The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-05-02


auctionesring arm In washington. p,
c.. that the cradle OF George Washing
ton and . mirror once owned By the
First Lady Of the Land" would be
sold at public auction In that city The
attention attracted was country-wide,
for Washington relics at auctions are
quite rare. The special sale was held
in due time. the property OF the old
Magruder estate--an old family home-
stead near Mount vernon--beinE dis
posed OF. There was much hne fur
niture and fine furnishings, and some
Of II brought good prices. especially
those articles that had been obtained
by the Makrpdsrs from the Mount
Vernon estate.
Many OF the prospective buyers were
disappointed. however. because at the
eleventh hour II was announced that
the Warrington cradle and mirror had
been Withdrawn. Those articles are
held by a representative Of the Ma
gruder estate in washington. with q
view to letting Congress purchase them
for the National Museum. as is pro-
posed in q bill recently introduced In
the House Of Representatives That
was one case where the auctioneer was
deprived Of the opportunity to make
good. He has made good In 80 many
other cases. however. that one failure
should not be counted against him.
when. In fact. he 10 one of the most
popular and successful members of the
community. His business. once dis
the hne. as well a. useful. arts--the
art Of persuasion It has been APPLY
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 Of
Noah and Adam. and II IL certain that
the profession 10 much older than Me-
thuselah. The first recorded auction,
according to Josephus, occurred when
the children Of IsraeI captured GER
tain city. and after looting 1t, sold
their plumber at public s'outcry." Ac-
cording to another authority, when
Abraham bought the cave OF Machpc-
lah for "400 shekels or silver" the
transaction was made by auction. Later
Labsn is said to have sold Rachel to
Jacob at auction. the price being cer-
tain services on Jacobs part. which,
according to tradition, he failed to per-
form.
within the. last twenty nve years the
auctloneering profession In the United
States has advanced enormously in the
amount and character OF the business
transacted, as well De In the improved
standing of the profession among the
people generally. Early in the last
auctions and auctioneers. which culmi
mated In 1928. when petition to Con-
gress was signed by number of New
York merchants urging that the Gov
eminent impose heavy taxes on the
auutioneering business. with q view
to destroying II altogether At that
time the New York auctioneers dealt
n. -. -. a
were charged with demoralizing the
market and with other more or less
heinous offenses. They replied to these
charges in memorial to Congress,A to
such good purpose that they were not
taxed to death.
Since then the usefulnes and activity
Of auctioneers has Increased until to-
day the demand far exceeds the sup.
ply. In the panic period from 1873 TO
1879, when manv business failures oc-
Cured. auctioneers were constantly oc.
cupied closing out insolvept firms. etc.
On that account, and because he stfc-
tioneer IL frequently called in to sci.
tie an estate after the death OF an
owner. some people have an idea that
the auctioneer is a sort of vultufe. on
the contrary. he Is generally admitted
TO be benefactor to the race. He
usually sells things IN the fairest DOS.
sible way and affords people chance
to tiuy at their OWN prices. If they pay
more than anr article Is worth that is'
not the auctioneeris fault9r Ar
THE boast. OF the profession, as an
iowa auctioneer said IN an advertise-
ment not long ago. is that Il ''maKes
sales Of anything anywhere this side
of the Celestial realm A glance at
a few recent auctions shows this to
be true. A cemetery was sold not
long ago to Pennsylvania man. who
wished to utilize 1t as private bury
ing ground. A choice assortments Of
old tombstones, grave rails and head
stones was offered for sale in the
graveyard of st. Peters Church In the
Bronx. New York. Another odd. auc-
ton sale was that which disposed Of
the battlefield Of Gains Mill, near Cold
Harbor. where Stonewall jackson met
the Union Army in 1862.
Not long ago the Basingstoke Canal
in England. thirty-seven miles long,
with twenty-nine locks and an annual
revenue Of $25,0O0, was offered for sale
at auction. Perhaps the only Instance
OF an entire village coming under the
hammer was that Of Winthrop Harbor,
near Dowie's famous Zion CITY. ILL.,,
which Is said to have been bought by
agents of the now deceased prophet.
Some years ago New Jersey man pur-
chased two ponds at auction, and made
neat fortune from chalk deposits
found In the bed OF the ponds. rum-
Der Of railroads have been sold at auc-
ton, perhaps the most notable instance
occurring in 1898, when the Union Pa
cffic between Omaha and Ogden was
sold by order of the United States Gov
eminent. bringing $5s,0o0.000.
The Government frequently patron
ICES the auctioneer. In war time cap
tured prizes are sold at auction. In the
piping times of peace imports on which
customs duties are not paid are sold
at auction. as are also obsolete naval
vessels. and old furniture and other
junk that accumulatez I'm the capitol
and department buildings. Not long
ago a number of demiiohns were dis
posed Of at a War Department sale
Nobody explained how they happened
to be among the effects of the Govern
ment despite the antk-canteen law.
The annual dead letter auction Is a
feature of washington life and though
catalogues give a hint of the contents
of letter and package. 'ot Of useless
stuff Is generally bought for he fun
of the thing. The "old hoss'' sales Of
express companies in many cities dis
pose of the unclaimed packages. and
as it is buying pig in a poke" game,
there is much fun attached to such auc-
tions. Where one man may bid In a
package for a song and find that II con-
tains valuable jewelry. another NAV
pay mpch for a large box to ind IL
holds rusty plough shares.
Auctioneers, like the members of ev-
cry other profession are specializing
There are many real estate auctioneers,
especially in the large cities. UNIQUE
among these is Massachusetts, man,
who follows the so-called "speeder''
plan. which Is said to have been In
vented by his father. Under this sys-