Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1902-01-02

DtHQ the utl gam ~ H0
mount II On q stand in his hall, and
when people seem to have any doub-s
about his stories Of hunting big game
in Africa he can show them the ele-
plant gun
This cannon here I believe L be
the Oldest in the country. IL is made
Of fine bronze, ana the date on it is
1851. We got it from Porto Rico
After duly admiring the old can
non there was a tour of discovery that
extended all over the warehouse,
where, heaped up from floor to cell
ing, throughout the five stories, was
what at first appeared TO be the most
amazing aggregation Of rubbish ever
| assembled under one roof.
This first impression was hardly
| accurate, however. IN spite of cob
webs and dust and the presence of a
vast quantity of utterly useless
things, the place was full of treas
ures. Bales and boxes and packing
cases full of sea stores of all sorts
thathad never been opened We're scat
tered an about.
"They don't 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 classi-
fication had been made. Here was a
gun carriage in sections; pile of old
uniforms; a packing case three-quar-
tiers full of army caps; a mass of Jap
anese lily bulbs that had spoiled; a
quarter of a ton of soap; a great
quantity of shoe backing; a 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 widowed;
heaps of boots that had never been
worn and probably never would be,
so compactly had the spiders bound
them with their cobWebs. A mound
of books was on one of the floors, o
mound of photographs on another,
and in little room by themselves a
collection Of paintings some very
well framed and some not framed at
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 lost his bearings, and the
discoveries were as real to him as to
the reporter.
whats in this barrel?" he queried,
striking match and peering down at
some shining black stuff.
"Oh, yesl" he exclaimed, suddenly
recollecting. Its gunpowder-
enough to blow the whole place to
kingdom come"
Heaps of loose ammunition were
encountered at various points, and as
there are several cats, to say moth
ing of rats, roaming about, an explo-
sion would not be very surprising un
der the circumstances, the cartridges
being of the decorating variety.
"Why don't you establish some kind
of order here?" asked the writer, wip-
ing away a veil of cobwebs that had
fallen about his face.
mo time" said the guide. There
are only three of us in this big
place"
"Pd never rest till found out what
/ had and arranged it after a fashion,
the clothing in one place and the
provisions in another, and so on
"Then you wouldn't make so much
money as the boss" responded the
guide.
'But there's such deal here that's
absolutely going to waste"
There's plenty more where it came
from"
"Where did it come from?"
Government auction sales, mostly;
then sheriffs sales and private AUG
ton sales. There was a fire at the
navy yard not long ago, and every
thing in the building was sold at auc-
ton. Some of the goods were dam
aged and some were not injured at
all. The government doesn't stop to
look il over very closely, l reckon.
It cleans out and puts in new goods.
Then, when a warship has been cruis-
ing for five months or so, and arrives
in port, an the stores she has remain
ing are condemned and sold at auc-
ton
"All sorts of things come to us
from the government. For instance,
we bought $4,000 swords not long
ago that had been stored at Govern
ors island ever since the civil war.
We had lively competition in buying
them. too"
"Where viii they go2''
"Men belonging to secret societies
will use them up. They're in fine or
der, and in spit of competition put
ting the price up We'll make a good
thing ont Of them IN. Y. Times