Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-10-29

| Babylon, and the ''slave auctions" OF modern
American The former have read of with slight
amazement, but the latter I have witnessed
with indescribabe pain. and have not A word to
say IN defence OF the men who could sell their
feilow-bengs under the hammer-but thanks IN
the war OF our rebellion. such things will never
again be tolerated on American soil.
Like all professions, this one TO which he-
long, has been annoyed. IL not damaged by nm
principed imtators. In this country sbout
fifty years ago. mock auctions were quite corn
mon. and with their buffers" and .'barkers-
for long time they had = tendency to throw
discredit upon the regular auctioneers faith
ful and true auctioneer Is one who should at
all times, be above suspicion. He never at
tempts to raise his prices by fictitious bids
while on the other hand purchasers should
never combine to suppress competition. The
exact position which he should occupy is that OF
an agent for both the buyer and the purchaser
of the property sold In later times, however,
quite a large number Of men have acquired hon.
orable regulations in that profession both I'm
England and this country, and many of their ex-
plo1s have passed into the history OF commerce.
SOME BIG SALES.
Some of them have sold real estate in New
York and other leading cities to the amount OF
many millions in single day. and have my
self witnessed the sale In that city of whole
cargoes of raw cotton or sugar and molasses a.
well as grain, which went OF in the brief space
OF thirty minutes
The rudiments OF my knowledge rs an auc.
tloneer were obtained during my residence in
New York, and chiefly from the most dis
tngulshed man In that business. who has lived
In this country. John Haggerty. He was
seller OF dry goods, in the original packages
and when knew him. about the year 1885 his
sales were so enormous that the annual CON-
missions paid 10y him to the city authorities
amounted to more than $4,000. He com.
menced business at the close OF the last
century. acquired a large fortune and lived to
be almost a centenarian. The style OF his firm
passed through many changes. but was alwavs
noted for its high character. Mr.. Haggerty
was one OF the first men who, soon after the
New York Herald was established. prosecuted
the editor for libel and recovered damages. The
offense, which the grand jury thought of suff-
Client consequence to notice, consisted I'm calling
the auctioneer 1.-The O'Haggerty," but as time
progressed the famous editor, James Gordon
Bennett, and the auctioneer, became good
friends.
In recent times have known whole lines of
shipping, as well as intermnable railroads, to
be transferred from one man or company TO
another. under the hammer And what superb
treasures in literature and art have passed from
the dngy shops Of the auctioneers In Paris,
London and New York, into the mansions and
palaces Of the rich Think for q moment Of the
RoxBURGH LIBRARY,
which contained ten thousand lots, and was
sold in 1912. Forty-two successive DAYS, ex-
cepting Sundays, were spent In hammerinR tha&
vast collection Of treasures into money. People
who obtained prizes manifested their delight by
shouting, while those who Were vanqushed
uttered their sorrow In groans: and while can
not say what was the total yield of that library
l do remember that one Of the books brought
the equivalent Of 81. 800.
THE HEBER SALE.
But sale OF books took place in 1884. belong
ing to q man named Heber, which was even
ohl uo-
umes and was sold for what would now be
100000. We may. indeed, be. what Sala has
| called us. the Bohemians of commerce and al
he is himself the very head and front of Bohe-
manism in Europe, suppose there is no appeal
| from his decision.
In the city where live there are not moro
than dozen auctioneers. and for that reason
We are known TO everybody, and when the time
serves, We of the common sort as regularly
sent for to ply our trade as the clergyman or
lawyer. When anybody is to be sold om. one OF
our fraternity must. of necessity be on hand.
Excepting one class Of the community. we sell
more property in year than do all the others
beside-for when the merchants, and they are Of
every grade, have spent years i'm doing out ther
wares and then become insolvent, we step i'm,
and at one fell swOop sell all their goods as well
as the houses they occupy, and perhaps the
whole Of their landed property. Ii is sad
| truth, indeed. that the taps Of our hammers
have consigned many once rich. as well as near
| and dear friends. to the ways OF poverty: and
may We not say that many of our exploits have
become classic, because Of their connection with
men. Of note i'm literature and art-for who has
not heard Of the scattered libraries and pictures
Of johnson and Walpole, SOuthey, Lamb. Web
ster, Dickens, Thackeray, Cox, Turner, Kensett
| and host of Others-but none OF those noted
| sales approached i'm value the libraries OF the
| Duke of Roxburgh and Of Sir Richard Heber.
But there is one class Who far outstrip the
brotherhood of auctiOneers i'm the extent of their
sales mean the multitudes, to be found every
where, who are forever selling their souls fog
worldly pleasure and gain. In our auction
rooms it often happens that the most careful
observer cannot distinguish the man who has
offered the highest bid and 80 the bidders for
the human soul are often invisible but they are
nevertheless as real as life and death For what
we sell we receive nothing but money but these
bidders for the soul offer not only gold, but all
the countless qualifications Of sense which are
indeed very preciOas and universally coveted,
but ieeting as time, and often as heart-rending
as the grave.