Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1902-01-23

looking for. He was delighted with
1t, and when l charged him s12 he
paid me five dollars on account to
bind the bargain. He's going 10
mount IL on a 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-
phant gun.
This cannon here / believe W be
the Oldest in the country. 1t is made
OF fine bronze, ana the date on IL Is
1881. 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 were scat
tered all about.
"They dom 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
gun carriage In sections; a pile Of old
uniforms; a packing case three-quar-
ters full Of army caps; mass Of Jap
anese lily bulbs that had spoiled; a
quarter OF a ton OF soap; great
quantity OF shoe backing; a box OF |
white hats, such ns are used in the |
navy; boxes OF timed sausHges, 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- !
40 compactly had the spiders bound |
them with their cobwcbs A mound |
of books WAS on one of the floors,
mound OF photographs on another,
and In little room by themselves a
collection OF paintings, some very
well framed and some not framed "a
all OF course, one Of them wss "an
old master" This collection was
spoken OF with awe By the salesman.
They're all masterpieces, he said.
That big one there's Van Dyck."
As the exploration extended the
guide quite lost his bearings, and the
discoveries were as real to him as TO
the reporter.
"What's in this barrel?" he queried,
striking n match and peering down at
some shining black stuff.
"oh, yesi" he exclaimed, suddenly
ITS gunpowder-
enough TO blow the whole place 10
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 somo kind
Of order here2" asked the writer, wjp-
Ing away veil OF cobwebs IT,. mad
fallen about his face.
"No time" said the guido. ''There
are only three OF us In this big
place"
I'D never rest till found out what
had and arranged II after a fashion,
the clothing In one pace 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
,bs solutely going to waste"
"rhere's plenty more where II came
from"
"Where did II come from3"
Government auction sales. mostly;
hen sheriffs' sales and private auc-
Ion sales. There was fire at the
navy yard not long ago, and every
hing In the building was sold at nuc-
lion. Some OF the goods were dam
lged and some were not injured at
III. The government doesn't stop TO
ook II over very closely, reckon
Z cleans out and puts In new goods
Then, when warship has been cruis-
ny for Ave months or so, and arrives
n port, oil the stores she has remain
ng are condemned and sold at auo-
ion.
"All sorts OF things come 10 us
rom the government. For instance,
We bought 10000 swords not long
go that had been stored at Govern
'rs island ever since the civil war
Ne had lively competition in buying
hem. too"
"Where win they go7'
"Men belonging to secret societies \
will use them up, They're In fine or
Ter. and In spite OF competition put =,
ing the price up Wen make good
4 - Tl,uap