Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-05-02


in the house of representatives.
That was one case where the auc-
tioneer was deprived of the opportunity
to make good. He has mace good IN
so many other cases, however, that one
failure should not be counted against
him, when in fact he Is one of the most
popular and successful members of the
community. His business. once dis
credited, is now recognized as one OF
the fine. as we'll as useful, arts-the art
of persuasion it has been aptly called.
The auctioneer can point with pride
TO the long and honorable history of his
profession. Some authorities trace that
history back almost to the days OIL
Noah and Adam, and it is certain that
the profession is much older than Me-
thuselah. The first recorded auction,
according to JOsephus, occurred When
the children of Israel captured GER
tain city, and after looting it sold their
plumber at public "outCry." According
to another authority, when Abraham
bought the cave of Machpelah for 400
shekels of silver" the transaction was
made by auction. Later Laban is said
to have sold Rachel to Jacob at auction,
the price being certain services on DO
cob's part, which, according to tradi-
ton, he failed to perform.
Within the last seventy-fiVe years the
auctioneering profession in the United
States has advanced enormously in the
amount and character of the business
transacted, as well as in the improved
standing of the profession among the
people generally. Early in the last cen
tury there was great opposition to auc-
lions and auctioneers, which eliminated
in 1928, when a petition to congress was
signed by a number of New York mer-
chants urging that the government
impose a heavy tax on the auctioneer-
ing business, with view to destroying
it altogether. At that time the New
York auctioneers dealt largely in I'M
ported goods, and they were charged
with demoraIizing the market and with
other more or less heinous offenses
They replied to these charges in q
memorial to congress TO such good pur-
pose that they were not taxed to death
Since then the usefulness and activity
of auctioneers has increased, until to-
day the demand far exceeds the supply
In the panic period from 1873 to 1873
when many business failures occurred
auctioneers were constantly occupied
closing out insolvent firms, etc. on
| that account, and because the auc-
tioneer is frequently called in to settle
an estate after the death of an owner
| some people have an idea that the
| auctioneer is a sort of Vulture. On the
contrary, he is generally admitted tC
be q, benefactor to the race. He usually
sells things in the fairest possible way
and affords people a chance to buy al
their own prices. If they pay more
| than an article is worth that is not the
| auctioneer's fault.
The boast of the profession, as al
Iowa auctioneer said in an advertise
ment not long ago, is that 1t make!
sales of anything anywhere this SIDE O
| the celestial realm" A glance at {
few recent auctions shows this to b'
true. A cemetery was sold not Ions
ago to a Pennsylvania man, who wished
! to utilize it as a private purylns
ground. A choice assortment of ole
| tombstones, grave rails and headstone'
was offered for sale in the graveyard
of st. Peters church, in the Bronx, New
York Another odd auction sale wa
| that which disposed of the battlefield
of Gains Milly near Cold Harpor
where StonewAll Jackson met thu
Union army in 1852.
Not long ago the Basingstoke canal
in England, thirty-seven miles long
with twenty-nine locks and an annua
revenue of $4,000, was offered no
sale at auction Perhaps the only in
stance of an entire village coming un
der the hammer was that of Winthrop
Iarbor near Dowies famous Ziol
CITY Ill, which is said to have beef
| bought by agents of the now deceased
prophet. Some years ago a New Jer
sey man purchased two ponds
auction and made a neat fortune iron
chalk deposits found in the bed of tn
ponds. A number of railroads hav
i been sold at auction, perhaps the mos
4 notable instance occurring in 1879
4 when the Union Pacific, between Oma
i ha and Ogden, was sold by order OF TN