Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1906-01-02

Whether they were for home consump-
ton or bought as speculation, he did
not d1vulge.
1t was a well-dressed crowd a. q
rule. and there were apparently few
professional dealers in the room. One
or two of them who were evidently
second hand men, had chairs in the
back Of the room and bid systematic
cally for all sorts Of things that could
have been OF no possible use to them.
But 1t could be noticed that they al
ways dropped out II the bidding
reached dollar. One Of them accu.
mulated a pile Of packages. and prob
ably by the end Of the day hired q
push-cart to take his purchases home.
He had roll Of bills as big a. q roll
ing pin, apparently made up entirely
Of ones for the benefit Of the auction
eer. and by the time he got the change
from fifteen purchases into his side
pocket he had decided list to star
board.
A Little Of Everything.
The government has 1852 packages
to dispose of. and these contain on an
average four articles each. It 10 the
accumulation Of the dead letter depart
ment for a year, and runs from q pair
Of wOmen's stockings to a sledge ham.
to a damaged mouth organ. The dead
letter office Is more or less crafty in
dating the sale at this season. for while
there are things In the 5000 miscella-
neous packages that might do to give
away. few people would buy them to
keep themselves. There are more than
1000 packages Of books. some Of them
single volumes. with thA Bible a lead
ing favorite. and some collections of
small volumes. Ave. six or seven in a
package. with no title. The majority
Of the things are described in the cat
alogue as we'll as the limited amount OF
space permits. In the jewelry sched-
ule. when there is a ring with a stone
setting it is given In weight by carats
and all through the catalogue II there
is a damaged article 1t is 80 marked
There is a certain lottery element in
the purchases, as they are not open
to inspection. and a box OF cigars may
mean the choicest product OF Havana
or Wheeling stogies, while feather
fan" may mean ostrich feathers or Il
may mean turkey. There is no line to
indicate which.
The auctioneer got we'll through the
list yesterday and. estimates that the
packages will go at the rate OF about
1000 day. The prices ranged from sc
that brought more and few went for
less. The sale usually lasts week or
ten days and realizes about $4,000 clear
to the government, not counting the
fees Of the auctioneer and the expense
Of cataloguing.
Lost Christmas Presents.
It would seem at first glance mys-
terry how SO many things accumulate
for the sale. They accumulate princi-
pally at Christmas time. which ac-
counts in part for the incongruous
makeup of some OF the packages
Take one. for instance, damaged
watch. woman's dressing sack. boys
pair Of gloves. 'lace-trimmed dolly and
two pipes" That Is a sample Of the
packages that come into the postoffice
in a flood after Christmas. Some OF
them are sent to the wrong address
and their owners cannot be traced
Some Of the things are really unmail-
able and get in through the ignorance
OF the small postnasters. Such were
the sledge hammer and the pair Of fiat
irons. Boxes Of ore from prospectors
in the west and that sort OF thing GO
to swell the list. Then there are many
things that are mailed to places abroad
With some Of these we have no parcels
post convention, and nothing can be
accepted except at prepaid letter rates.
The addressee usually will not forward
several dollars worth OF postage and
the mailer cannot be traced, and the
things finally get into the dead letter
auction in that way.
Some OF the articles are cut out OF
their wrappings in the mail and others
are found without addresses or with
the addresses rubbed off. Then they
go to the next annual sale. There Is a
lot OF perishable stuff mailed. The
girls in the dead letter office have all
the candy they want to eat and often
more than is good for them. Patent
medicines Of all sorts are caught up
mostly samples mailed to the wrong
address STUFF OF this sort Is destroy
ed. Altogether in the last year the
office handled about 1000 900 pieces OF
dead mail. so that the amount OF mon
ey realized from the sale Of that which
finds its way to the auction room does
not near cover the expense Of handling
1t all.
1aby's Sack First Article Sold.
Brown & Tolson We're the auction
GERS this year and Mr.. Tolson had the
block yesterday. The first article or
the list was a baby's zephyr sack. The
last was a diamond engagement ring
The sack went to a lady down by the
door for 40 cents. There were a lot Of
bicycle tubes in the various packages
and the young man with the brown
derby and the prominent Adams apple
bid on each one OF them. whether Il
was in a lot with a safety razor or Z
hank OF yarn and a bundle OF Ham.
burg edging He went up to 80 cent.
on one lot. but was cut out by a lad,
in the back row. who evidently wanted
the Hamburg edging and paid $3.50 fol
the bundle.
Lady fuses de parcel, sang out one
Of the dusky messengers three times II
succession.
Now. that is not right" complained
Mr.. Tolson In a hurt tone. If yo,
make a bid YOU must stick to IT,"