The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1896-12-30
COSTLY SILVERWARE
EXPENSIVE OBJECTS WHICH ARE
KEPT PILED UP IN VAULTS.

Forth h--Troubles It Causes to It's own
ding Presents.
"Seo the elegance of the curves, the sim
plicity and purity of tho lines" said tho
melancholy silversmith, holding aloft tho
teapot. "What perfection of grace! What
perfection of formp'
The lady craned her head about and shift
ed her lorgnette as her eyes followed with
eager interest the twistings Of tho silver
smiths long, slender hand, which was
used to point out the various beauties of
the object. His expression deepened as he
noted these signs Of attention.
The mans melancholy had reached such
degree that the lady, impelled perhaps
by the desire Of administering consolation,
said she would take the set.
The silversmith shrugged his shoulders
as the lady went out and gave an outward
sweep Of his hand as II denying all respon-
sibility I'm the matter. Then he attempted
to justify himself to his confldant
why will people do such thingss" he
demanded. why will they buy such
things? Will they never learn that silver
ware Is either the biggest burden they can
lay upon themselves or else the most use
less possessionp Jewelry Is bad enough,
but people get used to It, or course when
q woman gets costly jewels they haunt
her day and night at first. She has to send
them to the safe deposit vault the moment
she takes them of. II they are of extraor
dinary cost, she wants watchmen and pri
vate detectives lowering about her when
she wears them. She may send for the po-
lico when she gives party. But In most
cases she gets over this feeling In time
and instead Of dreaming of burglars she
treats her jewels with an unconcern which
some people might call carelessness.
"But with silverwnre IL Is different
Sometimes, when am more depressed than
usual, think 1t IL the most useless thing
that was ever invented. We silversmiths
spend days and nights celebrating our art
and turn out beautiful objects, worthy to
challenge the admiration Of tho world, and
whnt becomes of themf They a'o sent
down here" stamping his foot on the Eau.
"They are put into the vaults In our Gel
lar, and human eyes seldom rest upon
them. Talk about excavating in the ruins
of Troy, the rubbish of Athens, for beau
tiful objectsr' he exclaimed, with n snort
of disgust. "Why not oxcavate in tho sill
vaults of New York right herep
"Let me tell you an instance, he re-
sumed when his melancholy allowed him
to speak again. "Thirty years ago one of
the rich men of New York went to Europe
and there saw a magnificent tea service Of
silver, which he bought for S11 ,OOO and
when he returned here he presented It to
the man who was his most intimate friend.
The friend valued the tea service not only
on account of the friendship that gave 1t
to him, but also for It's own sake, but
what could he do with itp Life even among
the rich was far palmer then than IL Ia TO-
day, and even today what could man do
with an ell 900 ten servioeS So he did
what seemed the most sensible thing 10
do under the circumstances. He sent the
whole outfit here for safe keeping, and
don't suppose It's boon out Of our vaults
half dozen times since tn
But that isn't all. A couple Of yenrs
ago the daughter of the man who went to
Europe got married. The intimacy be-
tween the two families had been kept up
and increased, and the friend, who is a
very rich man, now made up his mind to
show his friendly feelings by giving the
daughter the finest wedding present he
could procure. Now, his tea service was
originally very fine one. During all tho
years 1t has been buried in our vaults ira.
dition has been havinga chance to magni-
fly its beauty, until now 1t Is held in tho
two families to be the most magnificent
thing ip tho world, and its owner, in
searching about for n wedding present for
his friends daughters could conceive Of no
finer idea than to have made an exact copy
of his own tea service We made 1t. We
could have improved on the originals in
Workmanship, but he didn't want that
done, SO we made an exact copy. The cost
was 90, 900; SO he saved something. Now,
what was the bride to do with all this mass
of silver? What but send 1t here to lie In
darkness alongside OF the other set, and
here IL has been ever since 1t was display
ed at the wedding to the admiration and
wonder of the guests That was Its one
public appearance. l have no doubt that
when one of tho grandchildren Of the own
er of tho first set Is married In few years
she will feel It her duty to have third sot
made as a wedding present. Then 1t will
be sent to us to take care Of along with
the other two"
II don't SEQ why you should complain, F"
remarked the man to whom all this had
been addressed
"I'm not complaining, but do you coll
IL common sensep 1t IL profitable for me,
and cannot see that my conscience should
reproach me for the part take In It, but
such things make me tired. Think Of the
woman who just left. Her husband will
pay between 81, 200 and 81, 500 may be for
q tea set for her, and she will keep IL mt
her house for awhile and then send 10 to
US. Where Is the sense of that"
"But some people do keep their silver
ware at home and enjoy It," the other
man insisted.
"They keep 1t at home, but they don't
enjoy Il. am talking now Of people
whose silver Is valued by the thousands OF
dollars, who have massive objects and
works Of art not for ordinary use. What
enjoyment do they get out Of its They
mny have vaults built In their houses, and
tho bigger and stronger tho vault the
greater source of worry 1t Is to them. They
are worried by burglar alarm companies,
and by watchnen's companies, and by RI
val safe companies, and by detective agen-
cies, and every time they hear Of a bur-
glarv thev have cold shiyers for a weak.