Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-10-24

THE building into which l was led
l. by Colonel Wharton was in reality
small addition to Hedgewatrr House.
lt was reached by covered pathway
from the main dwelling and I noticed
that the colonel unlocked il before
entering and that he turned the key
on 1t after We left the place,
This is not open to the public" he
said. with an explanatory smile, and
l don't relish the idea of visitors wan
dering about at will-not even the
members of my own household.
1t was understood. OF course. that |
should do most of my work in the pri-
vate museum, but aside from myself ]
soon discovered that no one was per
mitted to visit the place without the
consent of Colonel Wharton. and then
in his company. 1t may be wondered
how it was that ]. a comparative
stranger. should be admitted into the
holy of holies from which even relatives
Of the owner were so scrupulously ex-
cluded But that is explained by the
mention of Bromley Barnes. The vet
eran investigator was the most thorough
| person / ever met in my life. There was
not a detail of my business at Hedge
water House that he had not foreseen
and provided for Among other things
| discovered that I had been bonded
with well known corporation. by the
terms of which Colonel Wharton was
fully protected in his property and pos
sessions so far as l was concerned.
The museum was one story building
with dome so arranged that there
was an abundance of light and venti
lation. 1t had been built for the pur
pose for which it was used, and the ar
II Il 4
admirable. 1t did not take me long to
discover that Colonel Wharton's col
lection was neither SO large nor so var
led as had expected. In fact it con
sisted of three small collections. The
first was of coins. the second books and
the third gems. But what those collec
tions lacked in quantity they more than
made up in quality. All of the articles
were actual rarities. Most of the coins.
books and gems were so rare that it
would have been very difficult to du
plicate them
Colonel Wharton was an intelligent
enthusiast and he discoursed interest
ingly upon his hobby. He saw that he
had gained my attention and that fact
brought the light to his eyes and the
flush of eagerness to his cheeks.
The antiques were in fairly good con
dition, but l could see that it would
mean weeks of unremitting labor tC
properly arrange and classify them. II
was understood that l was to begin my
work on the following day, 1t woult
take me twenty four hours. the colone
/, said, to get my bearings
/ had always taken an enthusiast,
interest in the science of numisnatics
and Colonel Wharton's collection o
, coins claimed my instant attention. /
did not take me long TO recognize tht
value of these coins. lie had anon;
other things the earliest known coin
which were issued by the Greeks il
, the seventh century before the Christian
era, After that came fine specimen
of Roman money and so on dow
through ancient. medieval and modern
, times There was one section con
sisting entirely of Oriental coins. anC
| this contained bits of silver and gol,
1 from ancient Persia. Arabia. modern
Persia. India, China and coins of th'
Far East.
Colonel Wharton talked of these il
2 vein of fascinating interest He cx.
Y plained to me. what ] already knew
Il that Il study of these coins would Civ,
, a history of. the world, at least for tn,
t periods for which they stood. The in.
s scriptions on the coins We're studies il
Il geography, politics and religion. Il
e most cases these bits of metal bore III,
t busts or efigies of the reigning sover
: eigns and they indicated whether i
:, was a republic or monarchy and til,
: method of worship. In some cases the,
= even went further because there wer,
a special issues of medals to commemorate
the defeat or the success of the armie
d of the country for which they stood.
= was able to give only cursory ex
e animation of this wonderful collection
e and then / glanced over the rare books
which consisted mainly Of first cdi
- tions IN various countries and at diff
e ferent periods. That ! would get mucl
iov out of these books went withou
saying. Finally, ! made a hasty sur
4 yey of the section devoted to preciou
gems. This was the smallest of all