Nov. 13, 1919
Spanish nobles’ luggage missing
When the Count and Countess las Condes des Arcentales of Spain arrived in New York City following a visit to Scranton, the royal couple discovered something was missing.
The missing something wasn’t a souvenir from their stay in the Electric City. It was their luggage.
The royal couple arrived in Scranton on Nov. 10, 1919, and stayed the night at the Hotel Casey and moved on to New York City the following day. Their visit to Scranton was part of their honeymoon tour of North America.
According to the New York City police, when the couple arrived at the Hotel Touraine in Manhattan, they discovered only two of their six traveling trunks made it to the hotel.
Upon opening the two trunks, it was discovered they were filled with kindling wood. The couple, through the assistance of a friend and Scranton native, Dr. Peter Gibbons, alerted the New York City Police Department. They said the two trunks that arrived at the New York City hotel should have contained gowns, furs and jewelry that the countess received as wedding gifts. The couple estimated the value of the missing items in the two trunks to be $35,000.
The New York City Police contacted the Hotel Casey about the trunks. The Casey’s management said only two trunks were brought to the hotel from the Lackawanna Station on Nov. 10. When the couple left the next day, the hotel’s porter transported the two trunks back to the station. The management of the Hotel Casey told the NYPD they were confident the trunks were not looted in their hotel.
Two NYPD detectives were assigned the case to locate the missing four trunks and the missing contents of the other two trunks.
Shopping list
Smoked hams were 21 cents per pound, smoked bacon was 39 cents per pound, a quart of fresh oysters were 39 cents, 15 pounds of turnips were 35 cents, a large package of Quaker oats was 24 cents, two cans of Campbell’s Baked Beans were 25 cents and a pound of butter was 67 cents.
BRIAN FULTON, library manager, oversees The Times-Tribune’s expansive digital and paper archives and is an authority on local history. Contact Brian at bfulton@timesshamrock.com or 570-348-9140.