Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-10-11
Cheap MummieS.
From the N. Y. Times, Sept. %.

Cheap Mummies.
From the N. Y. Times, Sept. o.
Patriots and philanthropists out to be
greatly encouraged by the sale of Pc
ruvlan mummies and gods which took
took place in this city on Tuesday last.
The prices obtained show that the eff
fects of the panic have finally begun to
pass away, and thai the necessaries of
life cannot much longer be sold at
prices which pinch the poor and pain
the rich.
The mummies in question were not
quite as valuable as the best quality of
Egyptian mummies, but they were of
the very finest brands of South Ameri-
can mummies. The stock included
mummies in the original imported
packages, and others which had been
husked, or, in other words, strippe1 Of
their outer coverings The prices
ranged from $11 for full grown un
wrapped mummy to fifty cents piece
for a job let of mummied babies, while
fine collection of thirty-fve Peruvian
skulls, of assorted size and sexes, were
sold for the trif1ing sum of $97 so.
The prices OF Peruvian deities were
equally low. A fine wooden god eight
feet in height brought only $3.50, and
another six feet Il height sold for half
that sum. The small vest-pocket gods
were sacrificed aI prices almost as low
as those charg / n the shop FOR india
rubber dolls with the patent squeak
attachment. Indeed a person of the
illogical tast~ might have bought q
large-seized parlor idol besides filling
bis pockets with portable deitic3, for
little more than toe price OF the red
dest ard yellowest plize chrome now
in the market.
The chief use Of the mummy,
is as a substitute for coal and
lamp-hghters. Being impres mated with
bitumen, and thoroughly dried, it IS
wonderfully combustible. In fact, the
mummies supply 'he native Egyptians
with their best aud cheapest 1uel. A
party Of Bedor'ns encamped il the
neighborhood OF a mummy pit will boil
Their coffee-or rather rhe w1ter Win
which coffee = n9 l. " IT'D the heat OF
half dozen fingers; while a single adult
leg, thrown on the FIRE as back-lo g
will give cheerful bl3ze during an
entire night. If we assume that Iull-
grown Peruvian can produce as much
heat as ton OF anthracite coal-and
this estimate IS probably much too low
it follows that Peruvians at $500 ar }
cheaper than coal at $40 per ton
Judging from last tuesdays sale, any
householder with an eye to business
can lay in his winter stock OF Peruvian
mummies at the rate OF S. each. Thus
he not only securing cheap fuel, but he
also has the aesthetic satisfaction af-
/ fOrded by the cheerful way in which a
mummy blazes. To sit by an open fire.
place and throw on head, limb, or
occasionally an entire mummied baby,
is q pleasure which the consumer of
coal. whether he uses q CRATE or a
closed stove, can never know. Furth-
ermore, a mummied arm makes a cap
ital torch for the purpose of lighting
gas chandeliers. One has merely to
touch match TO the fingers, and they
blaze up with soft and rose-colored
| flame, which is far better than that
| yielded by a kerosene torch, and pos
sesses the additional advantage of be-
| ing readily put out by the aid of COM
mon thlmble used as an extlnguisher.
What has caused this sudden decline
in toe price of gods and mummies is
not yet known. Possibly some great
Peruvian mummy combination or idol
monopoly has fallen to pieces, and it is
thus no longer possibleI to compel the
the public to buy its mummies and
gods at artificial and exorbitant prices.
However this may be, the news that
dead Peruvians have fallen to an aver
age price of IS each, and that Peruvian
deities of the very largest size are worth
only $3.50 in open market, ought to
send a thrill Of Joy through every pat
riotic heart, and give us fresh conf
dence in the future ct our beloved
country.