The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-10-18
TIE KONpAREM MAN


Notes for Collectors Of "oid stun"-How
Man With Penchant for Old Bureaus
Learned the History Of the Evolution of
This Useful Piece Of Furniture.
A lot Of New Mexican Indians have
been arrested on the charge of rnanufac-
turing relics of the cliff dWellers.'' There
are firms In New Mexico who make a
business Of supplying cliff dweller 'relics"
and already enough Of them have been
sent out to have supplied the real cliff
jewellers with seven or eight centuries of
utensils Of all kinds. Many collector
has very punk earthenware pitcher or
bowl on his shelves that was made not
three months before he purchased it for
$3.50 by some enterprising and very New
Mexican, who had to get living some
how. Talk about your Yankees and your
wooden nutmegs!
Why do we collect" anyhow? Well,
you may search us! But we do it just the
same. Postage stamps, birds eggs old
books, curios. old furniture, old clocks,
old dishes, and what not, heaven pre-
serve us
friend Of the writer was recently
seized with a sudden and passionate de-
sire to possess an old mahogany bureau;
mot reproduction, but real DID, wormy,
bureaunial chestnut. After long search,
he found the article for which his soul
/ longed In the store Of an old brass dealer
| on Bridge square. 1t had every appear
ance OF having come in with the last CEN
| tury, for 1t was wickedly battered and
cracked. But it had the lines. Oh it had
| the lines! Negotiations transferred the
| ownership from the Man of Brass to the
collector, the Man Of Brass getting $3.50
out OF the transaction. The Old Mahog
any Expert was then called in 1t is the
business of the o. M. e. to look at the
bureau admiringly and soak you $35 for
correcting the errors of time. Both of
these things he can dc excellently well.
In studying the lines and angles of this
bureau to get an approximate guess at its
date, the bureaucrat learned much Of the
History and Evolution of the Bureau
The bureau Is development of the chest
Our foremothers kept their linen in a
chest. AS 1t was difficult to paw the
contents over every time something was
needed, a willy cabinetnaker one day put
a drawer under the chest It worked glor-
1ously and the next chests he made haG
two or three drawers under them. Tho
whole was then called q "chest Of draw
ers." Later on, legs were added, and the
mirror was transferred from the dressing
table. to the chest Of drawers, and 10! the
first bureau was born. In old bureaus vol
may still detect the lines of the chest
bullying out over the drawers.
In making this study the bureaucra
made one fatal error. He neglected to in.
oculate himself against catching the col.
Letting craze TN bureaus. The result is
that his house is now bullying from cellar
to garnet with old bureaus, in all stages
of development, from chest to bureau
4 When his wife sees team backing w
with another old bureau on it, she feels
faint Still, it is a better fad than thu
of spending your money for poor whisky
and putting this whisky where it will d.
you the least good, namely, inside.
While we are speaking of collectors
1T might be well to tell the story Of an ole
English collector Of books Thomas
ness over a remarkable "ind' is still ex
tant in the Bodleian library, and read.
thus:
o, most gracious and merciful Lord God
} wonderful in thy providence I return humble
thanks to thee for the thou hast always
taken of me. I continually meet with mos
signal instances Of this thy providence and one
act of yesterday, when unexpectedly met will
three old manuscripts, for which in particula
manner return my thanks, beseeching thee t.
continue the same protection to me- poor, help
less sinner, and that for Jesus Christ his sake.
, This is the true collectors spirit. I'll
: may be outbid by an American plutocrat,
as the London Chronicle remarks, tfor
rarity, when it IS known and advertised,
but all the plutocrat's wealth cannot bu,
: his satisfaction, his enthusiasm, or hit
? knowledge. The t"p1u tocrat" can .neve
know that ~devout feeling of thankfulnes
/ expressed by Hearne in his quaint prayer
This story Of the collectors prayer
told in an attractive book on books Gale
, "Rariora," which is made up of notes Q
some of the printed books manuscripts
! historical documents, medals, engrav
. | IN nnftlrV ,Fn11Aatl6. 611r1nC
. last forty years by John Eliot Hodgkir
: F.S.A. +.
] A few days ago, While number of PEG
: pie were watching the work on the re1
s Odd Fellows block at st. Peter by
y stander wanted to know what the letter
Q IT. O. O. F." stood for that are placed /
f the front wall Of the building. He wa
e promptly Informed that T. O.. stood fo
1 liver Olson and O. F: for Ole sFredricksor
g He accepted the explanation, remarkine
e ''That's so, Ole Fredrickson Is the con
h Etractor." -,s. -. ~,..s7sa~----- .-.-
t The Elmore Eye this week has a not
9 from Mrs. Little, warning corn thieves
e keep out Of her fields. The Eye then tiE
: this wink:
e 1--WE are sorry that it becomes neces
e sary to insert such a notice in our pa
Il per. We send the Eye to fourteen differ
= emit states and such a notice Will be rea
! without fail. It advertfses Gilmore as
e community where there are people VIII
: are too lazy and shiftless to raise Or bu
: what they need, but would rather stet
!: it from 4 widow. But we wish to war
u the guilty one who is SO low as that; h
u is in danger of getting his worthless hid
so full of holes that he can hire out as
9 HIGHLANDER. A word to&sthe wise is sui
s fcient and ought to work on FOOLS"
To-. .
8 TheaAdrian Democrat editor, or a frien
;. Of his, he gives no names, visited the ir
n sane asylum while in st. Peter recent.
n and was mistaken by a lunatic for fe
T low sufferer just arrived. Becoming cor
It fidential the inmate asked the editor whs
q made him go crazy and to humor him tt
g editor replied: Trying to make none
> out of the newspaper business Gratis,
! said the lunatic, you're not crazy, your