FINDER OF LOST PROPERTY

Evening Star, Issue 22359, 8 June 1936, Page 12

FINDER OF LOST PROPERTY

RETIRES FROM BRITISH RAILWAY There is a man who for 18 years has been finding what others lose on the Great Western Railway—now he is retiring with the ‘ ‘ finding ” of 1,000,000 things to his credit. This man is Mr H. W. Smith, chief of the railway’s lost property department. During these 18 years Mr Smith has been in charge of lost property ranging through a multitude of umbrellas to toy elephants and live parrots. No bass drum has as yet been reported. In a, normal year as many as 40,000 articles are left behind in t 1 > carriages of Great Western trains to London. They all come to Paddington Station to await claimants. Mr Smith believes that the most forgetful folk are ladies during sales times. “ They are so busy talking about their bargains after a shopping expedition.” he declares, “ that they go on talking until they reach the station, and then get out in a hurry—often leaving the ‘ bargain ’ behind on the rack.” Mr Smith’s lost elephant was six feet high, a toy one. It started its train journev a happy animal in charge of a- small boy’s father, and finished up, its dignity a little ruffled, waiting among the parcels and umbrellas. It eventually went home. One of'Mr Smith’s most amusing cases was that of the nresentation walking stick. When found it was seen to have the name and address of an array officer on it. It was returned to him. But he revealed that he had not seen the stick for years, having lost it in a train, not long after it was presented to him. Some other gentleman had apparently been using the stick in the meanwhile, until ho lost it, and its owner, via Mr Smith, found it.