The Portland daily press., 1899-12-22

Umbrellas and Gloves - Careless
ness with Purses and Change.
"oh, where's my pocketbook? Ny
pursel My purser'
The little woman futtered around in
the front part Of the store. and every
body within seeing distance smiled, as
people always smile at an excited wom-
an.
What's the trouble, madam ?" inquired
the hoorwalker.
"why, I've lost my pocketbook! Some
one has stolen Il! know they havel
had IL less than two minutes ago.!
The little woman threw a threatening
glance at the clerk, and the clerk re-
sponded ditto. The instinct to throw the
blame OF misfortune on some one else 10
strong, especially in cases Of lost pocket
books. But a short search revealed the
missing treasure under the folds Of bolt
of silk.
at Is always So" said the man In
charge. Women do that repeatedly.
They come in, put their pocketbooks on
the counter, become interested In looking
at the goods and forgot their purses. Yes,
usually they are found by the clerk or the
fioorwalker or by a customer. and then
they are sent to the Office. where we keep
regular account Of lost goods.
Most all of the purses that are found
are called for soon after they are lost.
because the ladies discover their absence
as soon as they begin to think Of getting
on a car. In case they are not called for
we notify the owner IL her name il In the
purse. IL we happen to know the owner.
we return the purse to her Immediately.
Where there Is no name and no way OF
identifying the purse we ndvertise-that
is, il it contains enough money to war
rant our so doing But nine out Of ten
lost purses are called for. There Is .
chance for them to be picked up by sneak
thieves and by persons that argue that
whatever they find is theirs. but such
cases are rare"
In many of the stores lost articles are
Immediately reported TO the office on the
floor where they are found. In others
they are kept in the main office on the
first floor. Not o day passes that some
one does not find himself or herself the
poorer for an article of some kind lost in
the stores. One of the large dry goods
houses has a little drawer that holds
stock Of small envelopes containing
change that has been forgotten, the
amount varying from a few cents to the
same number Of dollars.
Just think! l walked of without my
change" said a woman as she came out
of one of the avenue stores the other day.
80 did L." laughed her friend. How
did you happen to do itT
why, l was thinking about what
big bargain l got and forgot it."
THAT wasn't my reason" said her
friend. 81 bought something of a ped
der and waited for him to 60 round the
corner to change a quarter. That's the
reason walked off without my change"
Such cases, of course. are hopeless
without the aid of the police. but change
that is left in stores can be recovered II
the owners will apply for 1t.
In point Of numbers nothing equals the
handkerchiefs that are lost. The lost
and found" corner Of every large store Is
usually festooned with them. IL the
names are on them, they are returned; II
| not, they are kept for awhile and then
| thrown away. The germ theory has
scared the populaee so thoroughly that
| handkerchiefs belonging to unknown per-
sons are usually passed by like small
| pox sign. But the number lost in stores
alone is very large. 1t Is a good thing to
| think Of when inclined to look askance at
| Tut WdnhtA w Ava SA"6'he eAOANN 1890
| q small pile.
Not long ago queer looking old wom-
an with hitch and a brogue went the
rounds Of the stores declaring that she
| had lost her parasol. Each place. she
| was positive, was the one in which she
| had left it until shown the entire array.
| At one store she was so persistent that
| the clerk took her behind the counter and
| showed her the entire stock of found
| goods.
''Oh. there 1t isl" said she. grabbing at
| an old umbrella that was big enough to
| take the entire family to the circus.
| There's my parasol"'
Next to handkerchefs come umbrellas.
| parasols and gloves in point OF numbers.
| Gloves, though. are usually divorced from
| their mates, as a single glove is more Of
| ten left than a pair, unfortunately.
what are you doipg?" said the wom-
ans husband as they rode in Third
| street car.
Throwing away my glove" she said.
eve lost the other one somewhere, and
| / don't want this one around to be al
| ways reminding me Of 1t. Nothing is so
| tantalizing as TO lose one of pair of any
thing"
| That's what l say" whispered little
| friend at her side, giving hitch at her
knee. But. then, I'll not throw my 9th
er one away. I'll keep it for souvenir"
| Jewelry is sometimes found, though not
often. Rings seem to be lost more easily
than anything else in that line, but it is
| usually owing TO carelessness in leaving
them upon the washstand. 1t Is such an
old, old story that II seems as IL women
ought 10 know better by this time, but
they don't, and only few days ago the
collection OF lifetime was left in the
Mushroom Of one of the big stores and
has not since been seen by the owner. In
such cases there often is a tendency to
blame the clerks il one happens TO be
near. but the accusation is invariably I'M
just, for it seldom happens that clerk
is guilty. Such thieving is much more
likely TO be done by n person that can
Immediately make her escape into the
street. Those whose business it is to
watch such things say that the morals OF
many persons regarding their right to
| keen Things that they find are peculiarly