Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-09-04
WOES OF BIG STORES.
LOST BABY AND FRANTIC MOTHER A
COMMON OCCURRENCE.

Dogs That Have EIudcd Their own
ers, and Even Cats and Birds That
Have Gone Astray, Have to BE Cared
For In the .aorgue."
"Have you seen anything of a beau
tiful little girl with fluffy golden hair
and a blue frock?" anxiously inquired
young woman of the clerk in charge
of the linen counter in a great depart
ment store.
why, no. Are YOU sure you brought
her in here:"
Indeed 1 am, 1 left her sitting be-
fore those 9S cent damasks to look at
those S1.43 shirt waists marked down
from $50, and now L can't find her
anywhere. I'm worried to death.'
Don't be alarmed" remarked the
clerk, consolingly. She'll turn up all
right. 1 expect she's up in the dead
room by this time
THE what:''
'The dead room-the morgue, you
know
THE morgue? Oh, my Irene! oh,
my darlingr'
''Sh-h-h, madam softly command
ed n floor walker, for a cOmmotion
seemed imminent. "Your child is safe
enough, I'll venture. The 'morgue' is
simply the cant name of our lost and
found department. Come with me,
and we will see if the little girl is
there"
The young woman followed to n long
room, the door of which was labeled
"Lost and Found" and there. sure
enough, seated upon n monument of
packages. boxes. baskets, umbrellas.
canes aud other articles. sat tiny
golden haired girl in n blue frock. con-
tentedly kicking her small feet against
a pasteboard bonnet box.
That's the second kid and contin-
gent sensation I've had today" con-
fided the keeper of the morgue to me
as the recovered child. Justify scream
ing in the fervent embrace of her tear
full parent, was carried away. mo, it's
nothing unusual. It's almost a daily
occurrence. In the excitement of bar
gain rushes persons very frequently
lose sight of their children for n few
moments, and the natural tendency OF
the children is to stray away and take
in the strange sights of the store on
their own hook. OF course they might
wander out of the establishment, and
to prevent this the floor walkers in
variably send to me every child they
find unaccompanied by 4 guardian.
Il don't know if there is any porta-
BILE article, animate or inanimate.
which does not find its way to the
morgue," continued the keeper reflect
lively. NO class of people loses things
so readily as shoppers do. You see.
they become so interested in looking
at bargains that they lay down what
ever they may happen to have in their
hands and pera mbulate between
counters with hardly Il thought as to
their actions.
Suddenly they discover their loss.
and Il mild panic seizes them. They
go flying about from one counter to
the other, prosecuting their inquiries
without stopping to think whether
they have visited those same counters
before or not. Therefore the morgue
has become II valuable and indispensa-
BILE department in every large store.
.'Some of the things which drift into
this place would amuse you. Last
week u great Dane dog was brought
up by our nerviest floor walker, and an
ugly customer he was, indeed-the
dog, not the floor walker. We triced
him up by a short chain and tried to
make him lie down pending the ar
rival of his owner. But he wouldn't. |
Instead he took Il stand, braced him |
self and let out a howl which froZc |
the souls of some half dozen sales |
women within earshot. Then he broke |
his chain and started in to clean out |
the morCue.
''What did l do? Oh. 1 adjourned. |
and everybody went on still hunt for !
the owner of the dog. We eventually |
found her, and she came up and lam |
basted us for abusing her precious |
darling, with never Il word about the |
rough way he had handled the /
morgue's accommodations.
Dogs of all sorts and conditions are
brought to the morgue and
now and then pet cat, which has eS-
capped from a basket. I've even had n
cage of canaries left on my hands TO
feed for n week before the careless |
owner, who had left the cage down in
the crockery department during 4 spe-
rial sale, appeared to claim her prop
erty.
watches, purses, babies, parasoIs,
bundles and even diamond rings are
parts of my stock in trade here. I'd
have horses, too, verify believe, were
,ur customers permitted to bring them
nto the store. I'd like to set up in
business with the things brought to
he morgue. I'd get rich, sure.
Yes, fully twO-thirds of the things
ire claimed, and nothing worth COM
ng after remains in our possession
ong. Neither do many other things
which are not worth hunting up. We
Keep lost articles a month from date
# turning in. and then, if it is found
hat they were originally sold in our
store, we put them in stock. Ere
luently lost articles of serious value
ire advertised at the end of a month"
Cincinnati Enquirer.