The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-03-08

Queer Articles Found Among the
Seats after the Play.
Elrnrn lie Nerr Yorlc Sun

woman called at the box Office Of the Union
| Square theater. She was young, and had
an abundance Of golden-yellow hair knotted
in coil behind her head. She wore a
natty black cloth hat, and had a boa Of
glossy black feathers around her neck, con-
| cealing the collar of a handsome ssalskin
cloak. She was accompanied by q colored
maid.
Ibid you find a little pug dog In the
theater last nightp she asked the man In
the Office.
"A pug dogF' asked Treasurer John Cox
In affected surprise
YES said the woman, her voice rising
to a trembling treble, "a tiny little dog He
was onlysa few days old. Ny maid here left
him under the seat Oh, dId you find him,
sirp
At this the colored maid approached the
window, and said that abe had unwf tingly
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 10 hope to find
! the theater still open.
"Yes," put In the girl, land hardly slept
all nj ht for thinking of poor little doggy"
but how did you happen to bring a dog
| to the theaterP' asked Treasurer Cox, frown-
ing darby. "Of course you know that dogs
are not allowed here"
80, but my little doggy was so little and
so young" replied the young woman, and
l couldn't leave him at home all alone, you
know. So told Dotty here to put him in a
| cigar box and bring him along. And he
vas asleep in the cotton. you know, and we
were both SO pleased with the play you
know" glancing appealingly at the treas
urer), that we both forgot all about him.
You see, thought she had him, but it
| seems she had put the box under the seat
FORGOT al al n do fall N
you find himp
The young woman gazed SO earnestly into
the treasurer's face that he relented, and
asked what the dogs name was.
"Gyppy," she replied, drying a stray
tear with a tiny handkerchief. Treasurer
| Cox then produced a cigar box from under
the desk, lifted the lid, and disclosed tiny
dog curled up in a mass of cotton and Sleep
ing peacefully. The young woman seized
the box with joyful exclamation, aud,
with profuse thanks to everybody In sight
that seemed to be connected with the thea.
ter, tripped happily out, with the colored
maid following behind.
well, !" said Mr.. Cox, "with all my ex-
| perience, never knew such O curious arti-
Gle left in the theater before. Women are
always leaving things behind them in their
chairs and boxes, but who would ever think
| Of their leaving dogs behind hem? Now,
| we don't allow dogs in the theater, and she
| had to smuggle that little fellow in. Whv,
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 express"
All the theaters have rooms in the cellars
where lost articles which are unclaimed
after reasonable time are stored away.
The general custom is to hold "fout d
! articles" in the box Office for a week or more,
according to their value, and if then un-
claimed to send them down to the cellar.
Here they accumulate sometimes for years.
They herd with the dust and theatrical
trappings and effects long since abandoned
and stored for possible, but not probable,
future use, till some Of these celia rooms
are veritable curiosity shops Little of
real value is unclaimed, and these subtsr-
ranean collections are usually far more
curious than valuable
II have had people come back for their
hats" said a theatrical man the other day.
In warm weather even women OCCASION
ally walk out Of the house in blissful for
| getfulness of the fact that they have
| removed their hats for greater COM
| fort and hung them on the back of
their chairs. Overshoes, umbrellas, canes,
| opera glasses, overcoats, oloaks, wraps
furs, handkerchief are the articles
more commonly left behind. But purses
| are frequently lost, and these little reticules
that women carry, often containing valu-
able articles. Then ladies very Frequently
leave packages containing purchases behind
them. after the matinee. The come back
in great haste and often In great alarm.
remember lady coming rushing into the
theater about 7 o'clock one evening aud
sobbing out that she had lost costly dia-
| mond necklace and must have dropped it
in the theater after the matinee. We sum
moaed the entire staff of the theater, even
| to the sweeps and the gas lighters, but every
man and woman of them 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 sobhing. After awhile she came
back and told US the necklace was done up
in a small package.
so, said |, 'why didn't you say so in the
| first placer We supposed 1t was on your
neck.
"'Why, didn't think to tell you that
80 we brought out several packages that
had been found, and che selected one that
looked like her package. Before opening it
| she described the necklace accurately. Then
l opened the package, and there was the
necklace, indeed costly thing of the most
superb workmanship. She said she had
bought it for a wedding present and handed
me card containing the name of a very
well known woman.
"a man once came back after perform
| duCe anu Salu, WIN white lace, Gnat ne
had left 500 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 do not often get back
money or pocketbooks. You can't
control the honesty of the theater en-
ployes, you know. We have the most
stringent rules governing the matter. An
employee is instantly dismissed If he fails to
return found article, and. if it is of any
value, and he is caught retaining it, the
theater becomes the prosecutor and sees tn at
he catches all the penalty the law will
enforce.
People in the audience, believe, in
many cases steal lost articles. have OBJ
served audiences leaving the theater many
times, and have good reason for saying so.
1t Is very easy. in passing down an aisle
with a crowd to place a hand on the head
of an umbrella or cane standing up against
chair where somebody has left it. or upon
a wrap carelessly left over the back of a
chair You will seldom see a thief pick
anything up which has fallen TO tie floor.
however, for the act of STOPPING down at
tracts attention. So it is that money and
small articles dropped on the floor are seldom
stolen by thieves in the audience, though
have known thieves to drop an umbrella or
hat in order to make an excuse for stopping
down. If you see any ole stoop down and
openly pick lost bill or article from the
floor, you can nearly always take it for
granted that the fiuder is an honest man