Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1891-07-03
LOSSES OF FREIGHT.
CLAIMS THAT ARE MADE AGAINST
A RAILROAD COMPANY.

I'VE have, all the time. a large amount of
SUM which accumulates on our hands, said
the lost baggage" agent Of ore of the rail
roads to a reporter; ''but most of the prop
erty left on our cars by accident is sure to be
quickly called for if it has any particular
valuen
ANY trouble in identifying applicants as
proper owners of the baggage claimedg'
Not particularly. Our most frequent
trouble is the adjustment of false claims
We can tell by persons manner whether
the claim is a just one or not. Take the pro
fesSlonal swindler, for instance Besides hav-
ing brusque manner, his claim is made in
an indefinite way as to number of check,
style of package and the contents thereof.
The true claimant-the person who has really
lost something-has respectful and anxious
bearing. He iai ariably gives an accurate
description of the lost parcel, and is very
slow with threats of suit to recover dam
ages"
Il suppose that overshoes and umbrellas
are the articles most frequently left in cars!n
No more frequent than small parcels of
clothing, shawls and small valises, but, as |
say, these are always quickly claimed 1t is
with fraudulent claims for lost baggage that
we have the most experience
FRAUDULENT CLAIMS
"What are the fraudulent methodist
Most numerous, and some of them, most
ridiculous. Now here's an old claim which,
while not fraudulent, is worthless and most
bull headed. Several weeks since barrel of
whisky and a case of canned goods were ship
ped to a grocer in the interior of the state.
A DOut fine time of tha Sbinpoa11t fIa
died. Immediately, his entire stock was taken
by wholesale grocer who had a chattel
mortgage thereon, and so without leaving a
family or any property, he was buried. There
was no estate and accordingly no executor
Meanwhile the goods shipped over our road
lay i'll the freight house, there being no one
to deliver them to. l notified the shipper of
the situation and he replies by saying that
our company must keep the goods and that
he will hold us responsible therefor
81 had travelling man try to get $S5 out
of us for damage done to pair of very rare
and fine window curtains. Damage done, as
he claimed, by snow melting through his
sample case, which had been carelessly
dumped in "A snow bank by one of our bag
gagemen, and so staining the curtains"
Had the sample case been SO dumpedH'
Possibly. A least we didn't dispute thai
feature of the claim. All we asked was that
he present a receipt from his employers
showing that he had paid them, as he
claimed, the SSS for damage DONE and which
he had to make good to his firm. He failed to
produce the receipt, and so, of his own Volt
ton, the case was dropped.
Another case came from man who put
in a claim for So for new castings and freight
thereon, and s.. 80 for labor in putting them
into a stove shipped over our road and broken
while in transit. | investigated the case and
found that a leg had been broken out of the
stove and that the man had, instead of get
ting new castings, paid village blacksmith
$3.50 for riveting the old leg back in its
place No new casting had been bought, no
freight had been paid, and the entire cost to
him had been less than ST. Yet he claimed
$3.50 from u.s.
eve had another case where one of our
agents delivered some freight with an ex-
pense bill calling for eleven cases of goods
But ten cases showed up and the parties to
whom the goods were delivered, while they
seemed surprised at the deficiency, at once
explained that the missing case contained
books, a silk dress and more books That
was their very indefinite inventory, and they
stuck to it quite firmly. Investigation showed
that but ten cases had been shipped, that our
agent had made a mistake on his way bill
and so on the expense bill, and finally that
the people at last confessed that they hadn't
lost so much as tin spoon of their house
hold goods shipped
SOLD AT AUCTION
''What becomes of lost freight never
claimed!'
1--WE sell it at auction 1t seldom has any
value except to the rag and junk dealers. OF
course we sell packages according to the way
in which they are billed. We cannot tell as
to their value. Once in while purchaser
gets nicely taken in. recollect at one of
our sales we got S13 for large crate billed
'crockery.' A well known physician was the
purchaser, and when the crate was opened it
was found to contain lot of plaster of paris
images, such as Italians peddle about the
Streets
'Worth S., perhaps, to one of those ped
dlers?'
Possibly, but not worth five cents to the
DOCTOR Once i'll while, however, a good
deal may be made. l recollect we sold a con-
signment billed two boxes and one barrel Of
DUST 1t brought $l50, and when opened
the barrel contained Paris green and the
boxes held two dozen packages Of patent
insect powder. | understood that the pur
chaser sold the lot to a wholesale druggist for
S. Another box billed as 'one box of sun
dries sold for 81, and when opened by an ex-
pressman who bought them the 'sundries'
were found to consist of a very complete out
fit of cutlery samples-ffteen or twenty
pocket knives, a dozen razors, several pairs
of shears and scissors, two or three carving
sets and a variety of case knives. The name
of the manufacturers was, of course, found
on the goods and the expressman, by CORE
spondence, returned the goods to the manu-
facturers and received therefor S25 check"
docs the income from the sale of I'M
claimed property come near meeting the cost
of tracing up lost freight"
''No, but in the avoidance of well based
claims by the exercise of greater care i'll
handling freight and in the exposure of
fraudulent claims, the system ..ttself more
than pays Now look here"
Just then brakeman from a train which
had Just arrived entered the ''lost freight"
office bearing in his arms an old umbrella,
worth perhaps fifty cents, and good willow
basket, in which was a badly mussed lunch,
button hook and a pair of soiled cuffs.
''Thats the way it goes" said the agent.
''Now it is probable that somebody will call
for this basket tomorrow or next day, but
the umbrella is a fixture until sold at auc-
ion.n-Detroit Free Press.
An Odd Will.
John Newgate, of Boston, merchant,
selectman and constable Of the town,
who was admitted freeman in 1885,
and elected representative at the March
and September sessions Of the general
court, in 1888, and who died in 1865,
left will dated Nov. %, 1854, in which
he gives to his wife Ann, his ''farme at
Rumly Marsh, with all my lands belong
ing there vnto she the said
Ann continuing in the state of widow
hoode, paying vnto the Colledge in Cam
hr;d1o fhe s1Im of five mounds mr. ann