The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-01-08
BEECHER'S ANNUAL AUCTION
PLYMOUTH CHURCH'S PEWS SOLD TO
TIE HIGHEST BIDDERS.
An Advance ofsB,si7 over Lat Years Sales
-Bcecher's Ideas OF Good Business-Tho~.
q. shearmnn's d-RuyIng by the Lumn

An Advance ofsB, SIT over Lat Years saiss
-Beecher's Ideas OF Good Busine.s-rho~
q. shearmnn's Btd-RuyiBg by the Lump.
The cries Of the auotioneer resounded In
Plymouth Church last night. and tho man who
hammered the olive wood desk in the pulpil
had IA attentive an audience rs ever Henry
Waf,i Deechcc.. ID. Tho President Of tho Board
OF Trustees. the boylsh- looking &c uaRenarian,
james Froeland. tho auctioneer. L. f. Hoyt. and
the portly Plymouth pastor stood in row
In the pulpit ntently gazing at the brass clock
In the rear. waiting for theIhands to mark OF
time enough for grace for those who were be-
lated. There was a congregation eager 10
spend monoy for Beecher. and somo lmpatiencs
was manifested. The Same small army OF loyal
Booohor man who f"rmad his ~-L.faaa;; In "a
days OF the scandal were conspicuous in tho
congregation. Then there was large COM
pany Of well-dressed women selecting from tho
charts OF scats those that their male compan-
Ions were to bid for. Mr. Beecher said. after Q
brief introduction:
Allow mo 10 say that from tho beginning
The pows are and have been made. as a matter
OF policy and principle. free 10 tho bidders.
There Is no moral lien on any OF them. II any
body wants Mr.. Clanin's pow there Is ono way
in which they can get It, and thoro is only one
way. and win guarantee thom
against his temper II thoy get ID
away from him. II anybody wants Mr..
sage's pew, they are at liberty to take II in the
lawful way by bidding more than he does. and
Will venture to insure him against any dis
turbance OF conscicnce that may nrisc. ! ap-
prehend thnt / am able to make a etate-
ment tonight that is without a parallel
on the, globe. | know tnat there IL
there IA not an psonns p Se ey ni n.y.
York that can show n business with such n min
imum loss as We can. You will bo rs much
gnpGSop pg c pe%s S Tor az" bo 20 EnGw @ ne Issr
amounts to about 81 900. .00O-that If. tho rentals
and the premiums-Or. 10 hc cxnct. 1868. .204 and
The loss in tho collection amounts to only s6,ls8.
Mr.. 3; v. White. can tell better than can.
lLaushtcrl But ii shows one thing. think-a
continued seriousness Of purpose and y con-
tinued appreciation of the privileges OF religion.
regard to the church-a fidelity which. II car
ricd out in every other part of those mems busi-
ness. would make them eminenuy men Of in-
tcgrity and honesty. At any rate II is good
truit Tor any church TO exhibit IN twenty-five
years. with rental OF nearly million dollars.
to have only t6 500 In round numbers Of loss.
There Is gentleman with us by the namo
OF Hoyt. He H. not skiliul in oratory but he 10
makes more than one speech year in church.
and h, will now take my place and keep you
The auctioncer then entered brlskly upon his
WORK. tho reward Tor which was nity-donnr
bank note at ,ne close. me terms q the ss sac
the sums bid were 10 be ndded to the fixed va
alton n the pew AMI that payments were re-
quircd semi.annuay in advance.
Now. what am offered Tor the first choioef'
said the auctionecr,
Three hundred" -Four hundred" came
from the lips Of half dozen.
FIVE Gried thin. musical voice. Ike
Sfsa sSa yoce r2nE nSn
Horace D. Clailin and he chose his Old pew No.
fixed rental Of the pew is il20. and tho whole
cost OF II TO him thus becomes $3.50. For the
1877. and $500 Ip the sale o Of is7s. INV '' "
Again the bidders shouted out three and four
sHndrs5 BID % 9 So aSg Sq eSdss ssrS SSw
lust behind the pastors. which has n rental OF
$40. He paid i5o5 premium for the same pew
MUM for pow l3l got the same pew last night
for .i20, The bidding was unusually spirited.
DfrS Tno OSas Sds gSH s. wR @ p&SSs &Ssas
storrs. slO5 Moses s. Beach. s4o5 Il. Cornell
White; 500; J. b. HUT t4o5; J, G; Wem-
1900 Il. 3. Benedict $500; NJ. Van Ingen. $500:
J.. $. Arnold. 5000; NJ. X Moody, $500; A.
s275 +. +. blake SIS s. b. Duryee. &C. s275; L
O. Parsons $3.50; q. I. Corwin. $3.50; NJ. O. Og-
Two hundred and twenty-five dollars were
bid for pew No. 80 by some one in tho back pnt
OF the house. and the auctioneer craned his mock
tercd once or twice indistinctly. Then somoons
"Thomns @ sherman"
"Oh." ." said the nurtioneer.
All" said the clerks.
"Humph 70 said ths pastor.
At O'Clock tho premiums were down to $685.
and later down to 800. Then they began 70
dwlnile until the pcws. where the pastor could
be hoard and not seen were sold at a premium
OF - Sexton Weld took a lot OF ten in lump
at u each. pres umably on speculation. -
Tho total premiums amounted TO t27970
nukcs the total Of lie saics iiO72i. mn excess OF
t3Sl7 over tho sales OF last year The receipts
for 1871 were SiSizO; for 1876 1858 ESQ; Tor
1873, s1O3l9 for 1874 t59 $50 tor 1873. t6O,230
for 1872. SEQ. 1870; and Tor 1871. s57.G2O.