The Washington times., 1901-10-06
RELIC HUNTING A FAD.
Some DisappOintments Expert
enced by Collectors.
How the Seekers After Chastity Gu
rios Arc Boldly Imposed Upon
The VRndnl and His wOrk-Na-
polcon's Tree Is Now n Forest.

Inc IeTnpie OF MUSIC, wherein the late
President Mckinley was shot. has been
marked by relic hunters as their own.
| One of the guards of the building is the
proud possessor OF the portion of wood
work upon which the distinguished vic
tim was leaning at the time when he
fell, pierced by the assassin's bullet. A
few days ago a quantity of the flimsily
| constructed ornamentation of the struc-
ture fell down, and Immediately a rush
was made to secure possession of the
fragments. The visitor to the Pan
American Exposition is almost sure to
meet, in the course of a days peregri-
| nations, with some persons carrying
pieces of wood the intrinsic value of
which scarcely seems to warrant even
the labor of carrying them about
Il am going to inscribe upon this
piece of wood the fact that it is from
the interior of the Temple of Music,
where our late President was shot, and
hang it over his picture above my man
telpiece," said a woman who was carry
ing a large piece of gaudily colore6
woodwork in the fair grounds the other
day.
Nobody will believe you" was re-
marked, somewhat irreverently. why
don't you weave a little romance about
it-say, for instance, that it fell at the
feet of the President just before the
| tragedy, thus forming an omen?"
Il will do nothing of the kind" ex-
claimed the lady Indignantly. THAT
would be telling lie. And as to people
believing me, don't care whether they
do or not, as long as l know it to be the
TRUTH and she marched with her pre-
cious piece of wood. Such is the feel
ing of the relic hunter.
II is to be remarked that this lady
was not one of those who wantonly de-
spoil in their desire to obtain a me-
mento. Washington would seem to be
the Mecca for relic hunters of the lat
ter class. The story has often been told
how the costly furniture in the Marble
Room at the Capitol and the state
apartments at the White House has
been hacked and destroyed by vandals
of this description. 1t is needless to
advert to the Washington Monument as
affording examples of their work Here
the presentation stones from various
foreign countries and States of the
Union have been defaced and broken
in the most outrageous manner, as may
be witnessed by anyone who ascends
the gigantic shaft by the staircase. La
fayette, in bronze, offers a broken
sword to struggling Liberty. thanks to
some vandal who patronized a stand
built up against the statue during fes-
tivity some years ago.
The magnificent bronze doors of the
Rotunda of the Capitol have not es-
capped the attention of the ruthless col
lector, and 1t is believed that Columbus
himself has been deprived of his head,
as he stands in the august presence of
their Majesties of Spain. Especial care
has been taken in guarding the Library
of Congress from the onslaughts of the
vandal, and. so far, he has not been
able to get in his work in that struc-
ture.
All relic hunters are not vandals.
Some. indeed, are more sinned against
than SHINING, and are regularly taken
in by acute merchants who retail every
thing. from George Washingtons little
hatchet and portions of the original
cherry tree to the rope used in hanging
the last celebrated murderer. In the
latter connection it may be noted that,
on the occasion of an execution, the
rope used is sold in portions to relic
hunters, and realizes a greater or less
sum according 10 the notoriety of the
PF-iT, al .fr
hanging Guiteau. the assassin of Pres
ident Garfield, are to be seen in a sa-
loon in this city. An amusing case of
impostGre upon a simple and believing
hunter occurred recently. The mer-
chant and manufacturer of the fraud
ulent articles made no attempt, upon
the witness stand, to excuse or palliate
his share in the transaction or to deny
that the relics, for which, it is needless
to say, he had realized a sum far in ex-
cess Of the intrinsic value of the ar
tcles themselves, were the products of
his own ingenious handicraft. He re-
pied to the questions of the cross-ex-
aminer with delightful naiyete. Being
a blacksmith by trade. he explained
that he experienced little difficulty in
fabricating a number of cannon balls
from the battlefield of New Orleans. In
like manner he enlightened Judge and
jury upon the art and mystery of con
yerting an ordinary hatchet into an an
uque battle axe, said to have been in
the possession of Richard | of England
The feelings of the too-credulous relic
hunter. as he listened to the irresistible
peals of merriment which resounded
through the court room upon every
fresh admission of the shameless Iner-
chant may be more easily imagined
than described
Many relic hunters are Of morbid
taste, delighting in the accumulation of
articles pertaining to some particularly
horrible crime These ,eople may be
imagined as regarding every new atroc-
ity not in its moral aspect, but with a
kind of unhealthy exuitation as afford
Ing them another opportunity of adding
to their collection of horrors. The
weapon with which the victim was
slain, some object from the scene of the
something in the possession of
the slayer or his victim, etc, are all
eagerly sought after by the relic hun
ter. 1t is said that in those European
where the sword or the axe in
the hands of the executioner Is the
means employed for carrying out the
sentence of the law. persons station
themselves near the condemned and
catch the blood which rises from the
body upon decapitation in receptacles
for the purpose This blood is doubt
less sealed in bottles, appropriately la