Great Falls daily tribune., 1919-09-17
HASKIN LETTER
THE DEAD BEAT AND HIS BAGGAGE.
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN

1t has been complained by purchasers
that much Of the baggage is tampered
with and many articles Of value removed
before it is sent to the auction rooms,
SO most of the higher class hotels now
have each trunk and suit case firmly
sealed before it is taken from bedroom.
The other day there were at least a
dozen trunks stacked in the auction
room. whose locks had obviously been
opened.
as he pointed to them one by one. If all
the hotels would adopt the sealing sys-
tenn they'd get more money from the
sale"
Besides the piles of trunks and bags
there were many musical lnstrumen
one violin cello, several mandolins and
violins-and miscellaneous articles, such
as work baskets, mirrors and even small
pieces of furniture.
"The hotel kept that cello for three
years before it sent it down here said
Mr.. Livingston, hoping that the man
would get the money to pay his bill and
regain possession of it. The manage
ment knew the man-but he never seem
ed to be able to get start again.
"See those two trunks there?' he
continued, pointing to couple Of be-
draggled steamer trunks. Those belong
TO COUPE OI WOmpH VINO utdt wv
hotels for their room and board, and
now they're is another one. just
tipped the management off the other
day. Women are the worst beats of all
Some of them seem to do 1t just tor
the excitement These two, for instance
have brother who is we'll known law
yer in New York
On the day Of the sale. long line of
men is always standing in front of the
store. which becomes mob as soon as
the auction room is opened They are,
with few exceptions, of two classes.
spectators. who buy merely for the
gamble; and second hand dealers, who
count upon securing profitable contents
for their push carts. As Mr.. Livingston
points out they must be satisfied with
what they get because the same men are
always present at each sale. Zach man
must deposit twenty-five dollars upon
entering the sale room. and any surplus
over the price of his purchase is returned
to him when the sale is over. Some of
the dealers are SO anxious to examine
the contents of their purchase that they
rush out without securing this refund.
but their forgetfulness is never nerman-
ent
The instances in which articles of
great value have been found are SO rare
that they are regarded as part of
American history among the dealers OF
Hester and Orchard streets. One of
these occurred when Hebrew peddler
bought a bag for five dollars. At first
it appeared to contain nothing more
valuable than clothes. But upon taking
out a garment and shaking it. the dealer
was amazed to see a string Of pearls
fall out With trembling hands he picked
them UP, and at once he was the center
of group Of excited men. eager to see
how much they were worth. AZ it hap
pened they were worth 5000. Mr..
Livingston is willing to vouch for the
veracty Of this. because the police were
going to arrest the dealer thinking he
had stolen the pearls. and the auctioneer
had to go to court and swear that they
had been bought
Another instance was that of man
who had bought a trunk. and was sur
prised to find inside leather bag CON
tanning many pieces Of old silver. upon
the proceeds of which he is now edu-
eating his family. This, however, hap
pened to be the result of a mistake made
by hotel porter, which eventually cost
the hotel So ZOO. The couple who own
ed the silver were living in the hotel at
the time, paying their bills. and had
given the silver to the porter to store
in the hotels baggage room.
Still another case, which is not SO
pleasant but lives in the memory of the
dealers because of its great dramatic
value, was that of man who opened a
suit case and found therein the corpse
of a new horn baby. The police were at
once notified, but all efforts to locate
the owner of the bag proved futile It
was left by a woman who had occupied
an expensive suite of rooms, had paid
her bill and had gone away. apparently
forgetting her suitcase.
SiOrp the priFn Of leather has para mn
the proceeds of these sales of discarded
baggage are much greater than they used
TO be. Formerly, the sale opened with
a bid of a dime or a quarter: now the
bids run from dollar up to eighty and
ninety dollars. If dealer spies hotel
man among the purchasers. the bidding
at once becomes furious. leapins five and
ten dollars at time Then great is the
joy of the purchaser il he gets bar