Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 June 1877 — What’s in the Rag Bag? [ARTICLE]

What’s in the Rag Bag?

The “ finds” in the rag-bag and the rubbish heap are sometimes not a little carious. A mistress allows Betty, the maid, to, keep a rag-bag, and occasionally Betty yWhafto the temptation of patting into that bag articles which are certainly not rags. Bat apart from any suspicion of dishonesty, valuables find themselves in very odd places, through Inadvertency or forgetfulness. We need not ssy much

about such small creatures as insects, spiders or lizards, that are found by the pa-per-makers in bundles of esparto; they aye unwelcome intrusions rather than finds. A patent-lock was once found among the contents of a family rag-bag; and as it - was worth five shillings, the buyer was well content. An old Latin prayer-liook, bought as waste paper, had a bundle of nails, curiously linked together, packed inside it. Half-sove-reigns and other coins are found in castott pockets, in the beeia of old stockings, and inside the linings of dresses. An eld coat, purchased by a London dealer, revealed the fact—a joyful fact to4he buyer —that the buttons consisted of sovereigns covered with cloth. Three pounds sterling, in German paper money, found their nay into a bundle of German rags that reached a paper-maker. The London rag-brigade boys once found a bank checkbook, and on another occasion six,pairs of new silk stockings, in waste paper and rags which they had bought; these .unexpected articles were, to the honor of .the brig-; ade, at once returned. A rare find -once occurred in the Houndsditch region. A dealer—of the gentle sex, we .are told—gave seven pence and a pint of beer for a pair of old breeches; whale the bargain was being ratified at a public-house, the buyer began to rip up the garment, when out rolled eleven golden guineas wrapped! up in a thirty-pound bank-note. We. rather think, that in strictness of the law, the guineas of this treasure-trove belonged to the Crows; but most likely the elated buyer and the mortified seller made merry over the windfall. Many people, in the days when backing was little.understood, had a habit of concealing their spare money about their persona; thus, an old waistcoat, bought for .a trifle, was found lined with bank-notes. But of all the finds, what shall we think of .a baby ? A paper manufacturer assures rs that in a' bag of rags brought from Leghorn, and opened at an Edinburgh paper .mill, atiny baby was found, pressed almost iflat — Chamber'* Journal