THE MYSTERY OF LOST PROPERTY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 14 September 1909, Page 4

THE MYSTERY OF LOST PROPERTY.

■ ' The British public has an idea that : the railway companies make a good i thing out* of the articles forgetful passengers leave behind them, hut a writ--1 er in the "Pall Mall" points out that the Lost Property Office of any com--1 pany is a department established en--1 tirely for the benefit .of absent-minded \ travellers, and results in a loss to the i company. The South-Eastern and , Chatham and Dover Railway, for in- ! stance, has to devote twenty-three warehouse rooms to the storage of lost property. The most extraordinary thing 1 about theTjUsiness is the neglect of peo--1 pie to inquire for articles they have lost. . One can understand people who drop i gloves in carriages^ — the annual total (s about Ip.PQO pairs — not! bothering j i about them, but why hundreds of thousands of umbrellas should remain unclaimed is a mystery. Surely a good 1 um--1 brella Is worth a journey to the office? Then every year a number of sporting guns are found in carriages, some of I them selling to dealers for twelve gui- 1 t neas. Why are these not claimed ? Why do 2000 people leave boots in ! trains? Are corns the cause? nave; '. these people other boots with them, or \ do they leave the station in their socks?; Is there a still deeper mystery attached to the lady's shoe and stocking found in a second-class compartment at Victo- . ' ria Station? There cannot be many. ' scales specially made for weighing babies, yet one was sold in a lost property auction this year, side by side with a l>icyele specially built for a trick rider. Enough jewellery is sometimes offered \ at a; sale to stock a fair-sized shop. ! What induces} ft mnn to leave on a staf tion platform two large blocks of oher- ; ry-wood, without any address attached? ; If he thought he had addressed them " properly, wihy were no inquiries. subs»- --' quently made? ' Th»- department takes great pains to trace these articles, but ; the public apparently does not nppre-piat-e Us efforts, ai(d vvhen asked to pay j a sfnair fee for storage, often grumble. i