Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-11-11

1S8oo ptOoSocSs W0O 0lCQ 001l
Boston . few years before the Revo
lutionary war. I suppose this d
true. At any rate Boston Vas con
sidefed at one time headquarters To-
dealers In first-class 'rattlers.' Their,
Is not now much call for them open
ly, except among collectors of NOR
bid articles connected with grea
criminals. The Canadian once he'd ,
bitter fight with a fellow collector
who. on visiting him, found In BIZ
possession the skull of Gen Kleber
who was assassinatcd in Cairo In tn,
year 1900. Now, as the visitor him
self had procured in Egypt, ct grea
expense, Q skull Of the General. th,
collectors became highly excited
aud an anatomist was called in
Science decided that one Of the skull,
contained . piece OF integumsn
whose chemical changes proved it t.
be considerably less than six year,
old. while the formation Of the othel
not only showed Q decided Egyptior
origin, but contained the teeth of Z
person of twenty years But the
funniest part OF it, though | did not
dare laugh over IL when the report
was made, was that one OF the col
lectors had been cherishing the skull
Of q woman.
"rt is very singular how easily
relic hunters may be fooled. Neither
of those two men would buy any OF
the religious relics 80 common In
Europe. But take almost any kind
Of q bone, boil It carefully TO take the
fat out, dry 1t for several days by
gentle heat Ia an oven, and color II
yellow with tumeric and Vsndyke
brown. and you have fair basis for
a dicker with the best of the relic
hunters. The inscription must be
very carefully made on old vellum,
and odd private marks, partially OBJ
liberated, must appear here and there
on the bone. Some dealers use q
mixture OF q mineral acid and water
on parts of the bone, to make them
crumble easily. The articles must
be kept in heavy glass cases made
for them, and If mounted, must show
costly work. The price asked must
be large, and rigidly adhered to.
These devices may appear immoral,
but 1t Is better TO use them than to
rob q grave.
"Of course, most of the relic
hunters aim to get general collec-
ton. They will take 9 bottle Of
water from the river Jordan, q piece
of rotten stoee from Vesuvius. q gulf
weed from the Atlantic Ocean, or q
piece Of old bark from Hyde Park.
With equal calmness they will break
q piece of stone from statue or
public building; they would steal .
great mans hair brush, or split OF .
piece of mahogany from his writing
table. A list Of their varied collec-
tons would be rather long for the
average compass OF q mans life.
Even the specialists would make q
list. have known men
who took . she'll or Q pebble from
every well-knowA beach they ever
or mountain they ever as.
One OF them had Q stone
from the streets of every important
city in Europe. The number of col
lectors oil pipes Ia quite large. A
minister had handsome
collection of meerschsums. knew
one gentleman who cared for nothing
but old clocks, aud another who had
between three and four hundred old
eyeglasses and spectscles.
man who lived In Broome street
several years ago delighted In an
collection OF old family
bibles. He told me that he had
sometimes found old bank bills In
hem; but that circumstance had
nothing to do with his buying the
books, and he is not q particularly
religious man. The collecting mania
seems to be in the family. One Of
his brothers is esid to have sample
Of hair from the name OF every great
in the United States.
The most determined relic hun
!ers are those who look for morbid
curiosities. Anything that has be-
|onged to . criminal Is their delight.
These men are y distinct species OF
collector. The central attraction OF
their mass OF relics Is the skull Of
some distinguished murderer. One
Of these collectors believes sincerely
that he possesses the skull Of Robes
pierre. have been told by two deal
ers who have lately been looking
over the English curiosity shops that
three or four London collectors be-
lieve they have the skull Of Guiteau.
Some OF them have boosted for years
that they have the skulls Of Eugene
Aran. Jack Sheppard and Jonethan
Wild. 1t 10 true that those skulls
are locked up In the anatomy college
or some place Of the kind, but the
collectors boast that their particular
skull was obtained by neat piece OF
effected BY some hypo-
thetical isnitor. who. OF course, r.
mica fnp th0