The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-25
USES OF BAGGAGE LABELS.
Marks or Travel which Are Prixed and Care.
fully Preserved by the MIddle.AEed Man.

USES OF BAGGAGE LIBELS.
Marks or Travel which Are Priced and Care
fully Preserved by the MIddie-AEcd Man.
81 suppose" said the middle-aged man, that
most of us are rather pleased than otherwise to
have our baggage defaced with steamer labels
and such evidences of foreign travel. l know
that / don't object to 1t myself. / do not know
that l should care to have quite so many labels
on my trunk Mt once as we see on somc-corn-
pletcly covered with steamer and hotel labels,
round. square, thrcc-cornered, oblong, oval. and
every other shape and Of all colors-but I should
dearly love to go where those trunks got tho Ia
bcls; and | treasure the labels that l have be.
cause of the pleasant rccollcctions they bring up
and because they mark my admission to the
order of travellers.
1.-THE first foreign label that I ever got on n
piece of baggage was in Canada; n customs in
spection label. / had been in Detroit and came
back that way. We passed through Canada in
the night. | was asleep when the customs Off
GERS went through the train. and knew nothing
OF their presence until I found the label on my
handbag, which was all the baggage ] had. in
the morning. 1t was n slick little label with a
blue border, oblong in shape, with clipped-off
corners. in size such a label as might be pasted
on a fourouncc bottle. There were two or three
lines on it. making blank spaces to be filled in
by the customs officer. 1t was an adhesive label,
like u big postage stamp, and it had been neatly
and securely put on. 1t was pasted on the bot
tom OF the bag, SO as not to mar the bags ap-
pearance. The bag had never been opened by
the officer. ! was sure of that. but there was no
reason why it should be, and I was equally GER
tain that the customs officer knew that. too. in
his bones.
while this label was pasted on the bottom of
the bag, yet it did not speedily wear Off. The
harrh had nnt hr,pg l,nba ~, ,h. hn,t,t, ,D ,rn.
tcct it from wear, and the bottom archcd up n
little, too. due to a slight warp. and where the
label was pasted on it was furthest from the
ground. 1t was a good bag, that lasted for
years. A corner OF the label got scraped off
in some way soon after 1t was pasted on, but the
res, OF the label lasted as long as the bag did,
an" "T ! ~ nex 4 i %%TE OF OF f E.TSisnTt tr 40 %' , flW"f I got
was Il Steamer label. ] had no trunk. Only q
ut Liverpool. or on the same day. we found at a
convenient place at the entrance 10 the saloon
= ,y 10, sm Of labels hn6 6eS crnn n the G"mp "a ihs d atNdrsi
]I MitG my Of initial fsS Gi, ail"r on IT, / niSdfs sast Gq' i, a on l" lSa
but a " little below the horizontal centre
line, and "a little 10 the west, so TO sneak, of the
Of careless like, bqt l moistened the mucilagc on
down carefully ali over, so as to make il stick
firmly; and I had placed it below the horizontal
lnltIlt me rt'lltT lnNnh DONtlI II. so una II would
get some further slight protection from being
under the bulge Of the valisc. / wanted the label
THE bag was taken ashore to where the bag
gage was 10 he inspected by the customs officers
and placed on the floor in the section devoted to
officer had completed his inspection he pasted
on the side of the bag an adhesive label Of
about the same size as the steamer label. and /
was delighted with the manner in which he put
It on; Just lapping over he edge o., the steamer
really put on sort OF careless, and the bag began
to look now ms though ! was accustomed to run
ming over 10 England about twice a week, Mt
least. But what pleased me most, was
!" q, tb bSG Talisa he TbR|s " Was " as"rt Of rI ihs l hfGhl e
narrow strip, with perforated edges, which he
tore ont Of a book OF labels and moistencd
course. / knew this wouldn't stay there very
long; II was bound TO wear Off soon under tho
pressure of tho hand at the centre in carrying it;
or one end. rather. reached down pretty nearly
to the end of the handle by the frame, and that
part preserved rs long as / could. but 1t didn't
Tho other label which the English customs
months before the last of il was worn off. The
steamer label curled W, once, or twice in some
nMsain. il was printed on N good ." Piper and the
mncilnge was good. At last ] got the label stuck
the leather itself; It didn't peel or teHr of any
more. hut from that on II wore away gradually.
Paris, was E dihnF't 10 ne sW%f1 nv 'T Gir or va Free re, b N.Y. I did IL
NEED "A handbag; and ] bought one that caught
my owe in u shop window in II lovely inland town
in England. ! expected. of course. TO get some
sort Of French travel mark on that bag in the
Custom House in France. AT the French port
we landed AT | marched with the rest Of the pas
srngcrs through "A sort Of gateway from n room
into the railroad station. The customs officer
there never so much MS looked at my bag, and |
thought maybe he had overlooked 1t. After I
had got into the railroad station | went around
back into the other room and came through the
gate again, hmt II was no use; he wouldn't even
look At my little bag, and I didn't feel that |
could do any more about II, and SO l went on 10
Paris.
"Thc big bag, with the steamer label on. I've
luggcd around II good deal since in this coun-
try: West as far as California, and South ~ far
as Mexico, and around considerable: and II looks
ike n travelled bag. which is what | like to see.
hut the mark Of travel about II that pleases mo
most il the little remnant OF the old steamer
label, which, perhaps. could not now he dis.
tingulshed NJ such by one unfamiliar with 1t,
but which I know and duly prize"