The National tribune., 1902-01-09

ont affair which some person was no
doubt keeping as family heirloom, and
was held together by strips of sticking
plaster. But the cards! She removed
them from their case, gazed intently at
them with Il puzzled expression for a
moment, and then holding the pack aloft,
exclaimed:
What's them?'
The faces of the cards were covered
with strange hieroglyphics and weird de
signs of dragons, snakes, and other horrl-
bic things.
Those, madam" venturcd scholarly
looking man, 'are Chinese playing cards.
AS the matrOn passed out of the room,
| followed by grins and snickers. she hand
cd the worn-out old album To Il colored
boy and showed the Celestial playing
cards deep down into her capacious hand
bag, with the remark, soto voce: hey
are curiosities, anyhow
A dapper young man, who looked rs
though he might be a dry-goods clerk, ex-
claimed, What fools we mortals be.
after he had invested 80 cents of his
weekly stipend in package No. 24O4. Upon
opening the manila-wrapped bundle. he
held up the contents-an Iceland shawl,
an apron, butcher knife, and faded pair
of yellow garters.
| An elderly individual, who appeared to
be Il man of considerable judgment, re-
marked that if the goods offered for sale
concealed in paper, We're unfOlded and
exposed for inspection, they would not
bring one-quarter the amount they were
selling for. Much greater bargains, he
added. could be obtained in any of the
downtown stores.
These people are not exactly looking
for bargains responded n philosophical
bystander. 1T is a combination of the
two American characteristics, curiosity
and til" pleasure of being humbugged.'
The auctiOncer apparently started every
bid mt 30 cents, and did not dwell long
over any offer whenever he got a raise.
a hawk-eyed secondhand dealer, who was
as coid-faccd as Il fish, bid in package.
and a frOwn of disappointment passed
over his features as he examined the con
tents. There was a baby's dress, piece
OF damaged ribbon, two tiny handkcr-
chiefs, Il doll, and several toys. a wO-
man attired in deep mourning, looked
wistfully at the articles, while tears
trickled down her face.
''Keepsakes of some dear baby darling,
she said to her companion. Perhaps they
are the only memcntoes some fond mother
had of her little one who has gone to
Paradise, where my little angel girl is So
journng"
But there was no sentiment in the mat
tcr-of-fact buyer. lie simply showed the
/
the catalogue i'll search of better bargains.
y package, perhaps intended for some sol
dicr-boy in the far-away Philippines, was
sold to Il railroad man for 30 cents. II
contained n pair Of damaged rubbers, -
smoking tobacco, two cheap handker-
chiefs, thread, needles and playing cards.
In another package was Il cheap loving
cup, inscribed, From Gertie to Papa
There were numerous packages Of sOiled
linen and hosiery, and "chcap jewe,ry'' ga
lore. Much of the latter may have been
sent out by concerns as samples, and en-
braccd collar buttons by the hundreds,
cuff buttons, pins, and chains OF brass,
tin, and copper, and glass, in imitation of
precious stones.
a cOlOred man was attracted by the con-
tents of package No. 2426, which included
"a damaged razor" strOp and several
pairs of socks. He parted with so cents
for the bundle, and was startled when a
policeman, who was off duty for the day,
cautioned him to be careful or he would
be arrested for carrying concealed wea-
pOns, and his 50-ccnt razor, instead of
amity, as his fine would be $50.
Nearly one-half of the $3.50 miscella-
neons packages contained lamp wicks or
handkerchiefs, which indicates that there
is n great traffic through the mails of
those commodities. There were also
many packages containing damaged
gloves, which prompted one of the pur-
chasers to remark that Uncle Sam must
have struck job lot of damaged gloves
somewhere.
\ pathetic feature of the dead-letter
sale was the daily appearance at the auc-
ton rooms of 4 poOrly-clad woman from