Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-08-18
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THE TRAVELLING PUBLIC is PRO.
VERBALLY CARELESS AND
LOSE MANY THINGS
Articles Are carelessly Left in Passen-
ger Trains and Are Looked After by
EmpIoyes-How Disposed ot-other
Railroad News.

ue travelling puDllC ID ploUSl uieliiJ
careless, says an old time railroad
man who has dealt with the passenger
traffic since the time when the mem
DRY of man runneth not to the con-
trary. This carelessness is not con-
fined to any particular section Of the
country but is seen on all the roads
that carry people back and forth, al
though it is more noticeable on the
main lines.
railroads, particularly the main line of
the Milwaukee and some OF the Rock
Island divisions, within the past year
or two have no doubt noticed that the
brakeman after calling out the name OF
the next station at which the train
stops will add land don't forget your
parcels They have also probably no
ticed that in spite of this warning
scores of people get off the train and
leave umbrellas, packages and even
grips in the seats of the car or in the
overhead racks. The habitual care
lessness Of the America npeople prob
ably has no better demonstration any
place than on trains and in depots. OF
all times that person should be care
full, one would imagine that time would
be while he is travelling. But such is
not the case in fact it seems from &C.
tual observation that that is the very
time when they are most careless.
This is shown by the hundreds upon
hundreds. even thousands of articles
cars and depots and which are never
claimed.
For some unaccountable reason the
average traveller who while at home
may be the model of care and who may
never have mislaid an article. when
placed upon a train Immediately pro
ceeds to forget that he took valise
Of value along, that it was cold when
he started and that he carried valua-
Bile overcoat, or that threatening rain
caused him to carry a valuable UNI.
brella, and leaves them in the seat or
in the rack above his head when his
train reaches it's destination.
Many Articles Restored.
It must not be inferred, however
that all of these articles are lost, are
never returned to their rightful own
ers, for thousands of them are soon
restored. Most people as soon as they
have discovered they have lost an arti
Gle, notify the railroad company and in
most cases the article is returned. But
the other hundreds of thousands that
are not called for are carried to the
end of the run by the trainmen. where
they are turned over to the proper
0fH 1yn
for short time to give the loser time
to make his loss known If he so de
sires. Those that are not claimed
there are sent to the general offices OF
the company. Even after they have
been sent to the general offices many
articles are restored to their owners
but the large majority of them are new
er claimed.
Are Kept One Year.
After keeping these lost articles al
the general offices for year, the com
pany advertises them, giving de
scription Of each article and they are
sold at public auction. Packages look
ing like they may contain valuables
are frequently sold for several dollars
only to be found to contain soiled lin
en- or some other equally worthless ar
ticle.
Make Good Bargains.
Frequently, however, an old valfse
>soiled and worn and apparently worth
less, is sold for a few cents and Il
found to contain articles Of value ant
cases are on record where large sum!
of money have been bought for a few
cents.
A sale of this kind usually attract:
large crowds, but most of the buyins
is done by professionals who buy NOR,