The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-02
APROFESSI0NAL FINDER.
STUDY OF A CURIOUS Kan WITH
AN ODD OCCUPATION.

/ Dominick Burden Has for Years Lived
Comfortably on Rewards Earned by
Finding Lost Articles-He Journeys
Down Town With the Newsmen.
Gets Early Papers, and Begins Work
! at Dawn of Day.
From The Nets York World
| One Of New York's peculiar men haunts
| the cafes and barrooms in the vicinity Of
| Madison square, but 50 deity couceals his
identity that it remains a profound secret
who he is or whence he comes. He is called
! Dominick BurdelL He is tall and slender,
with a sallow complexion and brown hair
! that borders closely on the golden hue. He
is well dres Ell and invariably wears a
| double breasted sack coat. Black is the
color of every garment, including his
| 'four-in-handn scarf This walking mys
| terry Is one of the few sur vivors of a class
Of men once numerous, but now nearly ex-
tinct, who were known to habitues of fash
| ionable clubs and resorts, as well as to the
| police, rs "linders'-men who devoted all
their time. energy, and skin i'll seeking
| treasure-trove for which a liberal reward IS
| offered One after another the group has
been decimated by death, removal, or
lapse into crime. until the subject Of this
sketch stands alone all his companions
scattered or in the grave.
When the men aboCt town linger in the
famous barrooms to enjoy parting might
cam before retiring, the eccentric finder is
there, seated in a chair aud apparently
wide awake He sits conveniently close
and listens TO the conversation from neigh
boring groups of people, but never OBJ
trudeS, never speaks. Harmless and
iuoifenslve, he is regarded with
friendly gaze, and the very mys-
terry that shrouds his movements creates
Gesiro to cultivate him. He does NOT
drink intoxicating liquors. and when in
vited to join in the festivities of the hour
invariably orders a cup of black coffee.
Three cubes of sugar form its sweetening
power, and quietly and surreptitiOuslv this
singular man places the remaining cubes in
mis- pockets. This circumstance has earned
for him a soubriquet-"the sugar fiend.n
In the streets he walks erect, but his eyes
wander from curb to store or house line,
always on the pavement, and never straight
ahead. Early in the morning, when the
streets are quiet, this professional finder"
may be seelin Printing house square watch
ing for the appearance of the first public
issue of the newspapers. He scans the
Lost and Foundn and Reward" advertise
ments, and then starts on his daily quest
or jewels are lost, the silent man is speedily
there. aud his years of experience aid him
greatly in seeking out the hidden recesses
where such an object might lie concealed
from the casual gaze of the average pedes-
trian, and the successful operation of a
single day realizes enough to make his
living secure for a week or more
On one occasion Burdell was seen in Trim
ity church graveyard at O'clock in the
nj tad fta
attention Of the policeman on that lonely
post. He concealed himself behind tele-
graph pole and watched the mysterious
visitor in the abode of the dead. He saw
him dodgiug behind tombstoGes, turning
over the grass and evan removing fallen
leaves until ia the glare Of the electric
light there flashed from the long fingers of
the Swallowed man a scintillation which
showed that a glitteriug Diamond was the
fruit Of this search at q gloomy hour of the
morning In such ghoulish spot. In a few
hours the lady who lost the ring was in the
possession OF Der valuable souvenir, and
Nick Burdell professional Finder" was
$50 in pocket and happy in the reflection
that he was an honest man.
Daily he promenades Broadway and Fifth
| avenue as unconcarned as though he was a
landed proprietor journeying with the
| throng Of wealthy citizens en- route to a
| luxurious home. His eyes are gazing down
ward, his stop is set to slow measurement,
| and no surrounding event, however thrill
| ing, attracts his attention. He is bent upon
| one supreme object-tGe discovery of treas
ure in money or jewels which may he COZ
cealed in hidden mass, or that some pedes-
trian in the vast phshing and swinging tide
Of humanity may careiessly have dropped.
| For over ten years this strange man has led
tbe life of q reclOse. He has never been
known to withhold lost article his trained
eye has discovered. The police speak of him
with the utmost respect. As far as it is
known he is believed to be perfectly honest.
He merely works for a reward.
There are other grades OF finders" but
their game is of very small order Before
| the street-ceaners have swept the refuse of
| the streets into piles of rubbish, or in the
| gray of the morning., ere the chitfonierS
! have started out with baskets and long
hooks. the small-fry finder may be seen in
| speeding the store doors or securing the
cutters in search of articles which belated
travellers have dropped in their haste to
! reach home or in their maudlin stages
And yet an Italian finder pays over 81, 500
| per week TO this city for the privilege of
| sporting over the street sweepings. Their
| reward is small, and the mere question of
seeking a rightful owner never enters into
| the thoughts of these street wanderers
| Others haunt concert rooms, Sixth avenue
| ulNeS, anu certain SbfBSpS where SllQeQ vice
| flaunts its gaudy colors in the face of men
of wild and dissolute habits, and their
| finds" generally consist of money and
| iewelry The latter finds its way as rule,
| TO pawn shops or "fence" houses where
purchases are made and no questions are
asked.
Still another class of this industrious
class make the car tracks of the city their
| mines of wealth, but the fruits of their
labor are very meager, for the average car
driver claims this his pre-empted land,
and he rakes over the ground between the
iron rails so thoroughly that there is little
left for any outsider. Theaters, bathrooms.
and the al" road trains are watched so
carefully by employees that the professional
"inders" occupation is almost gone
| entirely.
My First Pair of Boots.
From the Chicago Herald.