The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-10
GRAND CLEANUP OF RELICS.
Utt0R GtRDIVEFS ttfITV
DUH VfVHN HOHf

. "-. WV" |H
% ....fr a,ri asreais 'inf aneiebt hpsfelev
... Il. .rIe ~ tir lare VOTING frsldence
..... stIl4uf Major tm Hird tlfSdsnsr
a.. ...... sia, he .pnre asspcltiions wish
... s..rrt many yepfs teo hefweeH thia
s.tF tul England, = etr which haa
a.. r.u mt,i' %ftHpua ~ daIof 40 hlrd
tI. ,r .u hts public uttefaaces, THIS
V,..f yt.u'f Nv The Nar himnelf hut nes' hHf
... rI ~ Tbs nevplut Iunary relies @lId
s..,s,lty rhe .lli nintioch mpahet : foV
.t+.r.e which. ~ ~ ~. @,id for N 80,
I... lIn ibfo lvi on Tho mHhef's name.
r'r'a
,..r. 10 vas 90 loi ~ this fact ~ y
M t#. Prov lrll around apparently, With
ya loo f.frppas n making hldders, afsr
,r.. ..I bought. uncomfortable u was
U. OBJ. f.arl tho intr IN tha mnaket and
t.. a.. f.Il ura louis llennett ~ the
u... rockingham md West Virginia that
tho .sm1H ramon captured from IN English
sar,,..,. which she had got for 90 wasn't
revolutionary cannon. or even an 1879
cannon n had high trunnions and the
IdY' aubahDr NJ he slle explained that they
didn't make trinninns that way until after
i,'0.
vlrs nounc't seemed 20 10 tho only real
rsirl.t present. She al4o bought lot t37.
.,hc celebrated round table whdrc wash
iny'an md hi4 advisers frequently met
~ oscillation and campaign planning;
ono 1fthn muat valuable aut hentic souvenirs
Of a period rrplc'e with historical interest "
Nira. H,uuctt Rut that round table for t66.
\ broken down piano, on which the hla-
torical tune Yankee Doodle" was played by
the auctiuncor'4 negro assistant, brought
SIS, the top price Of the sale.
There vcrc no bids on Asa Bird Gardeners
simmcr snt Of niRhtcaps in colors. The
N1aIo wasn't at the sale at all, which fact,
ono historian said, made him think Of
Gettysburg.
Tho two front rows in the long room
were occupied by Washington's coaohmen;
hack Of them were the daughters Of j~anitors
of nearby office buildings waiting to buy
the piano, then cam the women WHO run
lodging houses near the Battery, who
wanted to buy the historic beds and sheets
and things from the forty-three bed
rooms which so many soldiers OF fortune
have occupied since Washington said
farewell to his officers and Col. Gardiner
first voted from the tavern.
NTlOlE lls IflSDliS W ulSNlilCNHul, ~
far as their clothes were concerned, we're
Mrs. Bennett and a Dame and a Daughter.
Mrs. Bennett had real money. The Dame
bid Is cents for an "old flint lock blunderbuss,
known as n horse pistol" but dropped
out Of the contest when the price got up
to 80. And IL the Daughter had been n little
more Of a plunger she could have got a
pair of odd gilt epaulettes' for $li5.
The bedsteads we're quite lively in the
bidding, but all were captured eventually,
the average price being $3.50, They were
made of very ancient iron, which was I'M
doubtedly in the bowels Of the old keystone
State long before Columbus discovered
America. But not even the a~uctioneer,
Samuel Rreiser. ventured to say how old
the mattresses were. Kreiser had a school
history Of the United States in his coat
pocket which he read during recess for
lunch before tackling the relics.
Ladies', are you in the hotel line7" asked
Thomas, the negro assistant to the auc-
tioneer, as he met them at the threshold Of
room 81.
IN spectacles. And ! am a Daughter, said
the one with nose glasses. Can you tell
us which one OF these rooms the Major
occupied?'
You mean the General, lady replied
Thomas, the negro.
oh, no ipl u ReItIdl, SbIle say He was
q colonel, but never a general"
SHOW me, lady, Show me who say
George Washington wasn't a general. My
grandfather was his c%oachman, " exclaimed
Thomas, with some heat,
roh, you're thinking Of Washington
Gardiner. Which was his room2"
Come along, quick, screamed the Dame.
shipping something from the hem of her
skirt u don't care which room he slept
in lots go downstairs right away"
So they retired to the Long Room and
waited for the blunderbusses to go of at
auction, 1t was an anxious hour, with much
brushing at imaginary things, and now and
then a fragment OF a whisper was heard.
Don't worry said the Dame, "you may
have imagined it,"
Imagine? Don't | know"
Il wouldn't know one il | saw It,"
'Oh, You Wouldn't Well, | don't know
as would if | hadn't once, coming home
from abroad in he first cabin of course"
Yes; | guess that's very good, but you
must to careful not to let the cat get any.
rs very deadly"
Wouldn't those old. guns look lovely
Crossed over the parior door,"
why, yes; but | think | shall buy two Of
those swords; for all Of my ancestors were
officers, You know"
"Oh, they were? As | said before, I
wouldn't know one IL | saw it,"
hen the auctioneer came and started
right of withthe nno in the Long Room,
Whiie there was a private sale of high balls
Downstairs to the men waiting to bid on the
bar fixtures.
Any GOODNESS that may have got under
way between the Dame and the Daughter
because of ancestors and things was
quickly sidetracked by the excitement of
the relic sale and their mutual disappoint- |
ment in being outbid on blunderbusses and
swords. But there was no charge for the
enjoyment Of he living pictures by Thomas,
the darky. He stood ON the table and did
voluntary manual Of arms tricks with long
hihes and fintlocks, and he drew sabres,
long swords and outlasses from their
sheaths and foiled as Washington did in
the pictures on the wall. He put on the pair
OF. gilt epaulettes and looked as Lafayette
might have looked at night, and when Sam
uel t%raunces's old razor was put up at the
II in himI elf.
There VAS n diversion from the historic
iong enough to sell the piano, because the
l%hnltors' daughters couldn't be kept from
drumming ON it 10 long as it was any
nody s race TO get 1t. just to show what
the instrument could do Thomas played
tommy Jones" aud the janitor's daughters
1hhced around the round table" and the
daughter looked yexed and the Dame said
'Slcrilega,"
The first lid on the pia no was SIS from
an eighteen story building %jaintor's daugh-
= ana II was finally knocked down for