The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-12-13
SAM
|. AgC TONER
BARGAIN DAY islN THE DIVISION
I OF DEAD LETTERS AT
WASHINGTON.
f11ninn Aasooiatad PraalIll

l
WASHINGTON. Lee 49, Unsle
Sans ANIMAL Christmas bargain sale
lis the talk 90 the natSonal cat!tal to-
day. among those TIC whom the word
bargain has en- a11uring mind. Its
icfHcil1i tttle Is the ''sale Of Articles
Accommodated in the Division Of Dead
Letters and tt Is held annually
labcut two weeks before Christmas
aud coDinues Ter week or more.
Day and evening sales are aeld, and
the bidding is always lively.
although this unique al1e takes
place at the national csspital, tae plir-
chasers are by no means; limited To
persons residing or visiting at the
seat of gnyprHment., The pogtofice
issues ltllousnpde Of cata.
loglle-s OF its novel sacrifice sale, enSl
these are nnailetH do all parts OF the
Unihetl States upon request- So ntsny
ouD1a town resiElarrts tfest,e no bid
Dor the articles put UP Tor sale that
there has of late years developed q
distinct fiectl Of actively in Washing
|tgrt fer ''brakerS" who act On behalf
Of absent clients in bidding on dlsaig-
rrre.l articles as per the Instructions
sent item.
q 1t IS wosful commentary on the
proportion OF our citizens wio EVIL
IDENTIFY dt1 not know how to tale the
first step t.,ftraca articles lcst in he
...arI u1,:,A y+ha~, a-r,oI n1nuha1 o., -
contains thousands uLon thousands
Of articles. There are a1pwar1l of
1000 different "1cts.'' In affaw IN.
stances "otr consists Of a single
articles, but as rule each item COM
prices from six to twelve separate
articles. which are thus grouped De-
oSMuse of similarity CT character or fcr.
some other reason. Maryo OF the nm.
.clatmedi articles are of such snAaIt
value, individually, that the Slrougiat
mig1It suggest itself that the losers
had not considered it worth while to
trace Them bit. ON the other h'ni.
:a1ere are hundreds of really valuable
arfHcels Including nrnncabrs OF dta-
mond rings. gold and silver watches
and other pieces of jewelry.
Then, hoo. It Is genuine bargain
sale. Uncle sam has no reserve
price," anh the never bids in IAN ar
ttc1e. The articles the sold in regular
order, numerically, as they are RssteiE
in the catalogue. and each lot in turn
is knocked down to the highest bid
der without reserve and without re-
gard to how Inadequate the price may
be as compared with the real value OF
The ARTICLE.
The terms are strictly cash. Uncle
Sam usually derives gross receipts In.
eSseks clH $4,000 from THIS sale,
watch, deductEng for The cost Of .rata-
logues and either expenses. means at
least $4,000 net profit. This Is turned
over lilo the United States treasury.
However, II at any time within three
years, a person shall prove that any
a rtscle disposed of at the sale was his
when lost In the m7ilE the
government will restore to that in
dividual the sum derived all the sale
from the disposition of ibis property.
E3ccarlse of this responsibility 1t IS
necessary for the government officials
10 keen, an accurate detailesl record OF
6ha TRANSACTIONS ait each sale with Mo
tatton as ito the SUM received for each
article sold.
The. average price per lot brought
at the lenli letter sale is well above
81. Tho lowest prices recorded are
lsuallytc or the parcels OF vocal and
Instrumental music, wddch 80 for t!,ir-
ty or forty cents per "lc:." whereas
The acp-notch prices are derived, of
course, from tine iewelry gales