Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-06

ONE sf'THE COLI. DroKAeEWu1T

notice Policeman Abram Houghlan, who
attends 10 the immediate personal bus
ness of the office, and who has sustained
this role for tWenty-four years. RrisS
and pleasant of manner is Mr.. HouEhlan.
and if You have had article stolen,
or otherwise mislaid. and il has been
gathered into the net of the police. lie
viii consult his books. wherein everything
of this sort is carefully noted and &C.
scribed and numbered, and YOU get your
property without any unnecessary delay.
If the article be jeweiry or cash Or
otherwise of considerable intrinsic value.
and, in the language OF Mr.. Wemmick,
portable property it will be taken from
the huge iron safe that You notice in
the room. oh. no. returns Mr.. Hough-
Ian, iaughingiy. to Your unsophisticated
query, I'VE don't keep everything in this
safe. Considering the fact that We have
an automobile and several horses and
wagons on our hands at the present mo-
ment not to mention several hundred
other rather bulky articles, we could
hardly manage that. You Will observe
that scarcely anything is kept In this
safe but jewelry and cash. Quite a lot of
it, too, Ell? Yes. there's about $1,000
worth in there row and sometimes we run
way up over that figure. Look at that
diamond brooch. Owner committed sui
cide-beautiful woman. No, To relatives
and no disposition OF the property. That
Will go into the fund for charitable pur-
poses in the District. so You see 1t VIII
DO some good after all. Of course. we
make every effort to locate relatives and
friends, but, as you VIII readliy realize,
this is sometimes quite impossible. The
articles that are not destroyed-and these
latter arc such as We could not grace
fully dispose of at our annual sa.e-yieid
the District tidy little revenue. For
instance, our last sale netted Us over
ill oh,
much more than $4,000 this year. All
this money is devoted TO charitable pur-
poses.
Now, if YOU want to look at some of
the articles We've got In the basement
go IN and get permission from Mai. Syl-
Vester. and he will detail nan TO SHOW
you round
Acting upon this friendly advice, you
meet and treat with the veteran head or
Wash:ngton's splendid police force. Albeit
stern of manner, Gs BELTS his office, Maj.
Sylvester is kindly and courteous and
gives a ready permission to visit the
strange and varied assortment OF articles
which are stored in the storerooms OF
the property clerks Office. Moreover, he
apnoints Mr.. Thomas McGrath as guide.
a policeman of herculean proportions.
whose rich accent baspeaks his Hibernian
origin. Now" says Mr.. McGrath.
We'll go to my room. hrst- In TINS
roomy apartment you notice an elderly
gentleman ndustIious!y writing in
book-it should be mentioned that books
appear TO play large part in the routine
of the property clerks Office. This func-
tionary has the duty OF carrying articles
required as evidence in criminal cases
to court, and is responsible for their safe
keepiuC on the floor Of tie room YOU
observe "A weird Regeneration of articles.
The latte have been recently received
from the various precincts. and are, like
Mr. Venus stock in trade. exceedingly
various.
..These queer looking bundles and this
sole leather trunk" says Mr.. Mcirath,
belonged to Il japanese gentleman who
had the misfortune to develop fitternlce