Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-01-29

cover by making fla tour of the rooms
gathering In the fragments. They are
| found lying around with the toilet
| things in little squeezed-up, we,
| punches.
The house keeper says they have
| been used for washrags' They are
| used for a hustle. They beloned to ho-
tells from st. Louis to New York. She
tied to a string in a bunch which the
woman who had just left the house had
used fora hustle. They belonged tc
hotels from st Louis New York She
had been wearing about 81 worth of
hustle
There are other things beside hotel
napkins which are mlsapproprlated.
Among other things there are the milk
bottles of milk concerns One of the
officials of one of the largest of these
concerns spoke upon this subject when
questioned.
Yes" he said. I'VE have trouble
about our milk bottles. There is legend
blown in the glass to the effect that
these bottles are to be washed and re-
turEed. They are never washed-and
don't believe they would ever be re-
turned If We hadn't a good detective
force in our collectors. Well, no, / won't
say just that, but whole lot are not
washed-and a whole lot are not re-
turned.
OF course the matter of preliminary
washing by the customer does not mean
any less work for U.s. We have to put
the bottles thru a steri,izing process
anyhow, but 1t saves the noses of the
milk wagon drivers, and makes the con-
ditions for all concerned more sanitary
and tolerable.
The greatest offenders in this way
are the middle-class flat-house liyers-
which. OF corse. means pretty much all
there are. Some send down there bot
ties every morning-or are expected to
do so. Others have the bottles collected
once week. when 1t is their habit to
pay their bill. II the system in a fiat
means milk-bottle delivery every day.
there frequently comes a day when the
Milk isn't used up yet That particular
bottle IS pretty apt to require search
warrant to find. Once in while bot
tie is broken. of course, but generally
they are employed to hold all sorts Of
things.
"One day collector went into q fiat
for his bill and on still hunt for bot
ties. There had been a strange disap-
pearance OF milk bottles in that family
for a long time, and with bankruptcy
staring us in the face. we got desperate
and set out to ind the bottles The COL
lector argued the matter with the serv-
ant. He bantered her good naturally,
and finally she said that she'd bet he
couldn't find milk bottle In the flat IL
he looked all day.
The collector accepted the challenge
and stepped into the kitchen. After a
little preliminary banter he threw open
the kitchen cupboard. and there sat the
milk bottles. One was full OF molasses.
One had rice in 1t. Another was full OF
some kind of cereal stuff. A cream bot
tie was full of dirt out on the fire es-
cape. and some little seeds had sprouted
in it. One bottle was used to hold coffee
the servant explained that the patent
top was so convenient, because 1t kept
in the strength OF the coffee when it was
poured off the grounds to save it.
And these people don't know they are
stealing. You might blow the whole
glass full of warnings and instructions
as to whom the bottle belonged and
what to do with it-and 1t wouldn't
make any difference. It's just lawless-
ness as they say in my country-thats
Vermont"