Daily camera., 1901-12-02

paid me nve doNerS on account t.
bind the bargain He's going t
mount 1t on q stand in his hall, an,
when people seem to have any doub-
about his stories Of hunting big gam
In Africa he can show them the ele
phant gun.
This cannon here believe n b,
the Oldest In the country. 1t is mad
OF hne bronze, and the date on it Il
1881. We got it from Porto Rico"
After duly admiring the old can
non there was tour Of discovery tina
extended all over the warehouse
where. heaped up from floor to cell
ing. throughout the Ave stories, wa,
what at first appeared to be the mos
amazing aggregation OF rubbish evel
assembled under one roof.
This hrst impression was hardl,
accurate, however. In spite of cob
webs and dust and the presence Of @
vast quantity Of utterly useles.
things, the place was full Of treas
ures. Bales and boxes and packing
cases full Of sea stores of all sorts
that had never been opened were scat
tered all about.
"They don'' know what they've got,
said the solitary salesman Of the es.
tablishment,, who acted as guide, re-
ferring to the proprietors. They
throw these things in here any old
way and then forget about them
They're too busy downstairs making
heaps OF money to think about
them"
Confusion was everywhere abso-
lutte. Not the least attempt at clas 81
fcation had been made. Here was a
gun carriage in sections; q pile Of old
uniforms; a packing case thrce-quar-
ters full Of army caps; a mass OF jap
anese lily bulbs that had spoiled; a
quarter Of ton Of soap; great
quantity OF shoe blacking; box Of
white hats. such as are used in the
navy; boxes Of timed sausages, more
boxes Of jams and jellies; crates Of
fruit that had dried and mildewed;
heaps OF boots that had never been
worn and probably never would be,
so compnctly had the spiders bound
them with their cobwebs. A mound
Of books was on one Of the floors, a
mound of photographs on another,
and in little room by themselves a
collection Of paintings, some very
well framed and some not framed al
all. OF course, one Of them WAS IAN
old master" This collection was
spoken OF with awe by the salesman.
They're all masterpieces" he said.
THAT big one there's a Van Dyck."
As the exploration extended the
guide quite los, his bearings, and the
discoveries were as real TO him as TO
the reporter,
whats in this barrel7" ne queried
striking a match and peering down at
some shining black stun.
"Oh. yes," be exclaimed. suddenly
recollecting. ITS gunpowder-
enough to blow the whole place to
Kingdom come"
Heaps of loose ammunition we're
encountered at various points, and as
there are several cats, to say moth
ing OF rats, roaming about, an eIpio-
siop would no. be very surprising up-
der the circumstances, the cartridges
being Of the detona,ins variety.
Why don't you establish some kind
OF order here7r asked the writer. wjp-
Ing away a veil of oobvebs t.. mad
fallen abou, his face,
NO time" said the guide. There
are only three Of Us in this big
place"
I'D never rest till found out what
I had and arranged II after q fashion,
the clothing in one place and the
provisions in smother, and so on"
Then you wouldn't make 50 much
money As the boss," responded the
guide.
But there's such > deal here that's
. lbs olutely going to waste"
"There's plenty more where it came
from"
"Where did II come from!"
"Go~ernment auction sales. mostly:
then shsriffs' sales and private auc-
lion salss. There was = hre at the
navy yard not long ago. and every
thing in the building wAs sold at aue-
Eion. Some Of the goods were dam
aged and some were not injured at
III. The government doesn't stop to
ook II over very closely, / reckon.
Il cleans out and puts in new goods.
Then. when . wArship has been cruis-
nR for Ave months or so. and arrives
n port, all the storss abe has remain
ng are condemned and sold at auc-
lion.
"All sorts OF things come TO ua
rom the government, For instance,
ne bought $4,000 swords not long
leo that had been stored At Govern
,rs island ever since the civil war.
We had lively competition in buying
hem, too"
where will they got"
Men belonging TO secret societies
will use them up They're in hne or
Ter. and in spite of competition put
ing the price up werl make . good
hing out of thsm."-N. Y. Times,