The Portland daily press., 1890-02-17
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
They leave. Queer Things In Hotels.
| New York S

a. .c-.s - 80. -
They Ieave.Queer Things In Hotels.
New York S
Every hotel in New York has a store
room for valuable articles left behind by
guests. In such hotels as the Astor, the
Fifth Avenue, the Sinclair, the Hoffman
and hotels further up town, set of
books is kept in which are jotted down
descriptions of the goods forgotten by
absent minded and hurried ones. Where
the hotel does a vast amount of transient
business it is sometimes difficult to ar
range the goods for future Identification.
In such cases the integrity of servants
must be the guarantee, and this is strict
ly relied upon, Immediately after the
rooms are vacated the chambermaid
takes temporary possession. She gath
ers up the goods left behind by the last
occupant and hands them over to the
clerk. He looks on the register and tags
the packages and articles with the name
Of the guest and the number of the room
he occupied on the day of departure.
ALI these notes are then transcribed
into the books kept for such business. II
the guest is we'll known at the hotel and
the articles found after his departure are
extremely valuable, he is Immediately
notified and requested to identify the
property. Otherwise the goods are kept
until his next visit.
We've got toothbrush and a pair of
shoes of yours here. Send 'em up?" is
the greeting that some out of town patron
OF the house receives.
"You left a pair of trousers behind
last time," is hurled at another.
If there is woman in the case the
housekeeper is notified from the desk
when the husband registers, and pretty
soon the housekeeper knocks on the
door of the couples apartment, and the
wife is informed that on her last visit
she forgot her hustle, or bunch of hair
or chemise, or petticoat. The game
Of a woman's lingerie is rung, for women
are quite IS forgetful as men. The house
keeper usually visits the room with the
missing articles, and hands them over on
the spot.
There is scarcely hotel in New York
Everybody seems to forget an umbrella.
Go to any hotel in town and tell the pro-
prietor that you thoughtlessly left one
behind while at the hotel. He will sum-
mon the porter and direct him to take
out the lost umbrellas. Pretty soon the
porter is heading for you, staggering
under great load of umbrellas. There
are cotton ones, ginghams, and articles
of the finest silk, with gold and silver
handles. No particular or formal oath
is necessary to identify an umbrella.
The proprietor does not and cannot de-
muir. If he kept strict account of all the
umbrellas left in his establishment his
bookkeepers wouldn't have anything else
to do. An old customer told Landlord
Ashman, of the Sinclair house, the other
night in the rush time that he had for.
gotten his umbrella few nights before,
and had left it in the dining room. Mr..
Ashman thereupon ordered the porter
to bring out the lost umbrellas There
was handcart load of them.
1t is particularly interesting fact that
many diamond rings are left behind by
guests. They are usually found on the
washstands. The ladies are the chief
delinquents in this respect. Before wash
ing their hands they pull off their rings
and lay them on the washstand. In the
hurry to get to the dining room prepare
tory to leaving on the next train, the
rings are frequently forgotten. Some
times they are very valuable. There
have been frequent instances where
whole boxes of jewels have been forgot
ten. These invariably find their way to
the clerks desk, and the owners are soon
found. Watches innumerable are found
under pillows, having been put there by
guests on retiring and overlooked in the
rush Of the morning. Many pocketbooks,
some of them substantially lined with
greenbacks, are forgotten, often no doubt
to the embarrassment of the owner. 1t
is not considered by well regulated
minds to be first chop comfort to find
yourself tearing away from town on a
New York Central or a Pennsylvania
flyer without copper. But telegraph,
if the operator will trust you, and the
wallet will be hurried after you either
by express OF registered mall.
Then there are gold pencils, gloves,
shoes, hats, coats, overcoats, eyeglasses,
spirit lamps, shirt studs, powder boxes
and hand glasses. One enterprising citi-
zen forgot his gripsack and everything
in it the other night. Another left with
out valuable set of surgical instru-
ments. There are more toothbrushes
forgotten in New York hotels in a week
than any shop in New York can replace
on the instant. Slippers, cuffs and col
lars enough to start haberdasher's shop,
ladies' stockings of silk and all other
textures, night dresses of lace and plain,
canes, work baskets, trusses, shawls,
bootjacks, rubber coats, bracelets, opera
glasses, ladies' hats, entire suits of
clothes, ladies' cloaks, fur sacks, fans,
Bibles, sermons, dress waists, carriers,
corsets, earrings-these and hundreds of
other articles make up the years col
lection in the big hotels of New York.
When the owner is not found the goods
are usually kept a year. No hotel clerk
in town seems to know what becomes Of