St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1912-07-31


fects of American
citizens who had
died in foreign lands and which had
been unclaimed by relatives or heirs
Of the deceased persons. For the last
half century this property has been
collected from all quarters Of the
globe from all manner of sources,
! chiefly through the agency Of United
States consuls, ministers and ambas-
sailors.
There finally accumulated such a
mass of this unclaimed property that
the treasury department recently
called upon congress to authorize a
sale of it, which was accordingly done
There were nearly q hundred dead
men represented at the sale-and by
every kind Of personal effect.
| It was a collection of ships and
shoes and sealing wax and cabbage
and things" Old heirlooms, trinkets,
| jewelry, strange money Of strange
| countries, guns, watches, prayer
books, diamonds and forged bills of
exchange were few Of the items put
up on the block to be knocked
1
A lot of Guatemalan money Of the
face value of sos, for instance Cleft
by one Elmer Porter, who died an
unknown number of years ago in that
country, and which is practically
worthless to an American, was, after
| spirited bidding, sold for $24. The
purchaser did not state what he ex-
/ pected to do with it. The most
valuable thing sold was a pair of dia-
mond earrings, left by Mrs. Hartsuff,
whose place Of death is not reported.
The pair brought $87.
Pocket books predominated, mostly
empty of contents. Then came rings,
rings of every description, from the
diamond to the plain gold band. and,
in one case, twenty-four rings that
were merely marked cheap"
Watches, mostly of cheap make,
were also much in evidence; they
were for the most part Of gold filled
or silver type, but sold far above their
value in many cases, illustrating the
great American passion for being
done" in a bargain. Also revelyers
were frequent; these, too, sold at
a pOlyglot Bible, were not missing,
and there was an occasional prayer
book; but the revolvers outnumbered
these and the Bibles brought Is
cents apiece!
One American citizen who died in
far of Cathay left only a box of
cartridges. There was no name at.
tached to his Chest and he was
merely designated as No. 112. One
would like to know more of man
who had seen fit to "cash in" that
far from home and leave an estate
so essentially belligerent
While these articles we're the prop
erty of those who had died In strange
lands and without friends either there
or at home-a fact that should have
invested the proceedings with some
solemnity-there was little of either
present during the sale. 1t was strict
ly a business affair, as though it had
been a clearing out sale after fire
loss.
Not even did the auctioneer attempt
to dwell upon the romance that must
surround the belongings of a wander
er who had died in Tibet or the
SHOWS of the Andes; he sung his
sing-song, Going, going, going!" with
the same placid monotony that he had
half an hour before auctioned off
secondhand set of bedroom furniture.
Although the government cleaned
up nearly 5000 on the sale, which is
small reward for the trouble it had
been put to in collecting from all
parts of the earth and conserving the
heterogeneous collection. Yet even
that money it viii not get
"The cash brought at the SALE"
said Charles H Butler, chief of the
diplomatic and consular division of
the auditor of state, which is
branch of the treasury, will be
turned into the treasury to the credit
of each dead mans estate If his
heirs should ever turn up it will be
paid to them.
"Such an event Is hardly likely,
however, since most of the men have
been dead for years, and when the
fact of their deaths was made known
to the government every step posi-
BILE was taken to locate the persons
entitled to the dead mans property.
"Since notice of this sale was
given, however" continued Mr.. But.
| Ter. Eve have been deluged with let
ters from all parts Of the country
making inquiry about relatives of the
writer's who years ago departed for
distant countries and have never
been heard from Many of these let
ters are from wives begging for in.
formation from missing husbands and
desiring to know If their names are on
our dead mems list They would all
make a volume OF most pathetic read
ing.
I'VE have not been able to locate a
single person who has been inquired
ot,o,,k All rs,v doad wrar, on~,err ~,