The Van Buren press., 1896-03-28
ROMANCE IN THE SEWERS.
Articles of Value That Are Found-Lose
Money Recovered.


The sewers of New York have little
romance of their own IN the curious ar
ticles that are found in them. Scarcely
a receiving basin is cleaned out or one
of the big pipes thoroughly scraped
of its coating of mud and heavy refuse
but something more valuable than
rubbish comes to light Things have
been thrown in by frightened thieves.
who wished to hide the evidence of
their crimes, and were willing to lose
their booty for the sake of a whole
skin, or else were dropped by accident
into tile cutters, TO lie there unnotieed
and be flushed into the sewer at the
first flushing or heavy rain.
Jewelry, watches, money small
pieces of silverware, and even umbrel~
las and canes are the articles most FREE
quently discovered buried in the thick
nlud of the sewers and basins One of
the foremen of the department has at
his house to-day a handsome silver
topped cane picked cut some months
ago, for which no claimant has ever APP
peared. 1t does not happen, as rule,
that the owner Of property lost in this
peculiar way can be found. and the la
borers themselves generally keep what
they run across. From money point
of view, the piclNings are OF really little
value. Even a gold watch is not much
of a prize, after all, for as the days go
on the mud oozes into it's ease and dam
ages its works beyond repair, SO that
it can be sold only for old gold.
There are some strange stories bound
up in the sewers. They nearly all deal
with special searches made for lost
property of considerable value. On one
occasion eight SO gold pieces were
hunted for, having been stolen from
Catholic priest uptown. This priest
bad befriended Young boy, had taken
him with him for a short time, and
finally found him a position to run err
rands. The boy proved ungrateful for
these benefits, and one day he slipped
into the house and stole this money III
a purse. 1t WAS not until the owner
Of the purse returned that the loss was
discovered A detective was at once
Sc, upon the boys track and there
was little difficulty in getting him to
make confession. He Acknowledged
that he had taken the money, and that
very night knowing that he was shad-
owed, he had dropped it in the nearest
sewer. The department was informed,
and men were at once sent up to empty
out the basin. One by enc the eight
gold pieces were found in the mud.
An even more remarkable find was
that of two railroad bonds, one for $500
and the other for 81 900, which were
stolen under almost exactly the same
circumstances. Another boy had
robbed his employer, and had taken
these securities, together with
pocketbooll containing $27 in bills and
silver. lie spent the money up to the
last cent, but found the bonds to be OF
no value at all to him. Afraid, however,
to have them in his possession, he cool
ly dropped them down an adjacent
sewer, and thought he was secure.
After he had confessed search was
made, in precisely the same manner,
and the bonds came to light, rather
the worse for wear, 1t is true, covered
with liquid mud, but still legilble, and
in quite good enough shape for the
owner to be able TO prove his property.
Crime, though, is not an inyariable
accompaniment of losses like these.
There was a case in the department.
several months ago os'a working girl,
who, returning home hurriedly little
after six o'clock one night, stumbled on
the curb, and in doing so let her peck
etbook fail. With fatal bad luck 1t
rolled toward the sewer as IL 1t had
been aimed for it and disappeared in it's
depths. The sum of SO was in it, an ex-
ceedingly heavy loss to the girl.
Brokenhearted she went home, having
given up all hopes of ever seeing 1t
again. Several days went by, ana she
was trying to become reconciled to her
loss. when it was suggested that she
send word to the sewer bureau IN the
city hall. The upshot of it all was that
the little pocl1etbock was recovered
and after thorough washing ana dry
ing in the sun, was returned TO the
Young woman intact and without
cent missing.-N. Y. Tribune.