Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1890-12-20
MISERY'S AUCTION.
How People Become Heirs to Suicides-A
Glimpse at an Odd Feature of City Life.
From the New York Sun.

misery's auction sale" took place
last Thursday. 1t was held at Duane
street, and though that is not its official
name it occurred TO reporter who
heard it called SO as a most appropriate
one.
The auction had an odd and grue-
some origin. When man Ccmmlts
suicide by pistol or knife the coroner
takes possession of the weapon. 1.-THE
man has no friends Or relatives, and
leaves no WILL his clothes and any per-
sonal effects that he may have 90 with
II.
After the unfortunate is laid beneath
the sod in Potter's Field, and all the le-
yal formulas have been observed, the
coroner hands all these things over to
the public administrator. The large
number of suicides in this big city, the
mysterious deaths of unknown men and
women, and the deaths in the poor gar
rets, serve to swell the officials inter
esting collection of estates and heir
looms to such size that special man
is kept busy looking after them. Should
any of these articles be valuable they
are placed in the Office safe or else
sent to a safe deposit company. But
the bulk Of the stuff that falls into the
administrator hands is of little value,
consisting mostly of cheap furniture
clothes, bedding, revolvers, knives, and
odds and ends, of which every man pos
sesses his share. These things are
sent to the storehouse at ) Duane street,
adjoining the Newsbovs' Lodging House,
and there thew accumulate until the
pile grows too big for the place, when
they are auctOned off to the highest
bidder. One of these sales was held
last Thursday, and very Interesting 1t
was.
The building is an old, dilapidated
structure which seems in imminent dan
ger of collapsing. The auction room is
on the first floor cup one flight, AS the
rude sign on the wall declares. The
rough wooden steps squeak, and, If the
visitor is in hurry the building shakes
and the walls tremble. When the re-
porter entered the room the sale was in
progress The auctioneer's pulpit-ilke
stand was in the middle of the room,
and that funGtionary, In silk hat, was
deeply engaged in overcoming the OBJ
jections Of a poorly dressed stout Irish
woman to buying a cheap watch that
might have been silver or steel. The
room was filed with a motley gathering
of men and women. IT was q poor
looking crowd, although here and there
scintillating spark betrayed diamond
on the person of n Chatham street curl
osity'' dealer. Many people who daily
pass the curiosity shops on the EoWery
have wondered where all the odds and
ends displayed in the windows come
from. Ha.11 ::hhty attended this auction
sale they would have known There
were perhaps dozen of these dealers
present, and they bought largely. Then
dressed creatures, who stopped hid3lng
when ssii.s a1;t1cIe passed the dollar
point. Where they came from, or " hat
thew wanted the stuff for, nobody
knew save themselves. The auctloneer
got his money--he didn't care. The
curiosity dealers shrugged their shout
ders-it was none of their business.
The stock offered was scattered about
The room. 1t included knives, UNI
brellas, old clothes, bedsteads, rusty
bayonets, billiard balls, carpenters
rules, peddlers' outfits, chromos, re-
volvers, chairs, tables, stovepipes, &C.,
all mingled in rusty, dusty confusion.
The sale proceeded after this manner,
the auctioneer saying:
GLOW much dye bid? Forty, forty,
forty, forty forty-fve? Fine silica
umbrella. Maybe duke owned 1T;
it. Forty-five Once, twice, down she
goes. Mrs. Mulligan, that the name,
isn't it? Forty-five cents. Now we
have lot number two hundred and for
weight, a sabre. How much dye"
and so on.
There was story connected with
every one of those articles, a romantic
one undoubtedly, in many cases, but
no one there knew it, or evinced the
least desire to learn anything about it,
A suit of clothes was held up by the
boy.
Glow much dye bid?'
Those nearest the stand felt of the
cloth and examined the clothes careful
ly, then bid was offered, and another,
and SO on, until the hammer fell. Mrs.
Mulligan must own secondhand cloth
ing store, for she bought !, great deal of
clothing.
LOT number three hundred and for
ty-seven, one coat and vest. How much
dive bid?" came the monotonous for
mula of the auctioncer.
"Iemme see, cheviot, or what?
What's it made OFF" asked Mrs. Muli-
gan. She examined It closely for a mo-
ment with an eager face. Then she said
in a disappointed way:
Its cot hole in it.
Yes, sure enough, there was small
hole in it, right above the upper outside
pocket. The auctioneer pressed his
finger on the spot for a moment and
then remarked in matter-of-fact voice:
81 guess that's where the bullet went
through"
The coat and vest were sold. and
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