The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-08-04

desire TO enter tne ducIlOn utlu, odlu One
man recently. II had an attack of this
kind some years back and gratiied the pro-
pensity to the utter extinction of the few
hundred dollars l then had, along with a
number of thousands l had succeeded IN
getting others to invest with me In the Sc
ductive game
at seemed so easy, so simple, TO gather
in collections of books and sell them; it
required so little capital to get other peo-
pies property and sell on a commission
basis OF course, must issue catalogues of
my sales, do some advertising, pay out
something for printing, supplies and post
age; but as nearly all of this could be
charged up against the consignments,
would be nothing out of pocket, my commits
sions being all velvet.
He Hires an Expert"
with ouch ideas opened up my doors
for material and soon had quite good lot
with which to begin. As l had made no
provision up to that time for the services of
q competent cataloguer was faced with the
necessity for a person skilled in the work.
Inquiry soon developed that these were
legion, and after listening to tales of how
expert they all were, how books of little
value had been made to fetch enormous
prices by skilful handling, settled down on
one individual as the one for my money and
he began work
AS / had little knowledge of this i'm
portant part of the business l left to this
MAN the production of that first catalogue
/ presume no catalogue ever issued by an
auction house was ever less calculated to in
spire either confidence or respect. 1t was
absolutely hideous and so filled with errors
of ignorance and typography as to be
laughing stock among those who knew what
ii should have been
Rehearsing the Sale.
LAS the day of sale approached l pro-
ceeded to break in one of my Office force
as an auctioneer. Night after night for
two weeks rehearsals were held, the men in
the place representing the crowd of eager
bidders. The clerk who acted as salesman
was very nervous, and the boys proceeded
to make it interesting for him by shouting
sLouderl' Not so loudi' 'Faster!' &c.
There were 325 lots in the first session,
and if the auctioneer preserved the same
speed at the actual sale as at rehearsals
he could probably finish in about four hours.
"On the day of sale only a few num-
beers had been disposed of when one of those
kindly spirits who are always about pointed
out woful misdescription in the catalogue
of the item then being offered, and there
WAS pandemonium in a few moments. Such
friends as had assembled to see me inaugu-
rate my auction career attempted to stem
the food of catcalls and controversy with
out avail Explanation that the error was
made by the printer did not mOllify the
objector, who cOntended that only the man
who prepared the catalogue and read the
proof could be responsible.
Graft.
"All things end somewhere some time.
The audience began to clamOr, Proceed
with the sale! In three hours and forty
minutes the session was ended. The sale
WAS a success in respect of prices but some
great bargains slipped through because my
cataloguer had covered up by antiquities
and errors notable features of certain books.
Some time after / discovered that this ex-
pert was working with an accomplish who
knew just what to bid on, having had in
formation in advance of the sale, enabling
him TO get some of the best things at prices
so ridiculous that it was common talk among
persons who knew books that my sales looked
crooked. learned later that the catalOguer
had put valuable books in large bundles
which sold for very low prices, and when
the accompliee bought.
"All my troubles were not in the selling
end. Ny bookkeeping department had in
three months so successfully ballcd up the
books that ! was compelled to call in the
services of an expert accountant. After
two months hard work he finally struck
balance which showed the concern in debt
for a considerable amount. Sales had been
held once a week. good prices had been
obtained, earnings were ample, and vet, in
face of all these encouraging factors, ruin
WIS impending. Consignments that should
have been properly catalogued in Il week or
less were on the floor month before
catalogue was ready for the printer my
salary list being thus expanded and made
more than double what it should have been.
found my bookkeeper was in cahoots with
my printer and got rakcoff on catalogues,
so that what / should have had for about
sI.25 page was costing me nearly So.
"a cleaning out of the gang that h. i
been making ducks and brakes of nv bust
ness with series Of fine sales, saved the
day for the time, but just about the time