The Morning herald., 1875-09-30
ANLLNINGTON TIRTUOSO.
Apou. .asIsaAlpYitJn itJn' Market street

eeeNarduffom the bnstleV there ~ the
habitat Of : senssnniAl being and the reper-
&,ry Of some millions Of things, ths least of
which isySGFfosity. Thingl aabec and old
are heal ssether as one would imagine
ssfs Tue precious and worthless sppiis ofa
sscked town in the far off days of in
discriminate pilfefine. Dust IN i" utter
sest," as ian idle singer Of an empty day."
fAe ,1asy-upped Morris, has 1t, coyers al,
from the painting OF our great grandmother
that hangs Hiumphantly over an antique
f6fa, to the old time piece that counted the
hOVfs In which John Hancock and his pa
txiOt'galsxy signed name after name to the
Nttlescsip Of freedom. 'Iwould set Oneb
finger a-drummtng on the bald head Of the
past 70 thMk, l3Dg over these relics Of an
cienS thines-the statues and medals, the
e0ina and books, thepaintingss inscriptions
and manuscripts, saved, inter dia,'"' said
the jolly old Keeper, to hfs Interviewer,
"ssvedi as n were, from the great fire Of the
old demon, Time" "And how long might
one ask msyst thee have been in this b1G-
ness-this following the steps the Kew. Dr..
Dryasdust 7" 'quoth the inquisitor-general
of the HERALD. "Sixty years or there
abouts," answered the antiquary and by
meaDs Of ~ walking stick, proceeded to point
out the various curiosities of the place. 1t
may as well be stated that this is the lar
gest Secondhand store," as its proprietor
insists upon calling it, anywhere in the
world. At least SO the old gentleman
stated, and it seems that the fraternity have
frequent trade communication with one
another orders, 0rtinstancc, come to this
city. from Boston, Chicago, New York ana
all the metropolitan places On the continent,
for specimens of old furniture, old books and
the like, when they cannot be filed at those
places. There IL IL four large rooms con
hected with the establishment, all of them
under the supervision Of the old gentleman,
who is vigilant enough to keep the artfu1
dodgers of the street from making off with
his collections. An exhaustive catalogue of
all the heaped-up commOnplaces and Won
ders would require respectable lifetime for
compilation and more than human patience
to examineFthoroughly. As matter Of
course there are many Of his collections pc
cularily local; and, as he is lifelong dill
ettante, things of no earthly interest to any
one but himself.
Among his valuables there are many
things that should belong to the Historical
Society Of this State. There is painting of
the Old Swede's church made years ago, be-
fore the buildil gs which now surrounded
that Oldest or among the Oldest of American
structures, were erected. 1t is finely execu-
ted and should be donated to the Society at
once by some. of our wealthy Licks. An
engraving of the Wesleyan Female College
on French street represents that institution
n {fc n, iSon dow lon. hnc, - Il
present sedate and matronly appearance.
The various clocks and regulators, any of
which, doubtless licked over the heads of
George and Martha Washington as they
dreamed OF the hallow een just past when
the lads and lasses, the danes and cavaliers
Of old Virginia had met in the early hours
1ud danced to the exhaustion of their hosts
courtesy and their own limbs, were arrayed in
the second room where they kept up
ceaseless count of the seconds that are for
gotten by the rest ofthe world. "It's the old
time they are counting; not the present."
the old time when Caesar Rodney rode
up to the Quaker City with lunch in his
saddle bags and schemes of American re-
bellion leaping to his mind as he would
ever and anon catch glimpse Of the steely-
waved Delaware on the right.
" Ahem-yes-my dear sir" said I, "why
not induce our Historical Society to pLr-
chase these relics or what is still better give
them to that benificient body 2" "Out on
the Historical men they've gone and put
their rooms and treasures in theatre; did
you ever know theatre that didn't burn
down; witness, forsooth, every house in
London in my grandfather's day, some two
hundred years ago, and the theatres in this
country its no use I'll never donate one
article until they remove thence, build a fire
proof temple and act little more liyely,'
said the venerable time-post Indignantly.
Among TIE SepgEaxiinys there is one that
Is said to be the first taken Of Washington
after lie was brought into prominent notice
Just after the death of Washington set Of
clocks were manufactured in France by men
whose admiration for the "a merican hero ran
in the direction of mementoes and remem-
brsnces, that contain On circular piece of
glass above the dial plate, miniature
monuments and circular pictures of Wash
ington hanging from the top. These were
called "Monumental clocks" and the one
now in the possession of our antiauaryis.
interesting from associated an
ecdotes. Of hooks, the collection is proba-
bly, no more curious than that of hundreds
Of others in the country, though there are
inany newspapers of great interest and value,
for the virtuoso has been great reader du.
ring his life and has consequently accumu.-
lated large number of journals and daily
records. -" ys ~.
But to pretend to fair enumeration of
the piles on Gpiks and masses On masses of
old chairs and desks and tables and furni-
ture of every description, any of which
Noah might have laden a second ark with:
and started Off directly for Wilmington to
classify the books and pictures and dincy ,
even to dust the surface of the
medley, would require thousand fold more
lime and industry than any American Jo-
names Factotums-as We all are-are {
knowntO possess.
The corpulcnt and iocular proprietor,w who
has ever remained, like Irving, in a state of
single blessedness, SO completely welded is 1
be to his relics and stories of trade, delights