Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1888-01-10
MISCELLANEOUS
From Monthly Auction Trade
journal of G. 3. Rouss-

III /
in the cyclone paths of unsparing Time than of
our marvellous prodigles in out-striping all re-
cords. we present occasionally a few lines from
men who wer swelling and swaring under dcd
loads agenst fate and overwhelming DDS in the
shadows near sundown-men who after
counting the costs and chances and DDS. rote
us 81 ,cin," and not "Iu try".-Merchants
who had drifted outunder the even handed and
iron handed laws of memorable fate near the
Niagara Rapids. with one solitary chance in a
thousand, balanced the logic of cash against
the IMPLYING destiny of relentless time. rang
ing from thirty days away out yonder to eter-
nifty, BEECHER and lSeERsoL, the twin ideals
of modern thought and the p%lutonfc TALMAoE.
Satan's unslumbering angel-thes splendid fell
lows call it-cold steel language has it PTebe's
Paper Mil; thes fellows of backbone and cat
gut rote us " from this hour cash before dett0-
e,y," and not the singsong of resolution
"sone dny"-In plain and simple words. cut
short after the style of the author OF these
monthlies-these weary WORKOUT tired-to-death
of doging pa-da-peple-thcsc splendid fellows
of iron nerve rite, "Htestoo short and too much
lost aEredy filing the tiger oftme-a year ago ded
and buried-to-day they call me the Cash King"
Our unrivaled sweeps from away down fifty
thousand belo zero In the Church street He'll
of 1876 up to the million line at 466 s. 46s, hav
galvanized into new life unbroken falanxcs of
dormant genius that has been stunned by the
war clubs of the credit barbarian and under
the invincible, agresiv, unconditional net spot
cash hav arisen from commonplace, and wild
with delirum of the commercial steam circular
saw of bullion whirling topward with intense
and irresistible speed. Poor, heartbrokcn,
dried-up fellows who five years bak were
wondering which it would be. rum, the rope,
or the revOlver-now cut and slash into credit
competition at a rate and range that means
rule or ruin. Tired of such esy prey. thes
hungry, meatax cash before delire'y BengdLS
turn upon THEIR MASTERS AND ORIGINALS.
1856 s. 46S, and cut close, fire low, \and hit and
hurt and in the answering volleys ranks and
regiments melt into pulp and Topping's flag
tells the story.
THAT OLD RED FLAG OF ToPPING's! What
the victorious eagles of were to the
battle maps of Europe, this flag has been to
the mercantile monsoons that hav upheaved
and engulfed the commercial centre of the
American continent. Beneath its faded folds
hav walked the giants of the age gone by who
played their parts in the thrilling tragedies
that ran with his blood and tcars-CLAFIN
and STEWART and PEAKE. Here
won his fame and coin, here too, JOHN W.
RICE, lofty in all that was worth loving and
living for, and DAN WILLIAMS, agresiv, re-
~lentless, unforgiving, whilst over al stood the
chivalrous, peerless, inimitable, ToPP1NG
who's musical melody t1ds nere'- matched by the
ringing masters of the present day, not even
HORT, nor WILLIAMS, nor THoRSE, nor
STRONG, nor WILMERDING.
Under that flag fortunes melted, and in turn
fortunes multiplied and magnifed what med
iocrity lost genius won, where the champion
proudly stood yesterday, ther he fel to-day,
and from the thousands whose names once
rang in the historic past, ther was one who
never lost THE REAL JUDGE OF VALUES.
But behind that uncring judgment must lie
that sterling. subtle. solid stuff that coins the
imperishable characters that tower abOv com-
monplare, mcdiocrity and general average, I'M
quire,im5 ,Ieru, and the house that has both can
laugh to ridicule the printed circulars of time
concerns who buy and sci on the basis of nego-
tables and other mercantile ded lumber and
thes circulars mean. net or six off with extra
discounts according to time. rating. characters
and other conditions. always retaining n mar
gin of five per cent. to insure agenst "ded duE"
known in the calandar of commercial criminal
curiOsities as q padnPcple. bad diets" and "deGd
beats and these price lists ar wei worthy your
careful scrutiny. Some circulars represent
hundreds of thousands in values when the
actual stock is less than one thousand-sinpty
a line of samples Of regular goods: to the vast
masses who buy thro order from cataIog, it is a
matter of vital Importance that their COM
mands shd 90 direct TO real head quarters. and
not fail into the second hands of third and
fourth rate markets. These intermediate per-
centages wd eat You up: why Il live shrewd
man buying of fir.J hands in the metropolis,
aud selling at hreHty.,sre spot cash wd pulv-
eriz thcs periodical aatcdcluviars in one day,
he wd simply use them as lafing stock and as
standing advertisements of the sterling value
of his own unanscrable s~ledghamers. Thro
our vast ware-rOoms are scattered perhaps
half a million of changing values that never
reach the monthlies, here to-day. tomorrow
gone hence the selection of a place to buy is
far more important that the location of q
place to sell.
Under the great red flag of the American
metropolis arose, fourished and fell the grand
est mercantile masters, that ever adorned the
pages of history-keen, driving, sterling ell
thusiasts, chuck full of fire, nerve and decision
tNA@A 49, ON= AN va tHANS @HA
swept the linc-mcn of rare genius, of perfect
judgment and splendid courage, bordering on
audacity, who knew well the vast difference in
the moment before and after the fall of the
hammer-betwecn the victor and the victim.
the irepresible imitator who gets Ieftcvcry time,
and the genius who GlIrdyS gets there. Thro
these gigantic auction machines have whirlcd
the millions that made STEWARDS magnificent
jumps from the lowest level to the lofticst alti-
tude ever attained in fancy, fact or fiction
Here RIDLEY won his unfading laurels, begin
ing with q little old-fashiOned twelve by six
teen, now an entire block worth five millions.
Here MARSHALL FIELD first saw success star
ing him full in the face, and in these same his
toric world %renowne auction "arbitcrs of
values" were born the gigantic intelccts of the
continent, and in thes grand concerns the au-
thor of thcs monthlics found the commercial dy-
Mantle that was destined to crush and bury the
hideous, horrible, mcrcilcs Cesar and Car of
Credit. Thro the gigantic red flags ware
rooms. went curling the millions of CRITTEN-
DEN, of LATHRoP LUDINGToN, of EMERY, Ivy
& LEE, of HALsTED HAINEs, of the unhappy
PEAKE, of the high minded kNIsELY, and all
the hosts of unfortunates, sunshine one day,
shadow the next, wholcsouled fellows every one.
who were poisoned, pulvcrizcd and anuihilated
by the barbarian of unlimited time.
The mineral product of the United
States for 1886 was the largest on