The sun., 1908-05-03
GAMBLING ON THT TRUNKS
MEN AND WOMEN TAKE CHANCES
on DETAINED LUGGAGE.
sale at Auction of the BelOnglngs Of de-
llnqucnt Guests at HOtels--Vlstas Of
Stories Both Pathetic and Tragio-Lit.
tic PrOnt In the sales for the Hotels.

tle PrOnt In the sales for tho Hotels.
Hotels rarely profit to any great extent
by holding the luggage Of delinquent guests,
/ II Is in few cases valuable enough to pay
any great part Of their indebtedness
II is chiefly tho dress suit case and the
handbag, the steamer trunk and the carry
all that accumulate In tho dusky corners
Of the baggage room. Such luggage Is
rarely reclaimed. When il has accumu-
lated to the point Of driving out what the
porters call the live baggage, on Ms carted
to an auction room TO go 70 the highest
bidder.
II was tho accunnlations Of half dozen
large hotels that transformed the rear Of
an auctioneers place on Fourth avenue
into a great baggage room. TO the ceiling
were piled trunks Of varied sizes and vim
tagCs,
The light falling through the skylight
! liz up q dingy lot Of labels, Some OF the
| trunks had travelled far 10 judge from
their symbols. Others had no more dis
tinguished features than the labels Of local
express companies.
About them was hand baggage Of every
kind. Neat little satchels, which Sshould
have been enough in themselves 10 inspire
distrust, lay cheek by jowl with fair leather
kits arrogantly proolaiming their British
origin. Paper boxes, wooden instrument
cases, rolled up overooats and plain every
day brown paper bundles were to be found
among the lot.
The most hardened auctiongoer would
have found little to allure him in the outfit.
Dingier lots never met the eyes Of pros
pective purchasers. There was nothing
decorative, moreover, about the twenty
men and women who gathered between
these four walls Of trunks facing the auo-
tioneer on his raised platform.
They we're generally dark and keen
eyed, and glanced Searchingly at the trunks
as n to penetrate their sides and see how
much OF bargain they really were. The
women, who we're dressed with as little
regard 10 appearances as their competitors
OF the other seX, met the men on equal
terms, jostling and elbowing them with
familiarity.
All seemed 10 have equal confidence in
one test. The tonic quality Of the sound
produced by rap on box or trunk satisfied
them completely as 10 whether 1t was full
or empty.
"The regular old guard observed the
auctioneer as he looked at them moving
uneaslly about like crows before settling
on their prey, 'out for anything that looks
like bargain
Such sales do not possess any such luGuri-
ious souvenir as catalogue. Nor did the
auctioneer make any effort TO stimulate
curiosity in what he was about to offer,
He began curtly.
NO. trunk
His assistant pointed it out, Twenty
pairs OF eyes looked up at it, Some
Of them could read the letters on it and ap-
preciate their significance, Panhandle
Pete" read the legend followed by the words
Hotel
.Teayter,' one Of the men observed
and two women who heard him got into q
dispute as to whether there might be theatre
costumes in IT, The auctioneer went on
mechanically mumbling the amount that
had been bid.
Mems or womens clothes?' asked one
Of the two who had been disputing as TO its
contents.
Their inquiry was ignored The trunk
was knocked down finally for S.7j
"No trunk" was the hald description
Of the next lot 1t was substantial, well
made affair and brought IS.
Full o. gold dollars, Mrs. Cohen OBJ
served a bidder who had refused TO follow
his competitor to such dizzy heights. Say,
you got bargain
mot gold dollars" answered Mrs. C.,
who was as skilful in repartee as commerce;
"diamints'
There we're other theatrical trunks among
the lot hearing known but not famous
names. None was provided with key, so
the lucky bidders had to wait longer than TO
the end of the sale to find what they had
really got,
The auctioneer confined himself TO merely
announcing the number and then mum
bling the sums offered Only the appear
ance of the trunks and the tone Of the an
swer to the questioning knock intimated to
the group the value Of the lots.
A sole leather trunk stamped with coro-
net and bearing a label to show that il had
at least accompanied its owner once across
Europe on the Oriental Express and had
come to this country in equally aristocratlo
fashion TO judge by the steamers name,
sold for few dollars. kit that would
have cost 325 in London went for quarter
Of that sum.
Hat boxes were numerous and one Of the
double barrelled kind went for less than 81.
The trunks ranged from IS TO 3s.
"What'll they do with emf asked the re-
porter Of the auctioneer in an interval Of
the prosaio disposition OF the lots,
Get rid OF 'em some way or another, he
answered Several among the bidders sell
second hand trunks, but most Of them deal
in castof clothes They gamble on what
they may find inside and rely on getting rid
Of the trunk. They won't get stuck, that's
certain
The trunks went. II was then that tho
auctioneer turned his attention TO the mis-
cellaneous objects to be sold during the
interlude preceding the sale OF the hand
baggage.
Here was some pathetic driftwood from
the little hotel tragedies In an elaborate
mahogany box, carefully edged in brass
and lettered on top were the words, Capt,
Ten Broeck The Ten Broeck Patent Gun
Patented July 10, 1902 was evidently the
treasured invention Of the Captain, who
had been compelled to leave il behind him
when he departed from the Broadway hotel
, he had selected as the headquarters Of his
metropolitan campaign. Attached TO tho
box was a card showing that the Captain
hailed from town in the Southwest.
The whole history Of his failure was
epitomized in the sale OF the box, which
excited as little interest among the bidders
there as the invention had among the New
York capitalists that the inventor had come
to New FORK 10 interest. II took little
knowledge of hotel life in New York 10 read