Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-21
IN ANSWER TO AN AID

Il am not ma of 81 siness. but have
discovered the. vaQe Of kdyerusing. never
theless," said sbtciaa 8gent Of the gov
eminent. II don't bell he / ever saw SO
many different ki(fs 81 people in such a
short space OF umh 10 my life before as
were brought to my domestic establishment
recently by little three-line advertise
ment that put insthe Newspapers.
After l had got my eozy little fiat all
fixed up for the w4ntsrXas l thought and
had been figuring Iwith my wife, upon the
joys Of the season in Washington. l was
suddenly ordered to distant station
away out on the Pacifict coast.
There was no such a thing as shipping
my furniture that far. ana. as there seemed
no prospect Of mse beingfrecalled to Wash
inston for long time to come. we con-
cluded that 1t would be foolish to store the
furniture here and pay the charges on it
when there was every probability that 1t
would have to lie here for number of
years. So there was nothing to do but to
insert little advertisement setting forth
that the fiat furniture was for sale as a
whole, and that the fiat itself could be
taken II the person purchasing the furni-
ture liked the apartment and was satisfac-
tory to the landlord. The advertisement
appeared first in The Star.
Il understand that The Star gets on to
the street about twenty minutes to 4. Well,
you can believe 1t or. not but they began
t. appear at my fat full of business, by 4
o'clock-before l got home from the office.
| found four women-two parties of two
In the nat when / got home al a quarter
past 4. They were all telling my wife at
once how perfectly unsuitable all of our
gear was for their purposes. and at the
same time Offering. as a special favor to
her. to take some of 1t off her hands for
Well, for just about nothing.
We already have a fiat-a very much
larger fiat one of the women said to my
wife. but II you would care to dispose of
your dining room table, think that-well
say dollar, would be a fair price for it.
don't you? And If you would care to sell
your sewing machine-its nearly new. isn't
i'll could let you have, perhaps, S. for
that
''She was very overpowering dowager,
this one. and she scared my wife so that
she could barely muster up words to reply
that the furniture was only to be sold as
whole, and that the sewing machine
wasn't to be included anyhow.
Oh, well, don't see what you are adj
vertising under false pretenses for. then
said the overpowering woman, and out she
haunted. audibly remarking to the woman
with her that she thought it was mighty
meager-looking apartment for an official
or the government to have anyway.
Another woman who had arrived before
got home offered my wife about one-th:rd
what / intended asking for the furniture
and my figure was one-third of its value
on condition that all of the pictures should
be included in the bill of sale.
don't think my husband intends to
sell the pictures, my wife had replied.
The advertisement states that only the
furniture is to be disposed of. does 1t not !?
There are associations connected with many
of the pictures. and
Well. I am sure they are cheap enough
looking things. said this woman, and then
she went out with her nose in the air.
Then l became the reception committee
for the visitors The first one that han
died l picked out as a dealer as soon as he
got in the door. He seemed to take in the
whole plant at glance in the course Of his
swift stroll from the parlor to the kitchen.
The figure he named was simply too ride
ulOuS to be mentioned. 49,
"'Oh, but you are going away imme-
diately, your ad. says he replied when l
all but laughed at his figure. You must
do the best you can. l SUPPOSE
"'Oh, I've got a couple of weeks yet to
make a decker 1 told him
" oh, 1 didn't know that he said some
and he named a price considerably in ad-
vance of his first figure, but still absurd.
told him that it was absurd.
Oh then, I can make you an offer for
a few pieces, he said. That bookcase over
there-I could stretch a point and let you
have s. for that =
81 paid 500 for that bookcase only a few
months ago. replied
" Buying and selling are different mat
ters. my friend...-h he said, and then he went
away. after telling me that in case I could
do no better he might take the $S5 parlor
set-bought only four months ago-for SIS.
Then an odd customer came along He
was odd because he possessed the mightiest
gall that ever came within my observation
He didn't even look at the layout of fur
niture. but sat down in the parlor as soon
as he got In and got busy with his propo-
sition.
what are you asking for the whole
plant?'' he inquired waving his arm-w hich
was encased in rather a shabby sleeve
about him to include the whole works.
Il named my figure.
"'Vairy reasonable. VARY he said,
grandlv. I came prepared to offer at least
hal. more than that. I'll take it as it
stands. When are you going?
% In about ten days, replied.
THAT will be admirable said he. Il
shall be ready to move in by that time.
The landlords address. if you please?'
Il told him the landlords address. He
The terms for the furniture I told him
then. are. as Of course you understand,
spot cash?'
He looked exceedingly surprised
"'Oh, but you will not insist upon that
point. l am sure. he replied in as of hand
a manner as you please.
"'Oh. yes, l SHALL. said I. That is the
one consideration upon which shall SELL
But 1 think you will waive the point
when l state my position he said, sitting
down on the hall settee and regarding me
with the greatest blandness. For the mo-
ment-merely for the moment, understand
am-well. just trifie short of funds.
do not hesitate to make that clear, for feel
sure you win appreciate my honesty of pur-
pose in stating it. However. l am about to
receive an excellent appointment under the
feel sure that am just upon
the point Of receiving this appointment for
l saw my congressman about 1t today, and
while he mentioned some little matter about
the civil service law. or some such formal
ity, / have every assurance-eyery mental
assurance, that is. that the appointment is
as good as mine. even if ! have to wait
while for it. Now. supposing l make the
proper arrangement with your landlord,
dare say you would be quite willing to wait
until receive the appointment, since have
accepted your figure. undertake my
notes for the furniture at, say. from six to
nine months"
ooh. it didn't take me long to fan that
airy visitor after that.
Literally scores of people came along
during the next two or three days, most of
whom wanted to buy stuff piecemeal. I
was lust about to pass it all up and send
the whole outfit to an auction shop-when
the orders sending me to the coast were re-