A "PIG IN A POKE."

Colonist, Volume LX, Issue 14652, 5 March 1918, Page 3

A "PIG IN A POKE."

SALE OF UNCLAIMED LUGGAGE,

There is an old saw which gives some warning about "buying a pig in a poke." But the author of it, while no doubt supported by the strength *of cold reason, evidently took little count of the desire to. get "something for nothing" that is such an intensely human trait of humanity the world over. And it was no doubt that desire, allied with the element of gam bio,' so dear to the heart of the average .New Zealander, I that yesterday attracted a very large crowd of people to the" sale of lost and unclaimed luggage, which, is held every year at the instance of the llaiiway Department ■ (says the Christchurch "Press").

It was a~ motley crowd, good tempered to a degree, that clustered round the barricade in which were placed the articles for sale. And a heterogeneous collection of articles it was, comprising all sorts of surprising things. Umbrellas I and coats and books, one naturally expects to see at a sale of this sort; but , who would expect to find such things as a baby's cot, a drum of ammonia, six enamel sinks, a violin, a luminous J watch, and other miscellanea labelled ias "lost luggage"? j The sale, started at one o'clock with ■ the disposal of some tin trunks. Usually at these sales bidding for this class of thing is fairly spirited, and good prices obtain; but yesterday the trunks did not bring forth any but moderate bids, it may have been on account of the gruesome tale which a gentleman of melancholy feature was whispering to members of the crowd about him with harrowing detail.

"When the New "York Central Railway had their last sale," ran the narration, "somebody paid eight dollars for a tin trunk, and when it was opened there was a dead baby inside/ Shudders from the listeners followed, and the purchasers of trunks who opened them on the' spot were watched with grim arid frightful anticipation. However, nothing sensational came to light, although one man who bought a heavy tin box for a little over two pounds, was surprised and delighted to find his purchase contained books to the value of over £20. On the other hand, an important looking dispatch case of heavy black leather, for which there was eager bidding, brought forth nothing but ihe remains of a sandwich lunclieon and a mouldy table napkin, while a woman who paid fifteen shillings for a folded-up coat found, on inspection, that it was torn to ribbons! Other articles sold comprised endless "swags,'1 hat boxes, wristlet watches, a baby's basket, a big Teddy Bear, cornsacks, a waghstand, brief bags, and suit cases, a beautiful rug (which, by the way. went for fourteen shillings), a stretcher, a sewing machine, and innumerable other odds and ends. For the sum of six shillings a returned soldier obtained a fine fishing rod in firstclass order, with a silver handled umbrella thrown in—ail undoubted bargain. Not io, however, was a bottle of pallid whisky, which actually fetched moi-e that its retail price. A number of bicycles sold very cheaply, the highest mark reached being £2 12s, while bundles of umbrellas, some of them of beautiful finish and expensive mounting, went literally for a "song," such bundles —each bundle containing lour or P.ve umbrellas—rarely fetching ten shillings. : .'•