The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1891-04-25
LEFT IN THE THEATER.
Queer Articles That Are Found
Whom the Play Is Over.

mon inc fldy Is ONeE.
a Little Dog In n Cigar-Box Put Under
His Mistress Chair and There For
gotten-An Honest Man Who Was
Overcome by Temptation.
About eleven o'clock on a bright
morning a week or more ago a fashion
ably dressed roma called at the box
office of the Union Square theater, says
the New York sun. She WAS young
and had an abundance of goldcn-yellow
hair knnttcd in d coil behind her head.
She wore a natty black cloth hat and
Il boa of glossy black feathers around
her neck. ~concealing the collar of a
handsome sealskin cloak. She was ac-
companied by a colorcd maid:
Ibid you find a little pug dog in the
theater last night" she asked the man
in the office.
"a pug dog?" asked Treasurer John
Cox. in affected surprise.
Yes. said the woman. her voice ris-
ing to a trembling treble. IA tiny little
dog. lie was only a few days Did. My
maid here left him under the seat oh,
did you find him. sIr?!'
At this the colorcd maid approached
the window. and said that she had I'M
Willingly left the dog under the seat
when she and her mistress left the
theater. and neither one had discovered
the loss till they reached home. Then
it was too late to hope t. find the thea
ter still open.
Yes. put in the girl. and | hardly
slept all night thinking of poor little
doggy"
But how did you happen to bring a
dog tn the theater?" asked Treasurer
Cox. frnwning darkly. OF course you
know that dogs are not allowed here.
.'Oh. but my little doggie was so little
and So Young" replied the young wom-
an. "and ! couldn't leave him home all
alone. youknow. SO ! told Dotty here
to put him in a cigar box and bring him
along. And he was asleep in the cotton.
YOU know. and we We're both 81 pleased
with TIN" play, Won know ~tglancing ap-
pcalingly az the treasurer, that we
both forgot all about him. You see. |
thought she bad him. but il seems She
had put the box under the seat and for
got all about it. Oh, do tell me. did
you find him."
The young woman gazed :" earnestly
into the treasurer's face that he rclcnt-
cd. and asked what the dog name was.
GYPSY she replied. drying a stray
tear with "A tiny handkerchief. Treas
urcr Cox then produced cigar-boX from
under the desk. lifted the lid, and dis
closed a tiny dog curled up in a masSof
cotton and sleeping peacefully. The
Young woman seized the box with a
joyful exclamation. and. with profu>c
thanks to everybody in sight that
seemed to he connected with the thea
tc~r.:trippcd happily out with.the colored
maid following behind.
Well" said Mr.. Cox, with all my
experience ! never kncI, such q curious
article left in tn" thcat.r before.
Women are always leaving things be-
hind them in their chairs and boxes,
hut who would ever think of their lcav-
ing dors behind them? Now, we do not
allow dogs in the heater and she had
To- smuTgle that little fellow in. Why.
do YOU know. She had that cigar-box
neatly tied up in brown paper as if it
were some package she had got at the
store. or had forgotten to send by ex-
press"
All the theaters nave rooms in the
cellars where lost articles which are
unclaimed after a reasonable time are
stored away. The general custom isto
hold found articles" in the box office
for a week or more. according to their
value. and if then unclaimed to send
them down tn the cellar Here they
accumulate sometimes for years. They
herd with the dust and theatrical trap
pings and effects long since abandoned
and stored for possible but not prob
able future use. till some of these eel
lar rooms are veritable curiosity shops.
| Little of real value is unclaimed. and
these subterranean collections are
usually far mere curious than valu-
able.
Il have had people come back for
Their hats ssid a theatrical man the
other day. In warm weather even
women occasionally walk out of the
house in blissful forgetfnlncss of the
fact that they have removed their hats
for greater comfort and hung them on
the back of their chairs. Ovcrshocs.
umbrellas, canes. opera glasses, over
coats. cloaks. wraps. furs. handker-
chiefs-these are the articles more com
monty left behind. But purses are fire.
qucntly lost. and these little reticnlcs
that women carry. often containing val
liable articles. Then ladies' very fire.
1 nr,,utl,-l ,ara pnal-a roc containing ntIr-
chascs behind them. after the matinee.
They come back in great haste and
often in great alarm ! remember a
lady coming rushing into the theatcr
about seven o'clock n evening and
sobbing out that she had lost a costly
diamond necklace, and must have
dropped it in the theater after the
matinee. We summoned the entire
staff of the theater. even TO the sweeps
and gaslighters. hut every man and
woman swore that no such thing had
been found. We searched the chair she
had occupied and the aisles in vain.
Then we gave it up. She started away
sobbing. After awhile she came back
and told us the necklace was done up
in a small package.
oh said ]. why didn't You say so
in the first place? We supposed it was
on your neck
Why. / didn't think to tell You
that
$50 we brought out several packages
that had beer found. and she selected
one that looked like her package. Be-
fore opening it she described the neck
lace accurately. Then l opened the
package and there was the necklace,
indeed a costly thing of the most SUI
perb workmanship. She said she had
bought it for a wedding present and
handed me a card containing the name
of a very well-known woman.
"A man once came back after a per-
Torrance and said, with a white face,
that he had left seven hundred dollars
in the theater. We went to his seat
and found the roll of bills caught in the
joint. The sweepers had overlooked it.
But people don't often get back money /!