Rensselaer Journal, Volume 12, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 January 1903 — ODD SOURCE OF REVENUE. [ARTICLE]

ODD SOURCE OF REVENUE.

Unolalmed Property Sold at Auction In England. Unclaimed property from London’s police headquarters, Scotland Yai'd, Is •old to retailers and by auction, and ■avea the British taxpayer as much as two pence per year, the proceeds going to defray state expenditures. Anything and everything, from a dinner service to a pair of gloves, goes to swell this total; and as to the latter articles, over 15,000 pairs of gloves a year are disposed of in this way, not counting those the railway companies sell. They fetch an average of six pence per pair; but there is another item of about 8,000 odd gloves, which are sold at a shilling a dozen, and of these peddlers buy the greater quantity, and by sorting them out and pairing them, get any number of good pairs of gloves at two pence a pair. A very large portion of the wares peddlers hawk about the country, by the way, are obtained from these sources. Umbrellas, sticks and other sundries come to an enormous total, and last year even jewelry was disposed of to the extent of £12,000. Valuables are kept for a term of years before being sold.