Hawaii Holomua, Volume I, Number 55, 21 November 1893 — CURIOUS FISDS ON THE LINE. [ARTICLE]

CURIOUS FISDS ON THE LINE.

In aJ<lition to tbe broken bottles, obi new>iiajiers, aml empty fniit baskets whieh are the most eommnu »»{ articles flrop{*eil frora passinj? trains, the pl»telayers aml otbers at work on the track soraetimes eome acros~ tjnds of greater valae. N<»t long since a valaable <liaraon<l brooch was found on a North London line by a man cinj>loyed in picking up scraps of paper and whieh it transpire<l h;i'l fallen fr<»m the <lress of a voung lady, who had been lookinj.; from tlie carriage wimlow at the house of a frieml as the train {<:iss»mI by. Soine vears ago a medical gentlenian, t.»king a walk near Hunstanton, was suprised to see a pieee of |ia{)er eome dying out < f llu. 1 wimlow of a third-class carriage of a {>assing exjiress, and whieh, when it settled at his feet, he discovered to be a tivo {iouiul note. Coutinuiug his ramblo, lio on his return, called at the railwav statiou aud leumml that inqnirv had already been ma<le for the missmg {iiece of paper, whieh belouged to a clerk who, start ng for his annual holiday, had beeu reckoniugup his assets, when a gust of wind as the train rounded a curve h:ul borne best purt of them way. At Liverpool Street Station a short while ago a geutleman se:iteil in a secoml-class carriage <lrop{ e<l his umbrella. whieh fell <lown between tho carriage aud the platform. Imagining that he shoukl no doubt be ahle to vecover it when tho train had gone, he waite<l ou the station and theu got u |*orter to jurap dowu on to the line; but, though search was ma<lo from eml to end, no umbrella eoukl be found. Next day it was ;iicked up by a railway omployee iu the opeu countrv near Loughton. having travelled all that distance on the lower steps of the carriage. The discovery of a stick, hat, pair of gloves, and blood-stained overcoat on the railway line naturallv led the otlicials, at a little SouthCoast station uot longsince, to iraagine that somo dreadful iragedy had occnred. Search, however, failed to reveal auy mutilated body lyiug near the rails, and the matter remained a mysterv. until it was discovered that the {>resence of these articles on the line was simply the rnse of their possessor, a defanltingbank cashier, to create au impression that he had committed suicide, and so render his escape more easy. An employee on the Great Western Kailway one morning, as he was walking to work, saw nn elderly gentlcman open tbe door of the carriage in whieh he waa travelling and make frantic et!orts to recover a small parcel, whieh he had dropped npon the footboard. The jolting of the train, however, as it crossed the points, dislodged the paroel before he eouhl seize it, when it was promptly picked up by the }iassing employee and lodged with the station-master, {*ending inquiries being made for it. llemembering the strenuous elforts whieh he had seeu made for its recoven'. the finder flattered bimseH that it must be something valuable, and delightful visions of a Iiberal * - tip * tioated before his eyes. After five or six days, however.

———— nothing further being heanl, it was decided to see what the package contained, and in the {iresence of the complete station stati, the covering was removed and a tiu box revealed to sight. As tbe lid was taken oti expectatioh ran high. but the witnesses soon beat a speedy retreat, as, with the raising of the lid, hundreds of augrv blue-bottles poured out, settling even where aro’:nd. The box, evi»leutly belonging to some arden fishermau, had coutained a copious snpply of gentles, whieh, lving in the sunshine by the booking olhee window, had speedily hatche<1 into full-blowu insects. (Tit Rits).