Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-20
IN THE DEADROOM

This" he said, has been dubbed the
deadroom by employees. because 1t is
used entirely for the storing of stuff that
has remained unclaimed for many years on
lethe lower floors. The amount of furniture
and other valuable gear that eventually
lands in the deadroom Is surprising. We
usually keep things placed in storage here
in the places originally set aside for them
for a matter of ten years SO. II they re-
main unclaimed at the end Of that time and
all of our efforts to ascertain the addresses
Of the owners is unavailing, the stuff is then
shifted to this room to make space for
newly stored things. We could auction
| such stuff off If we chose but we rarely
put anything under the hammer. for the
reason that claimants for old-time stuff
turn up every once in while.
This room contains many complete sets
OF superb housefurnishings. Some OF the
household furniture has been stored with us
for twenty years and more, and some of
this deadroom material. of which the own
ers have apparently lost track. was placed
here by notable people of other decades.
and the ignorance of the owners as to the
location of this stuff Is almost as surprising
as the lukewarmness of some of them In the
matter of relieving Of 1t after we have
been at considerable pains to trace them
an dto notify them that we have their stuff
In hand, 1t Is hard to understand this. for.
while in such cases the accumulated stOr-
age charges pretty steep. they are often
not worth mentioning in comparison with
the great value of the articles stored and
forgotten.
"Ill give you an instance Of this. More
than two decades ago the minister pleni-
potentiary of a leading European country
that before the days of ambassadors
here-was suddenly recalled by his govern
ment to take another diplomatic post. He
hastily packed the furniture of his estab-
lishment-fne stuff. most of which he had
brought from Europe-and stored 1t with
us. stating that he would send for 1t as soon
as he got settled the other side. AL
though we have repeatedly written to him
he Is now one of the leading diplomatists Of
Europe-we have never heard from him
down to the present hour. l should esti-
mate the value Of the stun he has stored
here to be at least $4,000. and the aggre-
gate of the storage charges Is certainly not
more than s., 200. The only way to account
for his Indifference is that he Is SO rich that
a few thousands of dollars worth of furni-
ture scattered here and there don't cut
much of figure with him.
THE persistency with which some people
hang on to old pianos Is a curious thing.
There are hundreds of pianos in this ware
house. and some Of them have been here for
two decades. Many Of these old pianos
must have cost a good deal of money when
they were new. but they are now out-of-
date tin pans. There Is a grand piano here
that was put in storage twenty-five years
ago by literary man of former fame who
spent a number OF years Of his early sue
cess in Washington. 1t was an old instru-
ment even when he placed 1t here. but al
though he had no room for 1t in his house,
he couldn't bear the idea of disposing of 1t.
for 1t was the plano upon which his only
daughter had performed almost up to the
day of her death. So he had 1t trucked
down here and here IT. likely to remain for
a good many years after we've all
cashed in.
Then, too. people store comparatively
o&l IN
remain here for years. when the bill for
storage has crawled into heavy figures.
they turn up. pay the storage bill-which
sometimes amounts to almost the value of
the instrument-take the thing away and
make room for another piano There was
an odd old chap In here the other day. I
hadn't seen him before for three years.
when he placed an old square piano In
storage here.
well he said when he came In. I'm
after that plano OF mine. How much are
the charges? All right. Here's the money.
Now. I'll tell you something about that
piano. 1t cost me $500 in 1870 I was fg
urlng the thing out the other day. and I
discovered that aside from this original
price. the old pan has cost me nearly $1,000
since l bought It. How do / make that
over the United States any number of
times from Maine to California and from
Michigan to the gulf. and the moving
charges were more than $1,000. Then I've
naQ IL IN storage pretty near as OIlen anu
that cost me a lot of money. In hard times,
before I learned how to make money, I've
soaked 1t for almost its full value dozens
of times. and I've had to pay the interest
on these loans for several years at clip.
But the big item Of expense in connection
with that piano Is that I've raised three
crops of children on it. Been married three
times and each of my wives had plenty of
young ones. mostly girls Wen. I've given
every last one Of those girls piano lessons,
and that's the piano they whacked In learn
Ing how to play Cost Of lessons. pretty
close to 5000. I'm not taking it away now
because need It, for I'm dead certain that
none of my girls still with me would play
on 1t with golf sticks. but want to have 1t
around the house and look at 1t. for the
history Of that piano is virtually the history
of my life. You've got 1t for the last time.
for I'm going to turn 1t loose to Craze and
finish its old age in comfort the third
floor of my house. Got to put 1t in my own
den, for the girls wouldn't stand for it's be-
ing in any other section OF the house.
People bring lot OF things here to be
kept In storage because they deem them
too unlucky to be kept around their houses.
There's an exceedingly fine marble bust of
Clytie here that has an odd history. 1t was
done by famous local sculptor OF a gen
GRAFTON ago. The sculptor's eldest son was
exceedingly dissipated. and In the course of
time his excuses affected his mind. He
suffered from melancholia. and one Of his
Authorizations was that the eyes OF this
bust Of Clytie. which rested on a pedestal
in the hall of the house IN which the sculp-
tors family lived were constantly regard
Ing him reproachfully. This fancy grew
upon him till he began to rave over 1t, and
one day he got a hammer and was on the
point of destroying the beautiful work of
art when one OF his sisters carried the bust
out of his reach and the family brought the
bust here for safe keeping. They did not
care to take 1t away after the young mans
death in asylum, on account of it's
gloomy association with his insanity, and
so here 1t remains.
There Is an exceedingly beautiful and
ornate gold hited Moorish scimitar In this
deadroom that has been here for many
years. 1t brought here by gentleman
who had been United States minister to
Turkey. He told me that he had never had
a days luck since he became possessed OF
the scimitar. which had had a pretty san
culinary history before 1t passed into his
hands: that death and misfortune had been
rife In his family ever since the blade had
been given to him. He put it in our charge
with the remark that he might call for 1t
some day after the commonplace exorcism
of a storage warehouse had deprived 1t of
its curse. but 1 have never seen or heard
from him since"
General Del Rey.
From the New York Sun.
Ell Caney should have monument tn