Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-04-20
DEAD men 5 ] BAGGAGE: !.
IN the Gloomy Old Morgue Down.
BY The London Docks.
CHATTELs OF LOST sEAMEN.
"A Strange Storehouse Of Strange
Things, Where the Belongings of
Those Who HAVE "Gone Over the
i Side" at Sea Are Kept Until Claimed.

at this moment, and the gray romance
clinging about them is heightened by
the knowledge that the greater part
will never be called for. Down by the
docks, amid the mud and lumber of
that wonderful place, Is an unpreten-
tious building, and In the vaults be-
low, In a catacomb or old clothes and
queer baggage, are stocked the be
longings Of those who have gone down
to the sea In ships and never returned.
Now and then, but not often, pale
woman 1t may be troubles the serenity
OF that cloak room OF the dead and, be-
ing conducted below, Is guided through
the maze OF owner1ess baggage until
presently, with starr, she cries out:
That's Bills bag, mister the one
Just oversyour cad! I knows It by the
patch I sewed In afore he started. !" 4
And while the woman waits, wide
eyed, her guide reads from the white
label tied to the sailors
sack: lillian Smith, a.. b.. ship
Southern Star. Washed overheard,
Des0lation strait. = s3$s.
That's I'm, !" says the wife. guIping
down her sorrow, and TIE great bag is
pulled from its resting place looking
like badly packed Christmas stock
Ing, warty and bullying In odd corners
with the dead seaman's belongings.
And on top are dashed his worn sea
boots and d rough parcel In thin for
eign paper which they found under
the pillow IN his bunk. Hard usage
and sea spray have played havoc with
the thin rice paper, and the secret that
Bill was guarding so jealousy appears
In the form Of a dainty daxen haired
doh, with mild blue eyes, calculated to
fascinate the heart OF any little maid
at sight.
cries the woman, proud for the
moment OF her husbands remem-
branca, that's for, Minnie. He said he
would bring tor send II, z she adds,
with unconscious pathos, 'sif he could
not come himself. z And she hides the
doll In her; shawl and In an outburst Of
emotion goes OF with her find, and Bill
disappears forever from history
There they lie in neatly ordered
rows, those old canvas bags, each with
its terse official label dangling from II,
q fine, faint odor OF foreign chimes per-
vading the gray dusk Of the passages.
Yet what q storehouse Of romance they
represent, what an Inspiration for some
Teufeldr okh Of the salt water! There
ts an Individuality about every homely
package. What, for instance; was the
fate Of the poor prentice lad who
owned that duck bolster and where Is
the mother whose gentle fingers stitch
ed his initials on 1t SO lovingly? The.
grim simplicity OF the official details
merely describes him as missing and
that's the end Of II. Poor mother! In
the next recess lie the worldly goods
OF a North sea whaler. You can still
smell the sperm oil distinctly when
you come within three yards OF them.
There Is an accordion on top OF the;
pile, with all the music long since out
Of II and half carved walrus tusk
beside Il, with picture OF the dead
mans ship on one side and on the 9TH
er q symbolic sketch Of himself at
home, one hand round his wife's waist
and a joyously large tankard Of beer
held aloft In the other.
A little farther on Is q sea stained
bag, q flute and an opium pipe, crossed
satire on top that is, the escutcheon.
All Sing and his. epitaph says he fell;
overheard somewhere In the roaring
forties. Luckless heather! 1t viii be
long swim home thence to- the ances-
trail burial place by the Yellow river.
And still q little farther on, amid the
tumble Of pathos and poverty, Of com
monplace and high romance, OF sea
chests and bags and baskets, ii cor
ner where those things are put which
have waited longest unclaimed; is an
Old portmanteau, gray with dust, yet
obviously OF better class than it's COM
panions In misfortune. You turn it's
breaking hinges gently, expecting tar
paulins and sou'westers, and there,
spoiled and yellow, but arranged with
feminine grace, is brides outfit. ev-
erything unused down to the modestIy
folded white gloves, rusty as their but
tons, and on the bosom OF the dress is
q photograph faded beyond recogni-
ton, with prayer book By 1t and 81
rose leaf still marking the marriage
service. G.
Az strange storehouse OF strange
things as any in the big city Ii this I'M
claimed property Office Of the docks.
and u few go to it's gray corridors to
search for traces Of the missing stilI
fewer come away IN q talkatiye mood.
Pail Mall Gazette.
Music as an Adjunct Ia Education. 81
q y has come to be very generally rec
ognized that music Is a great factor
" education. Robert Foresman lii the
Musical Standard says: ut helps the
other branches by accustoming the
children to respond to their impres.
sions BY teaching them how to express
themselves freely and naturally. III
may be made to help the enunciation
in reading; It may be made to empha-
SIZE and illumiHe the facts Ia history:
n ny b1a