The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-12-28
A QUEER sALEsRooM.
Stock Ranges from Big Telescopes to
 Live Bantams.

Stock Ranges from Big Telescopes to
 Live Bantams.
 There are many auction rooms in London, says Chambers Journal.
 There is, however. one which is of a unique character. This is in Covent Garden, and is known as Stevens. Here you can purchase everything, from the mortal remains of an ancient Egyp- tain to a rare orchid, or from big telescope to live bantam.
 Tt may be said that if the mania for collecting things were not com mon attribute of human nature Mir. Stevens would find half his occupation gone. The man who collects coins, postage stamps, shells, minerals, but terflies, fossils, implements of the sa- wage, or other product of nature or art may be sure that when he dies, unless he should make some other provision in his will, the property he has acquired with such difflcultty will gravitate to Covent Garden. It is cur ious to reflect upon the manner in which certain highly treasured ob- jects descend. by a natural process, like heirlooms, to collector after collec- tor, each one paying generally an en- hanced price. Take, for example, the eggs of the great aux, the number of known examples of which Is seventy. Every now and then one of these egg shells comes into the market. Here it will command from 200 to 800 guineas, according to quality, which is far nearer to it's weight in diamonds than it is to it's weight in gold. The price of these shells has been rising by leaps and bounds ever since it became cer- tain that the great aux, was an ex- tinct bird.
 Another natural product which comes under the same category with regard to value is the rare orchid, ex- ampless of which have again and again found their way to this establishment. Here is true story about one of them. A visitor to the rooms purchased one afternoon, two Insignificant looking growths for the modest sum ofa fiorin apiece. If small in size, they were dig- nified by terribly long names to make up for what they wanted in statue, Some months elapsed before the pur- chaser again made his way to the rooms this time bearing in his hand onesof the two-shilling twins, which by this time had put forth flower. But the blossom was not Of that particular color which might reasonably be ex- Ipected from that variety of orchid: lit was yellow flower, instead of q white one. MT. Stevens keen eye at once saw that the little blossom was a rareity-what experts would cali "a sport'-and he said to it's owner Don't attempt to part with it yet. Let me see what I can sell it for He did sell 1t, ! too, and the modest flower fetched 1s5 guineas. MT. Stevens has many other stories to tell of the high prices some times given by orchid lovers for rare blooms.
 An echo of every important event seems to find it's way to these auction rooms at Covent Garden, A slice of Queen Victoria's wedding cake, duly Authenticated by the original gracious Eletter from Buckingham Palace which accompanied it, was sold here short time back. At Stevens rooms was sold not long ago the silken undervest worn on the scaffold by the ill-fated monarch Charles I, and doubtless the purchaser in giving 200 guineas for It deeply stained with royal blood.
 Human heads fetch a good price, was influenced by the fact that it was but they must be tattooed heads, like those of the. Maori chiefs of NewZea- land, or must have some other peculiar I tity about them. Heads which have high commercial value are compress ! ed heads from South America, the se- cret preparation of which is known on- Fly to the Jwari tribe of Indians. The bones of the skull are entirely remov- led, and the head is contracted to the ! size of an orange These heads are very scarce now, and consequently they are all the more valuable from the collec- tors point of view.
 An echo of the French Revolution comes to us as we handle the satchel In |twhich Charlotte Corday used to carry her prayer book. This is authenticated by a letter dated from Caen, where the assassin, or, as some would say the executioner, of Marat lived with an Iaunt just before she went to Paris to kill and be killed.
 Here is a mummy beiived to be of an Egyptian princess, but at present no precise details are to be had. There lies the diminutive little body in it's origi- nal wrappings covered with hierogly-. phics, and with it's painted mask over the face. How is it possible to tell we ask, whether this thing is genuine2 How do you know that these wrappings actually inclose human body, and that the whole thing has not been fak- ed?' Look here, replied MT. Stevens, and he, took from beside the mummy three large X-ray pictures of the re- mains, showing separately the head, the body and the lower limbs. In these wonderful pictures the bony skeleton was revealed. together with certain dark patches, which may possibly be plates of gold or some less valuable metal. In this wonderful manner the genuine nature of this mummied body is at once determined
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