The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-02
BOUGHT ANTIQUES AT AUCTION
FURNITURE OF OLD HABERsHAM
HOUSE UNDER THE HAMMER.

LAuAlOn SUA0 ny % AhC
Administrators of the Estate of the
Late =. Ellen CoIeman-LadfeS and
Gentlemen ThronEed the Rooms
for Four HOurs-Many Articles of
Virtu Were Sold 10 the Highest
BIdders-some of the Many Pur-
chasers.
Handsome antique mahogany furniture
Of a generation long since gone 10 its rest,
rare pieces Of bric-a-brac that adorned
stately rooms, a plate mirror in
which beauties Of long ago contem-
plated their loveliness, the painted like
nesses of a line of ancestry and a hum
dred and one articles of virtu. valuable for
their associations with a fading past.
were offered for sale in Savannah yester-
day, and shortly the amassed purchases
that would have delighted the heart of an
antiquarian will be distributed in many
homes in this city and elsewhere.
ia was at the sale of the personal prop
erty Of the late Mrs. S. Ellen Coleman,
under the direction of Col. A. r. Lawton,
administrator of the estate, that the old
Habersham residence at the corner of Bar
nard, Perry and McDonough streets. front
ing Orleans square, was despoiled of its
treasures. Articles that in their day of
glory were valuable and the richest that
money could buy went to the highest bid
ders under the hammer of the auctioneer.
strangers invading the old mansion for
share of lis belongings
Mr.. c. H. Dorset was the auctioneer
who conducted the sale. 1t began shortly
after 10 O'Clock, and from that hour until
about =, the house was filed with ladies
ana gentlemen eager to bid. 1t was such an
opportunity as Is rarely presented, and all
wanted 20 aVaH themselves of it, For years
there has been wild desire among those
able to afford its Indulgence for furniture
OF antique design and construction Where
ever and whenever possible, sales have
been attended ana old pieces secured
With the advertisement of the sale of the
furniture of the Habersham mansion seek
ers after antiques knew that there would
DC every chance of their getting some of
the rlch and costly household equipment
that has long been the envy of eonnois-
seurs Early in the morning prospective
buyers began to assemble, and until the
cry Of the auctioneer resouuded through
the rooms of that old relic of colonial
architecture, they wandered through the
offered, and admiring the taste that had
designed the wonderful mansion, and the
skin hat had constructed it,
Nearly every room held its share of the
furniture and other goods to be sold The
articles in each would be quite or almost
exhausted before Mr.. Dorset would in
YIte the crowd to give him its attention in
another. A few articles remained unsold,
interest in others demanding their safe, and
he de of
cessitating the close Of the auctioneers
efforts TO dispose Of the goods.
bidding was lively. At no time did il
drag. From the time the auctioneer's
voice would go up IN an appeal for some.
body to say how much" until his final
and sold to-" there was an almost cor
stant stream of advances over cid bids
Ii was interesting to the bidders aud TO
the auctioneer. He found it as good an
auction as he has had in years. The
prices secured were considered very good,
and there was that interest which always
g-addens the heart of seller at auction
The ladies attending seemed to catch a
certain inspiration from the fine
antiques and their excited and fervent
rhapsodies over some particularly fine
piece We're listened to by their husbands
and masculine friends with the usual
smile of acceptation of all that is SAID
and abnegat'oa of any ability TO enter
inio such discussions as delight the hearts
OF ladies. From the wide mahogany table
that has groaned in Its time beneath loads
Of Viands and richest wines, they would
go to the mirror that stll had the power
to portray beauty as of old. stopping on
the way to admire a handsome vase here
and an old chair of curious carving there
picking up some piece of bric-a-brac, and
seeing with the minds eye how it would
grace the mantel at home, exclaiming
over the old hedsteads with their four
high posts of carved mahogany, after
haviug climbed the winding old stairway
that starts from The middle of the hail 10
the story above.
One Of the first articles sold was table
Of solid mahogany that was knocked
down, after lively bidding, TO Mr. J. f.
c. Myers. The price paid was $3.50.
An oid-stye sofa, also mahogany with
a severe plainness about IL that seemed
to detract in no wise from the desire 10
possess il that actuated many bidders,
was finally sold to Mr.. r. c. Harrison,
who topped other bidders with $26.
About the walls Of the parlor and other
rooms upstairs, hung e,even portraits of
departed Habershams, The auct!oneer
asked for a bid. zone hundred dollars"
said MIR. William Neyle Habersham. 1t
was marked with satisfaction by all pres
ent that not a bid went up against it,
though one of the portraits alone cost
$3.50. 1t amid a stir of applause that
Mr.. Dorsett announced the eleven sold
TO AIR. Habersham.
Mr. Arthur Elliott secured an old desk
of peculiar pattern. II was first bought
by a friend for $26, .but al Mr.. E.iotts
solicitation he having taken fancy to H.
the desk was turned over to him.
An old bookcase was bought by Mrs
e. r. Corsou. With it went two desks
The case is of an old style and will form
handsome addition 10 the furniture or
any room in which il may be put.
one of the finest pieces offered was q
sideboard. Bidding went along at roll
licking rate until Mrs. John Heard Hunter
was left al the top with an offer of SO
made in behalf OF Mrs. f. c. Battey. The
sale Of the sideboard created somewhat
OF a stir To Mrs. Battey also went a
cellarette for $50.
Bidding ON a great wide table of ma,
hogauy started at SIS. 1t did not remain
a minute at anything like that figure, how
ever, as RAPID jumps soon carried II up
In g1pO NJ which 6uilrN 81 WAS