Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-03-03

Webster confessed his love for q fair
beauty Of New York State, Miss Cath
crime Van Rensselaer,. daughter of
Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer,. who
afterward Tilted the statesman. The
.etter was purchased by DR.. r. E..
Moran Of this city for the sum Of SIS. =
IN THE past century some Of the
rarest objects imaginable have been
placed on sale in Washington, bought
3 by collectors and connoisseurs at rela-
lively small prices and afterward re-
sold by them at 10 times the original
auction sale price. OF such extraordi-
nary objects have been articles belong
/ ing to George Washington, Abraham
Lincoln, Robert E. Lee. Napoleon, the
last Greek royal family, the former
Kaiser and the late Gar.
Collectors come here from all parts
Of America and from abroad when
great estates are to be sold of at auc-
ton, and great estates are sold here
week in and week out. There is the
excitement, the thrill and the salts
4dIIIUI Va OAA PlCOCo OAANS
owned by prominent persons. There Is
also the unexpected. in not knowing
when some memorabilia will come to
light.
Auctioneers themselves sometimes
are in the dark. They do not always
know what prizes they offer for sale.
They explain 1t in this way. Estates
are offered for sale. Auctioneers must
catalogue them after they have been
appraised. Court appraisers usually
do this work. Nor is there time always
for the court appraisers to make care
full search of everything; to go through
books and find out first editions: TO
go through desk drawers and search
for valuable papers.
So it was that recently o woman
bought a desk at the Dewey sale.
When she got 1t home and opened its
middle drawer she found will that
Admiral Dewey had written in his own
handwriting, but had never probated.
When the estate Of James z. Har-
vey, American Minister to Portugal
went on sale three rare Lincoln let
tiers showed up-and Lincoln letter
is worth all kinds of money, since
Abraham Lincoln seldom wrote letters
or signed his name to many docu-
ments His secretary wrote most OF
his letters. Yet here were three In one
batch. anr they went for practically
nothing.
About once a week, on an average,
social Washington turns out to see the
estate of some aristocrat sold at public
auction. Usually there is a story be-
hind the sale. Old-timers here know
this. The story has to do, usually, with
q decadent fortune. Or, sometimes,
with disagreement among relatives.
Whatever the cause. pieces of art COLI
lected throughout the years are scat
tered over the counter and go to the
highest bidder.
When w. T. Mathews. the painter,
died many historic portraits were
offered for what they would bring.
These included the celebrated full
length portrait Of Lincoln. painted by
Mathews for the United States Gov
eminent. and also Mathews portrait
of President Mckinley. Ordered by
Congress, the mystery is how these
paintings got into a public auction.
we sell 'em, We don't explain en-"
the auctioneer says.
Hardly a statesman ever lived in
Washington who did not leave behind
some rare relic that eventually was
purchased by some eager buyer in
the auction houses.
The field glasses Of Admiral Dewey,
the walking stick with which Andrew
jackson marked the site Of the Treas
ury Building, the shaving mug Of
Henry Clay. These are some Of the
oddities.
Going, going. gone"-they 60 to
the highest bidder.