The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1908-05-13

- % the LeQ a. lLl--1I 4
~ y Agriculture
bur ding and So a /
Big red hag with the usual white letters
sewad 0n. Auction Today" He
wonders Il the government Is resort
tng d desperate means of raising TIE I
Wind
But your Uncle SAN IS not in the
anetion business from necessity The
agriculture sales are explained in this
wav. Whenever an invoice OF any ar
aeie OF food arrives from abroad
.ertain number of packages are taken
oy the government for examination q
zee whether the article complies with
our food laws
For instance olive oil, Marasehino
cherries. wine. sardines. mushrooms
French peas. preserves and iams-in
tact al imported food articlss-come
under this regulation But though
The government requires half q dozen
rackages 10 be turned over to # for in
s.ectson-in order to avoid the chance
y Z single one being hxed up and
slipped On upon them-ths analysis
rarely goes beyond the contents Of
one specimen out Of six.
So that Of each CO.. .gnment q six
cans of olive oil. SIX bottles Of cher
RES or Of champagne OF six cans q
ssrdfnes I'VE remain untouched Il
graft we're really as prevalent As the
| muck-rakers would have Us believe
tie entire six packages would prob
sbIv be opened and a nip taken from
each one while All the rest of the con
tents would be appropriated as ls-
climate perquisite Of Office (by the
heads Of the Department..
Instead Of theu five out 81 six Of the
1 articles received for analysis under
the law are sold At these auctions BE-
dfud the department building. The
receipts 20 into the excheQuer q the
/ bureau
ANY one can attend these sales and
4 buy. or at least bid on. the goods Of
tered. But most of the patrons are the
{ clerks and employees Of the depart
ment The auctions are held at noon
80 as to accommodate these people.
They take advantage Of their lunch
hour to lay In some household sup
plies. They admit that sometimes
things bring the usual soaring auction
prices
! Next 10 foodstufs, Uncle Sans
suctions run chiefly to carpets. That
+ Is. they do in Washington. OF course
ia New York the biggest auction sales
Of the government are Of goods seized
e a the custom house. These involve
e thousands Of dollars worth of goodl
t | II every conceivable class, and are toc
a vel known to need description
Il Is the regular secondhand sale'
d which surprise the stranger in Wash
g lngton. These do not occur very OF
L n. and yet every year there are ssY
}. sral They include carpets, curtains
} furniture, utensils and fittings Of al
b Kinds
J. Every visitor To the White Hous'
remembers the cheerful red carpe
II with which the long east corridor 4
= aid. A new carpet goes down ever
\ ,ther year. and the old one is cut int
q sengths. which are rolled Up and auC
e toned on, as the children say. sigh
a unseen.
This seems TO be a rather shrewI
Z performance on the part Of Uncl
. sam. i Is related by those who kno'
af hat more than one woman has wep
a ,opiously when she got her Whit
2 House carpet home and unrolled Il
9f The unceasing tramp Of a two years
? i zrist Of tourists wears a carpet TIL
. axes a good guesser to decide wha
is Is color and pattern we're or whethe
d { ever had any az all
The carpets Of the seEate and n
q aouse Of representatives are auctone
ui IF at the close Of each congress an
= are said to bring ali they are wort
.is and more too. Like the White H0us
a1 carpets they are divided into quaint
les more adapted t0 private need
y han the hundreds ol yaFdt require
.s ior the Two chambers at The capltc
There IS another annual sale co
81 iucted by the government The q
simulated package which find repo'
" 1t the dead letter Office 90 under y
hammer once q year 10 clear the ws
sor the incoming tide Of the next
months At these sales everything
carefully cataiogued and ali broke
sr defective articles are so declare
b. Even then a purchaser is always fort