The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-29
"The reason?

"The reason?
 Well, some persons put 1t down to the step lively atmosphere In which she lives and which Is less noticeable in smaller cities than here, But that hardly explains it, I think. Forgetful- ness Is one of the besetting sins oI New Workers, and in my opinion two reasons for 1t are indifference to small losses and lack of the power to con contrate. As a class women living in small towns attach value to every bit of personal property. They are care ful about their private belongings. l. a woman loses glove in certain town where I have relatives living she doesn't rest until that glove is found. To throw away it's mate and think no more about the lost glove would seem almost wicked to her. Tn :, New York woman is not at all like that It doesn't distress her in the least to lose small articles of ordinary value As rule she doesn't even take the trouble to hunt them up.
 "Where did you lose your boa?" l asked my sister. Why don't you go after it?
 '' I was in at least six or eight shops, she answered, and how on earth can l tell where I dropped it. For all 1 know I may nave lost 1t in the sub way. Mo- I'm not going to bother.
 That, I believe. is the attitude of the average New York woman-the poor as well as the rich--toward lost prop erty, except in the case of sum Of raoney. More than hef the articles sent to the lost property office of the Interborougn Rapid Trarsit compa..y's S Ines are not claimed, I am told, all though a large percentage belong to poor persons evidently
 This statement was proved to be quite true by a visit to the lost prop erty office mentioned. It was learned that in the last six months ended De- cepber 1, 12.365 lost articles had been turned in orly half of which were claimed The other half win be sold at auction. At this place lost goods are held subject to the owners call for six months. consequently the ofit ce is always overfowing with articles col lccted rro,n the subway and the ele Nated roads.
 The property clerk himself is puzzled quite as much over the indifference of New Workers over lost property as over the number of things lost.
 Take womens aprons now. said he. Dozens of them come in every week. They head. in fact, the list of things women lose. and nearly every apron be- longs I imagine, to a working girl who left it in the cars on her way home from work Aprons cost money, and the own CT must know that they were lost in a subway or an l. train and that by spend ing cents extra carfare she can get the apron back And yet here the aprons stay As for men being Ness forgetful than women, I am not so sure. Look at those umbrellas umbrellas were stacked to the ceiling-''and it's easy to see that most of them are mems um- brellas In the last 12 months about 4000 umbrellas have been turned in and only 20OO were claimed. The others go to auc- ton.
 'Waiters' white coats and dickies-no end of them-are left in the cars. and scarcely one of them is claimed, and we have several folding music stands such as musicians use which have not been called for in spite of the fact that the cost of good one is several dollars at least and that musicians who play in an orchestra are usually a good way from being rich.'
 The man pulled open a huge drawer. It was filled with wristbags and pocket books, old, new and medium. There were dozens of them. Ut isn't likely they will ever be called for he admitted But this is stranger yet" and he led the way to a compartment stored with handbags and suit cases-a couple of dozen of them. maybe and mostly in good condition. Not more than two or three could be called shabby. One suit case bore the label of an ocean steamship. Evidently 1t had travelled some.
 to men," commented the clerk, "and