Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1876-01-27
WASH n CROW.
CURRENT MEWsAT the CAPITAL
The :. DeaA.Lsttsr,, sale.

The - 0eA4.L0tt0fs' SALE
OPENING OF TEE BIENNIAL AUCTION At WARRINGTON
CURIOUS PARCRLA AND !" BITTBN' BIDDRRa-
THE STIMULUS OF BUYING sI0HT UNskRN."
Correspondence of the co'~~ss'stat.
WARRINGTON, Jan. 10.
Just how Washington offers an attraction OF .
peculiar nature and out OF the usual line. 1t 10
the dead letter sale by the Post Office Depart
ment. Through carslessness Of the senders.
thousands Of letters are mailed every year with
out proper address; and not only that, but with
ont proper signature, 30 that the address Of
the writer Of the letter cannot be asoertsined.
All these letters find, in due course Of time,
their way to tho " Doad-lettsr Office" At Wash
ington, from where such are returned to tho
senders as can bs returned, while those in which
the address of the sender cannot be ascertained
are destroyed. ..
MANY OF TuEsH LKrTEns CONTAIN
articles Of one kind or another, sent ~ souvenirs
or presents, and they are carsfully preserved
s.o ca-~,osued.
At the end Of two years, when this misosils-
neous collection has attained rathor astonishing
proportions, the entire collection is divided up
In suitable lots which are sold at suction to the
highest bidder This year, the collection en-
braces some nine thousand lots and 1t would
be difficult to find an article that is not
represented In this collection-All the way from
paper OF pins, to set of diamond jewelry /;
from two sheets OF note paper, to . live alliga-
tor in box As, under the new system, pack
ages weighing a. much - four pounds can be
sent through the mail, there are quite number
OF articles that come In boxes or packages, be-
ing too bulky for letters such as sewing ma
chimes (of which there are several. minus the
table,, silver spoons and forks, babies' out Its,
pipes, cigar holders and any quantity Of em-
IRA hnnk M rka
enough, ono would think, to supply half Of the
civilized world and
rABLE-LINEN, BED-cLorHEs,
underclothing of all kinds, and tableware
enough to start dozen families comfortably In
housekeeping. And all these things, not few
Of which are of considerable value, all unclaimed
articles from the 'dead" letters. sent out into
body to somebody else but whom, when, or
where will forever remain = mystery.
This curious auction commenced yesterday,
and will be continued for at least . month to
come, until all the articles have been disposed OF.
As matter Of curiosity went there, and found
the suction rooms crowded to their utmost ca
pacity fully half an hour before the sale was to
commence. The audience was ''mixed" one,
composed of al classes aud both sexes, without
regard z ags color and previous o condition ,s Of
correspondent, were guided only BY curiosity
people who came to buy on "spec'; others, who
having little money to invest, thought this
would be = good opportunity to get birthday
present for some friend or other, cheap and .
large number who came simply because others
came, and who wanted merely to zee
"wHAr WAS THE MATTER"
Those who came to buy on speculation, to sell
again, (mostly Jews and keepers Of second. hand
clothing stores and pawn-shops), were bnsily
poring over their catalogues, marking the lots
on which they intended to bid and At precisely
twelve o'clock the sale commenced with lot No.
1.-TWO necktes," which were knocked down at
40 cents. Lot No. 2, tone pair Of bra
oes," went for fifteen cents 8 and lot
No. 3.one harmonicon," brought the IA
bulous sum Of one dollar. Twenty-Five machine
needles and one bodkin were offered In one lol
gloves were bought by one-armed soldier fol
twenty-five cents for the lot; but then he had
no competitor. One lace collar was put up Qo
1919 and was knocked down At thirty eight cents
when it was discovered that
n WAS REAL POINT LACE,
worth at least thirty dollars. the lucky pur
chaser, "a oolored woman with . babe in ho
/ venture u say will invest every cont Of tha
| fifteen dollars st the sale In the hope Of buyinI
some more real lace collars
This sale created f,lrore, and bids ran some
what higher and were more spirited. Tn
| auotioneer held the articles to be sold, one b.
one, up in his hand, in full view Of the audience
but nobody except the suctioneer and his assis
tants wore permitted to hsndle them until Afte
they were sold. Presently. ladies pocket hand
kerchief WAS put up; it looked ysllowish and dir
ty, and the auctionesr suggested that it must b.
lace The bid was started 1t 80 cents, ant
through 75 cents, jumped up to dollar, dsllar
and-a.half, two dollars, two-and-a-hAlf, thre
dollars, three and a-half four dollar, mp It wen
till it reached seven dollars, when it was knock
cd down and found to be the comm0nest kind o
imitation, worth sbout thirty or forty cents.