The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-04-04
COLD BRICKS.
People Bought Them
With Avidity Yes
terday.
SOME WERE REAL GOLD,
Sale Of Unclaimed EX-
press Bundles Is a
Laugh-Maker.
SOME WERE REAL GOLD

The crowd which filled Fosoms auc-
ton rooms at the sale of unclaimed eX-
press packages yesterday afternoon
and evening would have made a credit
able-sized mob. They began to come
in as soon as the sale commenced at ,
o'clock. and after the large room was
full. they kept coming in until it be-
came almost impossible to find space
enough to think in. The auctioneer
gave. no one time to think, however for
he kept the bidding going rapidly after
it once got started.
The people were chary at first about
bidding at all, and the sales were for
small amounts. But when one man
found watch in the small package he
had got for 80 cents, every one seemed
Iilled with a desire to get ahead of his
neighbour, and for while the bids went
up into the dollars. And great ana
wonderful were some of the gold
bricks" bought.
1t was a good-natured crowd, though
not until late in the afternoon did most
of the buyers realize that the best part
of the fun consisted in opening the
packages on the spot. Some Of them
had reason for not wanting the public
to know how they got stuck when they
did open the package. All of the buy
ing was not sight unseen however
as some of the packages were parity
or wholly without wrappers The man
who paid ten cents for a cradle and
"fixings" knew what he was getting,
as did the man who followed by paying
fifteen cents for an incubator, fearfully
and wonderfully made
Some people got genuine bargains.
For instance, the man who got the
watch in the early part of the after
noon, and the fellow who bought hi
cycle frame in good repair for ten
cents had much the best of it. One
whole bicycle sold for $l.50, and there
was a bell on it, too while another
wheel brought two dollars. But those
who got nothing but a lot Of wrapping
paper or posters felt repaid for the eX-
pense by the amount of excitement at
tendant upon the uncertainty.
One of the funniest things which
happened was when two men almost
came to blows over the ownership ut
a large package done up in brown pa
per. The trouble was finally arbitrated,
and when the bundle was opened it Wds
found to contain a number of posters
advertising Sowing the Wind" The
proprietor of a lunch cart on Main
street came into possession of about
three dozen ladies' felt sailors, styIe
of 95. Then he bought a package
which seemed to contain a bundle Of
twine. He tried the third time, and
in this box was an empty ink bottle,
quart size, a piece OF string, three
screws, a stopper for the bottle and
half of an old calendar On a blank
page of the calendar was written in a
very school girlish hand Why is this
like you? Because it is a back number
Why are you like the bottle? Because
you are on a string. He kept the bot
tie
A well known newspaper business
manager went out to try his luck in
the afternoon and became the proud
possessor of a pair of baby shoes
jumping jack and other articles Of YER
tn too numerous to mention. The
trunks and hand bags proved to be
hard sellers. After the first trunk
which contained a lot of clothing in the
last stages of decay, was opened, peO-
pie fought shy of travelling apparatus.
But they would buy patent medicine
in boxes. Anything from somebody's
hair dye to matted milk samples. went
rapidly, The boxes which contained
such things look as though they might
have watches or jeWelry in them, and
We're caught up at once.
One of the best purchases noted was
the package of insect powder bought
by an irresponsible boy who turned It
loose in the room. 1t had the effect Of
clearing the place of the congestion If
humanity for a while and when the
people came back in. they sneezed and
cOughed until the sale was over. The
floor was covered with the yellow pow
der and it was tracked for yards on
the sidewalk.
One boy got enough prospectuses of
books to follow the calling Of a book
agent the rest Of his life and have
new book each week. The man who
bought q horse collar and about fftv
feet Of rubber hose made the sage re-
mark that he would have had to buv
the hose anyhow and he might get a
horse for the collar sometime.
There were a large number of women
present who bought a great deal when
they were able to get their bids heard
Some valuable dress patterns and cloth
Of all kinds was found though
the larger number of paclla ges
that seemed to contain cloth
haG in them nothing but show bills or
patent medicine circulars One Of these
contained a gross or so of calendars for
1895. A number of Crayon portraits
were bought, it is to be hoped for the
frames alone for it is safe to say that
no one present knew whose pictures
thsy We're buying.
When all the packages were gone and
there were about 1900 When the sale
started, the floor was covered With
what looked like the debris Of steam
boat wreck or a stranded circus and
the cleaning IN will take 1Opea,, H.,