New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-04-10

tvorv. tapestry and strange furnituro tnA' MS, ms,
80 been designed in dreams, but IN IL nave Oceh
found many things OF Keen ''l'1 ~ - "
and curiosity hunter.
tn. r-oorietor OF the dusty coowebbed shop was
10 little old Grandfather Trent. who as descriOeo
nv Dickens might have groped among ou
churches and tornbs and deserted houses ana gain
.-ed all the spoHs with his own hands. but TO-
h,st folly faced man. ah active member OF the
peefsteak Club. and fond OF good living ana cheeF'
Robert Fullerton had been an engineer ana pros
hector in Cuba and South America had taken part
in south American revolutions, and served rs war
correspondent for a New-Hork newspaper III '49
cuban revolution Of 1S6s-'Ss.
Among the interesting features Of the Old Curl
osty Shop seen there from Tina TO time was an
oil paIntinG OF David Frederick. and hanging near
Ia, yrere his fire trumpet and belt Before Brod-
erick became a 'Forty-niner." in the gold craze
IN California and received Senatorial honoTs. be-
Ing killed afterward. as Is well known IN a uuei
with Judge Terry. he New-York hre boy in
tho Ninth Ward. and was foreman OF Engine CON-
many No 81 In a corner OF the shop was the
ristol John Brown was said to have had in his
possession at Harper's Ferry. Mr.. Fullerton
bought it from Elliot +. Daingerfeld, tho artist
relative Of Major Daingerleld. who was paymaSter
at Harper's Ferry at the time OF John Browns
raid When the late Thomas Hovenden was paint
ing picture of John Brown this pistol was sent TO
him II waa not used however. as John Brown
was painted a prisoner.
Several hundred letters and manuscript poems OF
Joaquin Miller piled III corner with q copy
of the first directory published in New-YOrk. in
l7s6 az Wall and Water SIS. Above hung por-
trait OF Edgar Allan Poe, painted at his home at
Fordham. Interesting the collector were letters
OF generals of the War of the Revolution and OF
the Civil War; old deeds. documents and books OF
published years after the invention OF printing.
bound in half calf and published In 1890. In this
book which is in Latin. the author tells about two
trips he made Jerusalem. and describes the con
dton OF tho Holy Land In his time. On the walls
Thomas Cole and Sentinel Rock In the Yosemite
by Berstadt.
nearly twelve thousand play bills OF American ana
fury The programmes OF English theatres. about
three thousand in number were collected by Dion
Boucicault Frank ChanfTau collected the pro-
grammes Of the Bowery theatres, special attention
being given TO those OF the Old Bowery. night after
Scattered about the place might be many old
theatrical portraits letters of well known actors
some OF them love letters. which had been picked
up in auction rooms. Among New Workers owning
often added their treasures at the Old Curiosity
Jansen Wendell and Mr.. Tefft. of Tent. Weller *
r S Se IN befS Of the the snG boS
them silver matchbox. with an inscription
one Of the early New-York 'Plug Uglies to John
Morrissey; the gambler massive silver watch
been used as a clock in travelling by Napoleon l.
There were also SefreTsonls man relics CONSISTING Of
drinking horn. used by jefferson in entertaining
his friends Monticello. that came from the coll
lection Of the late DIR. James r. Leaning. OF this
city
TO repenish the Old Curiosity Shop from time to
time and run across valuable finds" Mr.. Fuller
ton was a frequent visitor to Junk shops and second
hand stores. He attended storage sales and bought
trunks containing letters. especially II the name
of n we'll known man trunk. At these
sales he had often picked up for trihe bOnanzas.
from his point OF view. For 50 he bought a trunk
the private papers. contracts and love
letters OF Thomas Hnmbln. the Bowery tragedan,
and their publication in New-York made a sensa-
ton
the trunk Of a clergyman who had fallen from
grace and was dismissed from his charge. The
trunk sold on account OF an unpaid board
bill at the Hotel St Denis. The clergyman was
an autograph fiend, and in the trunk were found
hundreds OF valuable autographs. Several trunks
bought at another sale contained correspondence
and the manuscript OF the Memoirs Of General
sherman" Two bags Of letters bought by Mr..
Fullerton from a Junk dealer made more or less
Interesting reading for their authors when they
appeared in cold type. They were eppiicatlons
for passes over the New-York Central and HUDSON
River Railroad and were signed by some OF the
best known men in political life in this country,
from an ex-President of tho United states down
To wa I'd