Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-05-14
WAREHOUSE YARNS.
RomANCEs FOUND IN A BIG STORAGE
ESTABLISHMENT
There Arc Tragedies and Comedies and
Plenty Of Material to Make Book Tn"
r.a.ons Often Domestic Troubles Which
r,unse peoplo to Store Their Goods.

greatest Of New York's storage ware
houses, "your guess IL quito correct. In
this business wo SEQ tho seamy side Of
many romances and arc confronted by no:
a few mysteries. All sorts Of reasons i'm
mel people to put their goods In storage
warehouses. Death or sickness may break
ND q family. and the goods come to us,
never perhaps to DO redeemed. AT the end
OF a year, you know, tho law allows us to
sell II tho charges for storage are unpaid.
This, however, Is not often DONE as the
chances are favorable for an ultimate clear
ar,ce OF all charges. We have people whose
house has been robbed store their furni-
turc. as they are afraid to dwell In ths
place any longer. People who can't pay
their rent store their furniture, and peo-
pie who are experiencing good times dc
the Same thing in order to go to Europe.
"The remnants Of broken families come
to us. The men don't often tell more than
Is necessary, but the women give US every
thing, including all the comments Of their
relatives and friends. I've often said that
If it was not for fear OF hurting the bust.
ness / could write an interesting novel
about our experiences. Comedies and
TRAGEDIES Of real life drift past us all day
long.
1.-Two winters ago we found that we
were storing corpse. 1t came to US in
trunk An crpressman brought the trunk
and took (. receipt and left us his address.
We nut the trunk In small room on the
ninth floor and thought no more about it
till at the end Of two months strong odor
came from tho room. When We came TO
the trunk. il was decided to break it open,
and the body If IA large, full bearded man
was found within. The clothing was
good, but there WIS nothing By which the
mar could be identified. We notified the
police, who went after tha expressman,
but be knew nothing about the body. He
had taken the trunk from tho Sidewalk in
froLt Of ar apartment house on West
Twenty fourth street. Two men had il
there They told him to store tho trunk
and bring them tho receipt at the apart
merit house. When be returned, he failed
to find the men. The names they had
given were unknown III the apartment
house, and he never could trace them.
The police also failed TO solve the mystery.
- Years ago, when l was young at ills
business we received one day a lot Of very
big packing eases marked Heller. They
camo across the wafer. Heller was the
erest magician WHO preceded Herman i.
AT nat time hewas even bati n known thnn
Hcrrmann Is pow. Ilo had a magnificent
looking wife, known as Zaade Heller, o
fricud II the car Of Russia, have heard,
with a fine figure, grand black eyes and
blo,.L hair. ! think she set the bleached
blond fashion. Well, these cases for Heller
remained with us for years. Heller died,
and we heard no claim made, so it was at
last determined to see what we had. and
portcrs were sent down in the basement TO
open the boxes.
at was grewsome place anyhow, that
immense dark basement, aud this, COM
bincd with the name of Heller, made the
men very nervous. The first thing they
saw W hen they opened one Of the boxes
was a great red tongue that wagged at
them. They ran and wouldn't go back,
and scne OF Us boys from the office had TO
finish the job Of opening up. We found
the boxes filled with devils and fantastic
shapes and all sorts of mystic apparatus
We had most OF the wizard S paraphernalia
with US. Mrs. Heller appeared on the
scene some time afterward and took all
the goods, but most of Heller's secrets had |
died with him, so l don't suppose they |
Were fery much use.
There was a somewhat amusing Incl. |
dens Happened here yesterday. A woman |
was sitting over there crying. She had |
just traced her furniture to US. Her hus-
band had persuaded her TO go away for her |
health and had stored the furniture in her |
absence. She wanted to find her husband |
and get him back. Another woman heard |
her story and was full of scorn. She had |
just CLEARED her house OF furniture. was |
putting it away and was going to leave |
her husband. She said she wouldn't cry |
Tor any Iuan. There were too many men.
An interesting young couple came here
year ago and stored their furniture.
Ihsy had been housekeeping; they We're
going TO boarding. About three months
ago they came in, piloted by lawyers
They bad violent quarrel and were going
to separate. Each filed claim on the
furniture, and they signed ali agreement
that neither was to SEQ it without leave
from the other. The day before yesterday
they came in again alone and smiling.
They had made up. discharged the lawyers
and were going to housekeeping again.
They called each other dear and were very
"A Little while ago we had the case Of a
wealthy man who told his wife he was
'ioV u! iel. Inc NoIldD Nau broken up
housekeeping and gone boarding in order
that she might have nothing to do. Tho
man followed her, but lost patience and
determined to end it, They had their quar-
rel out In the parlor here and the man
made proposition, which was accepted.
They divided all the furniture and stored
IL again on separate accounts, got their
safe deposit drawer out and divided its
tf,uY 40, |
settlement with the woman and turned
his back on her. About two months later
he came in here with new wife. We
thought that II he kept that up he would
meet the old wife. Well, that very thing
happened week ago. l expected a scene.
but the old wife looked at them as If they
were strangers. lew York Times.
IN, L