICLES THAT ARE DEPOSITED AND
NEVER CALLED FOR.


other day, | asked him whether there
was not an enormous amount of property
lying unclaimed in bank cellars and in
safe deposit vaults
ga very large smount," said he, "but
not nearly as much as some people inn
agine. When property is placed in
charge of a bank or a safe deposit COM
pany it is generally put there by people
of pretty strict business habits, and
careful record is kept, not only by the
depositor, but also by the parties into
whose charge it is given. That reduces
the chance of valuables being overlooked,
but still very large quantity does re-
main unclaimed. All the custodians of
such property can do is to preserve it in
tact and hope for its redemption in the
course of time"
SIS there limit to such timer /
asked.
Legally there may be, but am not
prepared to say what it is, since every
case has to be settled upon its own mer-
its. Sometimes the boxes which have
been regarded for a long time as contain
ing valuables turn out TO be mere collec-
tions of rubbish, and the wonder is why
they were ever preserved. But bank
official never expresses surprise, because
he meets SO many peculiar people and
his whole time is occupied in keeping
things straight"
"But surely a list is kept of the con-
tents of packages left on deposit?'
"When desired, yes; but when sealed
parcel or box is deposited the bank does
exactly what common carriers do signs,
Contents unknown and unknown they
remain, whether delivered to the owner
or awaiting reclamation. OF course
every place of deposit has stories to tell
about mysterious boxes, strange parcels
and odd packages which have been lying
in secure corners of their strong rooms
for years, but am inclined to think that
as far as banks and safe deposit COM
panies are concerned, the vast bulk of
such property is redeemed soon or later.
Lawyers nowadays are very apt to dig
up every possible form of claim to valu-
ables of any description in the hands of
public bodies, and very faint clew is
sufficient to start them off upon sue
cessful hunt. They often come upon rich
possessions while searching for wills,
and the first places, after counsel's offices,
they start for, are the banks and safe de-
posits."
The desire to hoard in some form or an
other is very widespread one, and every
one could enumerate among friends and
acquaintances considerable number in
whom the boarding spirit is distinguish
able. The difficulty of accommodating is
as often rewarded by loss as by posses
sion, but the knowledge of that fact does
not diminish the desire to hoard. In the
case of a miser, to whose heir the accu-
mulated property goes, the very opposite
motives are found to exist. The miser
shudders at the idea of his coveted DOS
sessions falling into other hands than his
own, even when those hands are merely
a bundle Of dry bones, while the heir is
all eagerness to clutch the property in
order to disperse it.
Miserly habits, if they ever prove to be
hereditary, only become fully developed
with age and a certain kind of expert
ence, although a sort of avariciousness
may always be traced in the progeny of
one who has boarded. 1t does not al
ways take the form of erasping for
wealth, but, as often as not. takes shane
in desire for superiority of position,
power of dictation or uncommon popu-
larity.
THE MIsER's WAY.
1t is your miser who rummages out a
place of hiding, to avoid any of those
things he loved SO well on earth being
handled, even by those legally and equi
tably entitled to what he is compelled TO
leave behind him. The hiding of treas
ure by mere miser does not long re-
main mystery, because if his habitation
Is carefully searched it will surely be
found. He could not in life bear to be
far away from it, and in his last mo-
ments it is morally certain it was the
thing his fingers with their clammv
touch turned over before he said GOOD
by to it forever.
The mlsanthrope who breads to trust
his fellow man, and is distrustful of him
self, Is a great factor among the creators
OF unclaimed property. Even when
making will, as sort of posthumous
expression of hate toward humanity he
places 1t III some spot where not even a
lawyer can find it, When his bones have
been whitening n decade or two some
workman stumbles on his grabbed writ
ings and nine days wonder is the re-
suit. Those to whom his property should
have descended have suffered poyertv
and have joined the great majority. and
his after death revenge on society has
been gratified.
Then there are those who 90 down to
the sea IN ships, who, before the last
voyage, deposit valuables where they
alone could claim them. The dishonest
approprlator of others goods must not
be forgotten. He breads to carry tbe
possessions he has stolen about his per-
son, and hides them from prying ewes
lie takes flight, hoping at a future date
To claim them, but either some new adj
venture secludes him forever from soci-
ETY., or he ends his worthless life. under
fictitious name, in some distant land
New York Star
Public Readings Pay.
What emoluments do public readers
receive! They are generally well paid.
Mrs. Scott-Siddons, for instance, makes
more money than any one else in the
profession, and has returned to Europe
with 100000, her.net receipts for q sea-
sons readings. She receives from 500
TO 5000 night.
Locke Richardson gets even higher
pay. For course of six readings he
would receive about 81 900. When he
reads before one of the clubs he gets
from 500 to 5000. Sydney Woollett has
the same repertoire; he, too, is a very
busy man.
The demand nowadays Is not SO much
for professional readers as for authors
who read from their own works. Gable.
for instance, is great success. He
never gives reading for less than SlOO.
lie is in great demand for young ladies'
schools and seminaries.
Thomas Nelson Page is also great
platform success; he never goes for less
than SlOO.-Philadelphia Times
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Etnp