Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-04-20

osity Shop and Rag Fair. And. ike III,
creations Of genius. II Is 90 simpIe-so
| thoroughly 80 that one wonders why
nobody ever thought Of i. before.
Every rummagc sale is bound TO ne
n success. in the first place. bccauac II
appeals To two OF the most fundancht-
al instincts of the human hcart-the
instinct for boarding useless articles
and the primal passion for bargains.
The managers Of such sale appeal
to all their friends to give them
some OF the old things you have put
away i'm the attic. Now, everybody
has something put away i'm the attic
or hanging in the back OF 4 closet. or
down at the bottom Of IL trunk. that
| he or she knows in his or her secret
heart of hearts will never be used. 1t
| is, of course. not to be expected that
people however charitably Inclined,
will give all their useless things to the
| rumnage sale, for that would be ask
| ing too much from human nature; but
| perhaps IA third of them will be rclin-
quished with IL warm glow of conCious
generosity i'm the giving. Thus. day
after day, the Spectator saw a wagon
driving up and down the streets OF the
| town, with white sheet on its side
marked collecting for the EurmaSc
Sale" and every day there was some
thing quecrer in il than the last. In
| this way a truly unique collection be-
came the property of the managers
| autoharps, art squares. aCcordions, al
| phabetical blocks. artificial flowers.
| bagpipcs. busts. bicycles. books. baby
jumpers. bonncts. canary-cages. coats,
| chairs, clocks, chatting dishes. decant
| crS, dog baskets, dresses, door knobs,
dress suits. engravinss. csg-beaters.
furniture, fiddles. forks. glass, gloves.
gas-stovcs. ginger jars, hunting boots,
hour glasses. hoes. and so on down the
alphabet. until a second hand depart
ment store was slowly evolved out of
the apparent chaos. with the manage
crs and their friends as salcswomen
and the appeal To the second great hui
man instnct-that of bargaining-be-
gan.
| 1t is evident that none of this
cher ished rubbish. SO carefully gathered
can be sold at full prices. but as il
costs the managers absolutely nothing
any price pays. Therefore at "A rum
| mage sale there are bargains like to
none on earth. Any ore can come into
it with only three cents. and yet find
boundlcsS capabilities OF buying in his
purse. In this Southern town the
| colored people iocked To the rooms
| where the sale was held. and supplied
themselves with long-coveted article.
such as musical instruments. high silk
hats. iress-suits. gay millinery. and
tan shoes. to their hearts content
One small colorcd boy had four cents
to spend. He strolled about for hours.
looked at the old shoes. hung over a
| mousc-trap for while considered
some penny pictures. and half decided
upon cracked blue vase. hut finally
| expended his all upon a dozen num-
| bers of an illustrated magazine
| The baspipes were sold off the moment
| the sale began. and were inquired for
| eagerly attcrward by MANY Corners In
| deed. the out-of-the-wdy articles soon
| disappeared. except in tho picture line
| There were two large walnut framed On
| cravings there OF the vintage say OF
| 1851 ar thcrca bouts. which were mvstcrir-
| indeed. ono represented sort of Hall OF
Fame. in which perhaps a hundred men
| unfamiliar at first sight. bit labeled our
| american Authors. ~ patient effort a
| faint resemblance to Holmes. Poe. AMI
| Cooper might bc traced in three Of The
| strange forms. but there the hardest cou-
| lecture ceased. As n puzzle picture il WAS
success lac other engraving
equally cnigmatical. FOR l. reprcscntel tne
| trial OF some bcwigccd and melancholy
| individual in a large Gothic hail crowded
with aprarcntly distinGui -hcd pcrsonages.
only nobody knew who they were. Fail
sixteenth. the managers then called it.
in desrair. n he Trial of Lord Russell
fcrcd as The Trial Of Charles The
| t1fSt. the price getting lower and lower
! but no takers II finally went to col
ored lady AT the auction that ended the
| sale. and she may now he representing 4
| 10 her friends the trial of jefferson
Davis; for all anybody knows.
| As has hcen said. the sale pleased cv-
crybody: or. rs one bright woman put
it. lit was like the quality Of mercy.
twice blessed. which hlesseth him that
| gives and him that takes There were
| some awkward happenings. however. a
when ono woman shopper held up pair
| of infants socks and asked the seller. in
ssr1lchral whisper, rs them diseased.
and another. after cyeinE a jacket
marked 'i.75 hanging behind tn" coun-
ter for ladies wraps. asked the one in
charge how much it was. why. one
| then. with a quick sizing up of the an
! parent customer. but YOU can have IT
an drew herself mp with an indcscribahiy
| whitening glance. well ii | had known
| y"u were going I" sell 1t for 50 little.
| would never have sent it here" she cried
Tahlcau.
Another woman. having purchased
| hat, a care. dress. ana pair Of shoes
| for her daughter, iaboriouSiy explained
to the various Sacswomcn that she
| wouldn't think of letting her child wear
| caSt-on clothing: no. indccd-Shc was
| only buying them for souvcncers.' a
| stout German woman dressed in bright
blue. pricing Grape bonnet with most
imposing veil. was told gently by the sell
or. This is mourning bonnet. you
| know. and you are not in mourning.
No was the answer. with conscious
pride Of accent. but I expect to be-
and she sailed off with the bonnet, leav
ing amazed conjecture behind her. Bon
nets and wraps went off with astoniSh-
| ing rapidly. and il was not safe To leave
| ones own wraps behind any of the coun-
ters One girl having carelessly left her
new tailor-made jacket behind one coun-
| ter while she stepped over for a moment
to speak 70 friend at another. looked
| across just in time to see II pinned up
among the others. marked. only 500.
and she had some difficulty in rcscuing II
from an eager buyer.
The colored people asked for all sort :
| of things. One man wanted Caesars DE
BeIlo GalIici in the original. another
wished for Macaulay's Essays. and doz-
| ems wanted dctiona rics. Cook books and
| hymn books went off like hot cakes. and
all the little colored children hunted for
penwipcrs to take to school and even
cried when the supply gave out There
were eager buyers for carpets and cur
| tainS and though NEARLY all the bric-a =