The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-12-08
HOW MISTAKE GREW
Wichita Street Fair Scattered
All Over the World.
BIG BOXES WENT ASTRAY
How Geo. Bergman Got Two
Continents Into Trouble.

almost limitless extent, involving two con-
tinents, and almost upsetting the steady
routine Of gigantic carrying corporation.
There was natural and very easily &C
counted for mistake made by some one in
Wichita on October 18th, the results OF
which have repeatedly piled up on each
other like rolling a wet SNOWFALL over and
over, finally dragging into the myriad
meshes Of the little intangled net the
officials of an international corporation
who are located at Berlin, Germany;
Rome, Italy; Liverpool, England, and
Albany, n. Y.
When the street fair management were
arranging their carnival program, the
George Bergman idea of a last night of
carnival was accepted and all the leading
commercial industrial, and mercantile in
situations Of the city at once took hold
with spirit Of enthusiasm. Among them
was the Wells Fargo Express company,
and their display was among the noted
ones. To make it look realistic and Just
like a big express wagon rushing to a
train with an immense pile of boxes,
crates and packages, they borrowed from
the Jacob bold Packing company, several
of their specially made 5OO-pound capacity
boxes. These boxes are accepted by the
Western Weighing association at the
weight Of eighty-five pounds, and are
soddly made and iron strapped. The
bold company were to loan the boxes and
crates to the express company without
charge. They were the same as used
daily by the packing house for their job
bling and express local trade, and were
made in the company's box factory. Just
before the bold wagon loaded them on to
deliver to the express company, one of
the shipping clerks, just to make them
look more like a bona fide shipment, took
q stencil and marked each one, using, of
course, assumed names and straw con-
signment destinations. For instance, one
bore this lettering: ~. Scholson, Berlin,
Germany" another "a. Hunt, Liverpool,
England" Two more bore other straw
names, now forgotten, and were myth
rally marked TO Rome, Italy and the
other to Albany N Y. That night they
were loaded with the rest of the bundles
and packages, and crates and boxes on to
End appeared in the parade Their fate
after that is only conjectural. that is, just
how they were handled here in Wichita
IS only guess work now, as there was no
billing, of course, to show for them and
no record at the packing house, and only
3 shipping record at the express office
Then they disappeared Lately there
came word from New York City, from
afr. W. p Huntington, foreign agent of
She company, which was coldly and sue
E1nct1y official and merely said: Tracer
10. R.To2. Way-bill No. 349; from WITCH
ia, Kans.. U. S. A, Jacob Dold Packing
Go. One box, weight, So pounds, to J.
Scholson, Berlin. Germany. Consignee
ca2not be found; send additional details"
This communication was addressed by
the foreign office to Mr.. E. H. Stevens,
k0cal agent at this point He in turn
mailed this as data with an accompany
tng note to the Dold company. Chief
Clerk Harrison, after consulting his ship
ping records on and about October IS,
Teund no such shipment, and so notified
Mr.. Stevens, adding that it was possible
among the four hundred men employed at
the plant, many of whom are Germans,
some one may have made such a package
consignment personally and gave his ad-
dress as care of Jacob DOld Packing COM
pany. In the meantime the agents in
Berlin were searching the city for the con-
signee, and Mr.. Stevens at this end was
straining every effort to locate the whole
deal. That no billing accompanied the
shipment was not at all remarkable as
the Dold company have very heavy ex-
press business and 20 make trains prompt
1y are frequently obliged to hurry out an
order and bill it by telephone later. Mr..
Stevens got along so far as to learn that
the big red wagon CT Dold's, used ex-
clusively for the express Offices and de-
pots, had left the boxes on that date.
This he advised the packing house Then
Chief Clerk Harrison, who never forzets
or overlooks went away by himself in
The stationery room to think and TO muse.
perhaps 10 dream, and when he emerged
there wac a puzzled, weird. set look on
his face like one who was slowly coming
out from a trance and was getting ra-
tional again after a hypnotic seance. He
interviewed the shipping clerk N.1o la
belled those phantom boxes and then re-
called that he himself stood on the dock
during this process and witnessed the
Berlin fake and then it all became
clear. The weights corresponded with
the weight as given by the foreign agent
and then he wrote Mr Stevens that tba
packing company would agree To lose The
value OF those empty boxes. which had
travelled all over the continent Of Amer
soa, across the ocean, and half across
Europe, II he, Mr.. Stevens. would kindly
come up ana leave a box Of the best ci
gars his credit would allow him to pro
cure In the meantime the Iive~pool
box turned up there's with the same trouble
no consignee by that name could be To-
Gated and this tracer from the foreign
department was numbered 80 o5.'' and
thus another false trail was wildly start
ed The Albany deal and that OF Rome
are yet to be heard from. as 1t is learn
ed mat they all left America at the same
time or nearly so. 1t Is supposed ;hst
after the parade was over the WAGON nm
loaded all the boxes together as all vera
empty or stuffed with hay o. sometime
and none real shipments. and these from,
Dold's being found by a new shfft rsx+
day. who did not take part in the parase
and knowing the Importance Of Doi5.s
produce in getting out promptly. they
were duly recorded and started on thsi-
way. Everything was regular az This
end and no one to blame. The simple
situation is, they were all blur and
meant for local use only and ike Mark
Twain's famous Beef Contract" went
astray. The latter was 4 deal OF thirty
barrels % beef for Sherman's army and