The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1908-09-26
The Hunters


no brothers or sisters, 10 hpihe no
money, no anything. An uiicie WHO
was well iotdo took hin tc his house
aenlnst his wife's wishes, and the
boys slife Sthere' was one OF misery.
Whcn he was seventeen the uncle died.
and the aunt turned the boy ont OF the
house lie fccnd position as CLERK
III n business house. In ton years he
set up for himself
Ills relatives who during this period
had ignored him now began TO nod
pleasantly 70 him when they met him
and invited him to their houses. The
acnt Who had made life a burden TO
him. reminded him Of the pleasant
days that he had spent under her roof
and how happy 1t had made her to be
mother to him.
lust as Mark was getting ON his
feet in q business way Il commercial
panic came on. He needed a little as
slstance to tide him over the crisis
and applied 10 those OF his relatives
who were able 10 hclp him. He began
by telling them that he would like TO
talk over his affairs with them with a
view 10 getting their advice. He got
no further tbnn this, for each and
cxery one of them pronounced himself
Incompetent, TO advise him. This shut
the poor fellow off. as they intended.
He failed. Then his relatives dropped
him again.
When the commercial storm was
oyer Mark went to work for a man
who was Dusiness genius. He took
a great fancy to his clerk and pro-
noted him rapidly. finally making him.
second only 10 himself Then the em-
rloxer died cnildicss and left abotit all
there was Of the business TO his pro
tege.
Marcus died n multimilllonaire. lust
before his death he made will. in
which he directed that the house in
which he had passed his lonely life
I've never married d-shonld be closed by
his executor from the day of his death
TN one week after the funeral, when
an auction should take place of every
thing 81 contained. No one was to he
admitted TO the sale except his reia-
tiycs
Since he left no direct heirs. most Of
the relatives were present at the read
ing of the Will. each hoping for sub
stantiaI remembrance. When they
heard this singular provision and
learned that the testator had left no
legacy TO any one of them they natu-
rally inferred that he had concluded to
remember them by leaving their lega-
cies in different articles of furniture.
But what singnlnr wayl Ten thou
sand dollars might be in n hollow cane
while but $1,000 had been placed in n
rosewood desk. Yet the cane might be
knocked down for n dollar, while the
dcsk might bring 500. Was there ever
such way devised for distributing
millions Of money? The will further
stated that the amDtnt realized from
the sale was TO be expended by the
executor for a monument TO the de
ceased.
when the day of the sale came
around it was astonishing how many
relatives Hunter had left behind him.
There were Hunters innumerable both
by name aud In reality A protest
was made 10 the executor that many
of them were not related to the testa-
tor and should not be admitted. But
he argued that by the terms OF the
will the sale must take place then and
there aud there was no time to exam
inc credentials.
The crowd were kept waiting while
articIes were Rrst sold that could not
possibly contain anything. such as I'M
covered crockery. On these there
L.
TO GET them out Of the way. But
when It came to articles in which
stacks Of bills could be placed the bid
ding became. furious. AS soon as an
article was knocked down the buyer
wished TO get at ii, but was informed
that he could not have 1t till after the
sale. The bidders had every variety
OF opinion as TO what articles were
most likely TO contain large amounts,
so that anything wooden or hollow
brought excellent prices. A kitchen
table with drawer Cooked and ne
key) brought S100 an upholstered sofa
5000. cane fishing rod $50. stew
pan with hollow handle large enough
TO contain dozen $1,000 bonds
brought 1919. One OF the favorites
was a plaster bust Of Abraham Lin
coin. Such busts are usually hollow
aud this would naturally attract az
Ingenious hide 1t brought SG53 and
was the cause Of protracted quarrel
between two different branches Of
Hunters.
Well, the last article was finally
Knocked down, and buyers were told
that they might take away their pur
chases a rush was made for the
articles, but few were removed. Sew
eral purchasers had brought hammer.
and with shese began 10 smash theiI
articles The signal was crack OF
the head Of Abraham Lincolns bust
which dropped into a couple Of dozer
pieces. An exclamation Of rage wen
up from the man who bad paid tbs
enormous price for II. From that mo
nient tie crash of furniture. the rip
ping Of nph0lstory and the smashing o.