The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1908-05-16

building II SEE d
| big red flag with the usual white letters
| sewed on: Auction To-day" He
wonders If the government is resort
ing to desperate means Of raising the
wind.
But your Uncle Sam is not In the
auction business from necessity. Inc
| agriculture sales are explained In TINS
way. Whenever an invoice OF any ar
ticle Of food arrives from abroad a
| certain number of packages are taken
by the government for examination to
| see whether the article complies with
our food laws.
For instance olive oil, Maraschino
cherries, wine, sardines, mushrooms,
French peas, preserves and Jams-lh
fact all imported food articles-come
under this regulation. But though
the government requires half a dozen
packages to be turned over to II Tor IN
spection-in order to avoid the chance
of a single one being fixed up and
slipped off upon them-the analysis
rarely goes beyond the contents OF
one specimen out Of six.
So that of each consignment OF six
cans of olive oil. six bottles of cher
ries or of champagne or SIX cans OF
sardines FIVE remain untouched. II
graft were really as prevalent as the
m~uck-rakers would have us belleve
the entire six packages would prop
ably be opened and a nip taken from
each n while all the rest of the con-
tents would be appropriated as a le-
Ultimate perquisite of office (by the
heads of the Department..
Instead of that five out of six OF the
articles received for analysis under
the law are sold at these auctions be-
hind the department building. The
receipts go into the eXchequer OF the
bureau.
Any one can attend these sales and
buy. or at least bid on, the goods Of
fered. But most of the patrons are the
clerks and employees of the depart
ment. The auctions are held at noon,
% as to accommodate these people.
They take advantage of their lunch
hour to lay in some household sup
pies. 1llCN dulllII Ihol
things bring the usual soaring auction
prices.
Next to foodstuffs, Uncle Sans
auctions run chiefly to carpets. That
Is, they do in Washington. OF course
In New York the biggest auction sales
of the government are of goods seized
at the custom house. These involve
thousands of dollars worth of goods
of every conceivable class, and are too
we'll known to need description.
1t is the regular secondhand sales
which surprise the stranger in Wash
ington. These do not occur very oft
en-, and yet every year there are sew
eral. They include carpets, curtains,
furniture, utensils and fittings Of all
kinds.
Every visitor to the White House
| remembers the cheerful red carpet
with which the long east corridor IL
laid. A new carpet goes down every
other year, and the old one is cut into
lengths, which are rolled up and auc-
toned off, as the children say, sight
unseen"
This seems to be a rather shrewd
performance on the part of Uncle
Sam. 1t is related by those who know
that more than one woman has wept
copiously when she got her White
House carpet home and unrOlled 1t.
The %unceasing tramp Of a two years
grist of tourists wears a carpet till 1t
takes a good guesser to decide what
it's color and pattern were or whether
1t eve had any at ali.
The carpets of the senate n the
house of representatives are auctioned
off at the close of each congress and
are said to bring all they are worth
and more too. Like the White House
carpets they are divided into quaint
ties more adapted to private needs
than the hundreds of yards required
for the two chambers at the capitol.
There is another annual ST. con-
Quoted by the government. The &C.
cumulated packages which find repose
at the dead letter Office go under the
hammer once a year to clear the way
for the incoming tide Of the next IL
months. At these sales everything is
carefully catalogued and all broken
On defective articles are SO declared.
Even then a purchaser is always FORTH
coming.