The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-10-10
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Echoes from am anction room. !.


lamp, four umblers, a boot jack, pitcher
and tea kettle with no cover. "five
cents" came the answer from woman
with a bandage over her eye and crying
baby in her arms. "Five am bid; give
ten" said the auctioneer in one breath
stopping long enough for a semi-colon and
adding, "and sold to the lady with the
baby.
"Now, here, ladies and gentlemen, Is
fine piece OF tapestry and I'm bid how
much? There are twenty yards and, with
few exceptions, all in good order. NOW,
how much am / offered What lO cents
yard for carpet that, when 1t was new,
didn't cost a cent less than sl.2o. len
Pm bid. Preposterous. Ten-htteen DO
/ hear3 All, thanks; hfteen; now
twenty, fift- now, twent-hit-twent-
are you all done at fifteen-fif-teen
and sold for fifteen cents yard 10 the
lady with the dotted VEIL"
There is many tragedy In an auction
room. Figurative, perhaps, but none
the less tragedies, for into the auction
room goes the furniture OF the married
couples who for one cause and another
have broken up housekeeping and decided
TO sell out, and sell they do at an awful
sacrifice.
The contents OF the regular auction room
represents its quota of broken homes,
broken vows, broken hearts, broken health
and broken pocketbooks.
What stories the furniture could tell II
it could only speak. Take the old sofa OF
antique pattern possibly hundred years
old. Dead and gone grandpa and grand
ma used to sit thereon when they were
young and holding each others hands
possibly planned for the future which
then looked so filled with sunshine, with
music and sweet song. No clouds, no
thorns in the bouquet of roses, no worm
wood in the liquid elixir, all seemingly
as smooth as glass.
The future revealed the stern reality.
1t is funny what matter Of fact way
futures have of doing this thing. The
old sofa with its high back and mahogany
carvings and hair cloth which was so
much in vogue in the long ago-had pos
sibly been kept in the family and served
its purpose for more than one generation
as a trysting place for lovers in the gloam-
ing to exchange the whispers which in
after years they could not recall If they
would.
And now this same old sofa which
had done such Spartan duty, which has
occupied in its dignitied way its place in
the front room of the old homestead, was
in corner of the auction room with a
broken back, a cracked leg and crushed
down by the weight of an old stove, a
portion of a chamber set, two old tubs
and clothes horse.
Wood and Watson. Wood and Wat
son.
Did you ever notice in reading an item
in the paper, about this or that person
being picked up on the railroad track or
found floating in the river, that particular
stress is laid upon the fact of how they were
dressed? II we'll dressed the inference Is
that they must be out of the ordinary, for
the general belief is that none but tramps
or dissolute persons fall in the river or are
killed on the railroad.
People may talk as much as they like,
dress does make difference in a good
many ways as to how young man gets
along. O'Neil, the tailor, is turning out
some nobby fall suitings. He is at i5O
Westminster street. Leave your measure.
A good suit OF clothes does not include
all that makes man presentable. He
must have the furnishings that go with
them. There Is an excellent op-
portunity offered just now by
Messrs. Wood q Watson, 80 West
minister street. They are going out of
the furnishing part of their business
and devote all their attention to hats, of
which they carry fine line. This firm
Is the agent for the Knox hat. But about
furnishings. You can obtain some most
desirable goods at greatly reduced price
from what is regularly charged. Gloves,
hose, neckties, underwear, suspenders
and everything necessary to complete a
wardrobe, may DC obtained. This, re-
member, Is no fire sale or bankrupt or
auction device. just plain going out of
the furnishing goods business, that's ALL
Even the New York gentry who are here
visiting the races don't allow such an op-
portunity to slip by.
Speaking about the races, outside of the
assembling clans at the Narragansett
Hotel and a few strange faces on the prin-
cipal thoroughfare no one would know
that there were any races so near the city
as Cranston. The racing OF the horses
seems to be colonized in that town and il
Josh Billings was alive he would call
it a "Kantankerous bettin' cannabal"
because, as he would explain,
the "book makers" and those who paid
for the privilege OF being "booked" were
living on one another. That's about the
size of it. Next week some new Jockeys
and noted horses are To be added TO those
already at the track. The pleasantest
thing thus far about the races up To today
is the weather, although some good time
has been made upon an acknowledged
fast track.
Did you ever see woman bet on
horse race? They differ from men be-
cause they become indifferent as to the
result quicker and become more desperate
every time they make an effort TO pick
the winner. They are not allowed In the
betting ring, but they keep the runner