Evening star., 1902-03-22

we had terrible time effecting final set
| tlement with the buyers.
But if it is alternately sad and merry to
! BUY for an auction house it is all comedy
| to sell for one. l believe auctioneers are
born and not made. 1 know l began my
! career before [ was fairly out of knee
! breecheS, by haunting croSS-road auctions
| One must be good judge of values and Of
| human nature. possess good lungs and a
| properly trained voice, endless tact and
| boundless good nature. If he has all these
qualities. his work will be constant source
| of amusement as well as profit. Here in
| New York our purchasers come mostly
| from the secondhand dealers class. A
| widow who has shop in the East Side is
| one of our best buyers. She is we1l-propor-
! toned, with good features, and beautiful
blonde hair, and chance visitors are always
| interested in her because she buys so much
and looks so out of place among the gen.
| eral run of secondhand dealers. She sug-
| gests the prosperous landlady of a fashion
| able boarding house. But she is one of the
| s1rewdest buyers in the business.
Bought Too Heavily.
Women often yield to the fascinations
! Of a sale and even grow hysterical. For
| instance, last Monday an old German wo-
man bid in $40 worth of goods, but when it
came to settling at the Office she burst into
| tears and declared that if we forced her
| to take the goods she would be in dire trou-
| ble She had come to buy just one kitchen
chair and had forgotten herself. Oh, We
| would be good and take the rest back, or
| her husband would be angry: Yes, she was
quite sure he would get a divorce for her
fOol1ShnesS. She was SO earnest that we
| finally took the things off her hands-a1f
| except the chair-and She went on her way
| rejoicing.
| "At another sale a colored woman be-
came excited over a feather bed for which
| she was bidding against a white woman.
| 1t was finally knocked down to her at s..
When she came back the next day to set
| tie her bill and take the purchase she was
| in fine rage. declaring it was made of
| only flock feather Now, as she had for
| gotten in her excitement to examine the
| bed closely and as the bidding had been OF
her own making We were inclined to stand
| our ground. She flew out of the store in
great temper and later returned with
| bunch of the meanest. scowling 'coons' 1
ever saw. 1t was a question of taking back
the feather bed or seeing raEOrS In the air,
| and we preferred the feathers. And the
| strange part of the tale is that the old col
ored lady is one OF our best customers to-
day and steers all her friends our way.
| "One reads all sorts of fake stories about
| rich finds made by frequenters of auction
shops. but, while this may be an unbusi-
neSS-llke thing to say. l must confess such
| instances are rare. s.ill we can record one
already in the year 1902 Some months ago
an old Irish woman who wanted to go back
| to her own country to die, and sold us her
housefurnishing goods, including a couple
Ol Qudllll Olu lulllS, WHICH SHE OccldTeO ndO
| been made by her grcat-grandmother. OF
| course, at the sale l tod all sorts Of allur-
| ing stories about hidden treasures to be
| found in old-fashioned things. and an old
German finally bought one of the quilts at
| $40. which was quite to my liking. as we
| had allowed 25 cents for 1t. The other day
| he came back and tapped timldly at the
office door. Did l remember the quilt?
Surely! And it was worn on the corners?
| He had been almost afraid of those corners.
| They would not last long. But his wife
had ripped them up to piece them out with
| new calico. and there-there-yes it was
| true, there, tucked into the layers Of cot
| ton, were four diamonds and half dozen
tiVe-pOund notes.
A Great Find.
Just for joke 1 explained tha in such
| instances half the find reverted to the auc-
! tioneer. A crafty light came into the old
mans eyes, and he said so? I t'ink per-
haps dos vas SO. But it iss not here. 1t iss
| gone My wife has gone back to Germany,
| und she take it nit her. So? And myself
go next week But 1 tank you yoost der
| same. We be glad to see der old home
| But for real, solid fun, commend me to
what is termed an as is sale, such as are
conducted by hotels and railways for un-
/; claimed baggage, and where people bid for
packages judging from the outside only,
! and not being permitted to open or examine
| anything.
| Inc last sale 1 nGlQ 1OT lle new 4Ork
Central was in 80. when 10.O00 packages,
parcels and trunks which had been left at
various places between Buffalo and New
| York, wero disposed Of Three thousand
| pc ople were in attendance and the job at
| times threatened to cost me my life, de-
| spite the protection of a squad of police.
| 1t seems that wags in the employ Of the
railway, but who could never be located.
| had shipped in a lot Of mysterious bundles
which were a hoax. Imagine the feelings of
man who paid four or five dollars for a
package found to contain empty straw
Regular Lottery.
"On the other hand, at the last sale of
unclaimed baggage for the, Grand Central
hotel the stuff was all offered in front of
our shop here on Broadway. and some fine
be rgains We're picked up. One man bid in
for s14 dngy trunk which contained
ladies' wearing apparel. linens and laces
valued at $50, while another fellow picked
up for $1.7O a package containing dia-
nCnd ring and sterling match box. 1t
had been held for express charges OF $14.
A man who was passing on Broadway
car saw me pointing to box that was
Just being put up, and he shouted from the
platform, Three dollars. He jumped Off
at the next corner and came back to claim
fifteen dollars worth of new books.
Gambling? Yes, l suppose you might
can it that. But you can't suppress the
gambling instinct far as auction sales
are concerned and for final word let me
say the women show that instinct here
Il xy-n~ fsv1an