The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-02-20

prize after all. for as the days go on
the mud oozes into its case and dam
ages its works beyond repair, so that
it can be sold only for old gold.
Just what proportion of the articles
of real value that find their way into
the sewers along with the rubbish are
recovered no one can tell Many are
washed out into the rivers almost i'm
mediately, especially IL the receiving
basins be full of mud up to the mouth
of the sewers Almost invariably these
receiving basins extend only about two
and a half feet below the sewers them
seles and at certain times of the year
and in certain parts of the city they
fill up rapidly. Again, IL Is seldom
that the laborers, when in the midst OF
cleaning out a basin or a section of a
sewer, take the trouble to examine care
fully the mud that is hoisted up into
the surface in pals. Only glittering OBJ
Jects attract their eyes, and even the
finest jewelry might escape their notice.
There are some strange stories bound
up In the sewers, nevertheless. They
nearly all deal with special searches
made for lost property of considerable
value. On one occasion eight $40 gold
pieces were hunted for. having been
stolen from a Catholic priest up town.
The priest had befriended a young boy,
had taken him with him for short
time, and finally found him a position
to run errands. The boy proved I'M
grateful for these benefits and one day
he slipped back into the house and stole
this money In purse. 1t was not until
the owner returned that the loss was
discovered. A detective was at once
set upon the boys track, and there was
little difficulty in getting him to make
a confession. He acknowledged that he
had taken the money, and that that
very night. knowing that he was shad-
owed, he had dropped 1t in the nearest
sewer. The department was Informed,
and the men. were at once sent up to
empty out the basin. One by one 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 $1,000, which were
stolen under almost exactly the same
circumstances. Another boy had rob-
bed his employer, and had taken these
securities, together with a pocketbook
containing s27 in bills and silver. He
spent the money up to the last cent,
but found the bonds of no value at all
to him. Afraid. however, TO have them
in his possession, he coolly dropped
them down an adjacent sewer. After he
had confessed a 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 legible, and In quite goou
enough shape for the owner to be able
to prove his property.
Crime, though, is not an invariable
accompaniment of losses like these.
There was a case in the department
several months ago Of a working girl
who, returning home hurriedly a little
after o'clock one night, stumbled on
the curb and in doing so let her pocket
book fall. With fatal bad luck IL roll
ed toward the sewer as If it had been
aimed for 1t and disappeared in Its
depths. The sum of $40 was in it, an
exceedingly heavy loss for the girl.
Broken-hearted she went home, having
given UP all hopes of ever. seeing II
again. Several days went by and she
was trying to become reconciled to her
loss, when it was suggested that she
send word down to the sewer bureau
in the city hall. The upshot of 1t was
that the little pocketbook was recover
ed, and after a thorough washing and
drying in the sun was returned to the
young woman, intact and without
cent missing.