The Washington herald., 1909-05-02
ART OF AUCTIONEERING
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

Il was recently announced by an auc-
tionserfss frm in Washington, D. c., that
the cradle OF George Washington and a
mirror once owned BY the First Lady
Of the Land" would be sold al public
auction IA that city. The attention at
tracted was countrywide. for Washing
ton relics az auctions are quite rare The
special sale was held IN due time. the
property OF the old Nagruder est2te-an
old family homestead near Mount Yer
non-being disposed OF. There was much
fine furniture and furnishings. and some
Of It brought good prices, especially
thoss articles that had been obtained by
the Magruders from the Mount Vernon
estate.
Many OF the prospective buyers were
disappointed, however. because at the
eleventh hour il was announced that the
Washington cradle and mirror had been
withdrawn. Those articles are held BY
q representative Of the Masruder estate
f. Washington. with a view 70 letting
Congress purchase them for the National
Museum, as is proposed IN q bill recent
" introduced in the house Of Represent
ssives.
That was one case where the auctioneer
was deprived Of the opportunity 70 make
good. He has made 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 sue
cessful members OF the community His
business. once discBedited. IS now rec0g-
nized as one Of the fne, as well as useful
srts-the art Of persuasion, i has been
aptly called
The sUctjOneer can point with pride 20
the long and honorable history OF his pro-
fession. Some authorities trace that his
tory back almost 10 the days OF Noah
and Adam. and It is certain that the
profession is much older than Methuseiah.
The first recorded auction. according 70
Josephus. occurred when the children Of
Israel captured a certain city. and. after
lootIng Il. sold thsir plunder al public
'OutcTy- According TO another author
fly. when Abraham bought the cave Of
MachpeIah for 100 shekeIs Of silver e"
the transaction was made BY auction
Later Lsban IS said 20 have sold Rachel
10 Jacob a. auction, the price being Ger
tain services on Jacobs part. which. ac-
cOrding 20 tradition, he failed 20 perform.
Within the last seventy-five years the
auctiOneeTing 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 peo-
pie generally. Early in the last century
there was great opposition 20 auctions
and auCtioneers. which eliminated in 1S2S.
when a petition to Congress was signad
by q number CT New York merchants
urging that the government impose a
heavy tax on the aucti0neering business.
with view TO destroying il altogether.
At that tine the New York auctiOnesrs
dealt largely in imported goods, and they
were charged with demOrelizing the mar
ket and with other more OF less hein0us
offenses. They replied 20 these charges
in a memorial 70 Congress. % such good
purpose that they we're not taUzd 10
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 70 1S7s. when
many business failures occurred auc-
tioneers were constantly occupied closing
out insolvsnt firms. &c On that account
and because the auctiOneer is frequently
called II 70 settle an estate after the
death OF an owner, some people have an
idea that the suc1iOneer is & sort OF a
vultuTe. On the contrary. he is gen
orally admitted 10 be q bsnsfac1Or to
the race. Re usually sells things IN the
fairest possible way and affords people
a chance 70 buy al their own prices II
they pay more than al articse IS worth
that Is not the aucti0neer's fault
The beast OF the profession. as an Iowa
auctioneeT said n al advertisement not
long ego. IS that Il makes sales % any
thing anywhere this side OF the Giles
tai realm. A glance AZ a few recent
auctions shows this 20 be true A ceue-
tery wes sold not long ago 10 a PennsyI-
vania man. who wished TO utilize Il as
a private burying ground A choice as
sortmsat Of old tombstonss, grave rails.