The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-03-23
BOOKS THEY Once OWNED.
PEOPLE PAY THIS MAN WELL TO
RETURN THEM.
Besides He Enjoys Prowling Through
Secondhand Shops-Queer Finds
and An Extensive Correspondence.
CNew York Commercial Advertiser.)

(New York Commercial Advertisero
There is a man uptown who makes
his living by variety of queer occu-
pations. Hunting for old books with
| time-yellowed autographs on their fly
leaves, and then hunting for their orig
inal owners is one of them. He finda
these former posseSSorS are sometimes
willing to pay handsomely to recover
their early property. 1t is not enough
| to keep the pot boiling, but sometimes
it yields him quite a little proht, ana
this, together with his other specula-
tions, enables him to live in conn orr
able bachelor apartments and to pat
ronize a good tailor. Besides, the ousl-
ness of rummaging in secondhand
book stores and then searching the
world for the man or woman whose IN
ScriDtiOn some muSty old volume may
happen to bear, has a charm Tor the
man more powerful perhaps, than the
money it brings him. 1t is the same
sort of fascination which a detective
worthy of his salt finds in his work.
There is romance in it. Each Old DOCK
is to him the center of an untold tale,
full Of interest, and as he sets hlmselt
the task of tracing it to the heroes OF
the story he feels like the absorbed
reader Of a Dumas novel;
His room is crowded with dilapidated
school books. Bibles, odd volumes OF
the English classics and what not. This
is his stock. Very few of these books
are ever traced to their source, but
they all may be some day, the bachelor
thinks, and so he keeps them. The
business involves an immense CORE
spondence. Some books will cost the
man in postage many times their value.
In the majority of cases the expense
proves fruitless investment. The au-
thor of the signature is either unknown
at the address which is attached to his
name in the book, or dead without any
body to hold his memory dear; and
when a book is traced to the person
whose property it once was, it is then
doubtful whether he or she cares or
can afford to buy the relic. Such are
the risks Of the trade, but when the
book dealer strikes a rich lead he knows
how to make it pay him for all his
trouble.
The man is full of stories Most of
them, however. he keeps to himself. 1t
would be breach of professional ETH
Quette to publish them, he says. Be
sides, you never can tell what other
books connected with the same incident
or life may fall into his hands. One of
the few episodes he is willing to tell
relates to tramp who had seen better
DAYS.
cOGlQ see IRON llG AdlllS lliI Tie
book belonged to a good family in
town down SOUTH" said the dealer. Il
know that town well, and the name IS
quite an uncommon one. 1t was a Latin
grammar 1 had picked up, dust-eaten
old thing-a daisy! l wrote to that
town, using in the address the family
name only. My letter must have been
received and opened by somebody, for
it never came back, but 1 received no
I'D 1oic mi Ci
There must be something the matter
with the man who once studied Latin,
1 said to myself. l wrote another letter,
and this one came back unopened. [
investigated the matter in a way which
L am not at liberty to describe, and
after a lot of letter writing l received
a communication from western city,
saying that the man / was looking for
was a drunkard and a tramp, lost to
his family and to himself
About a year later a seedy-looking
old fellow called at the book-dealer's
residence.
Il am SO and So he introduced him
self 81 hear you have been looking for
me-
The book-dealer showed him the
Latin grammar. The southerner fell to
examining it.
Yes, it used to be NINE" he said.
coloring. After an embarrassed pause
he added: What about it?''
Nothing, exceDt that 1 thought you
might care to get it,
Pardon me, but you deal in books.
don't your"
Yes: it's my business. Why?"
''Oh, nothing. I don't care for that
book. Is that all you wanted to see me
about? Good day. SIR
He had not reached the door when
he suddenly turned around, paused,
and said. shamefacedly:
We'll, to tell you the truth, do care.
But 1 can't pay for it. If you could keep
it until I had the price [ would be
greatly obliged to you. How much?"
THE price is $780,, said the dealer,
but you can take it now. Some rich
man will pay for your book as we'll as
for his own