Show L I i THE ART BY OF HS HASKIN g S It was recently announced by an firm in Washington D C that tte cradle cradic of George Washington and a mirror once owned by the First Lady of oftie tie tte Land would be sold at public aue aucun U un Um n in that city The attention attracted was countrywide for Washington relics at auction are rare raT The special stile sale was heW held hel 1 tn In due time the property of the tM old Magruder estate an old oid family faintly homestead near Mount Vermin being die dis disposed posed POlled of There U much fine furniture and furnishings alit abd some tOme of it brought g god Od prices especially those articles that had been obtained by the from the Ule Mount Vernon estate Many of or the prospective buyers were ere dl disappointed however boever because at the eleventh oIe tb hour it t was announced that tite te Washington cradle and mirror bad had been withdrawn Those articles are held by a representative of the Magruder estate in Washington with a view to letting con congress congress gress gross purchase them for the national mu as is 18 proposed In a bill blU recently in In lit the house holK of representatives That was one case cae where bere the auctioneer was nas deprived of Ir the opportunity to make mak g good goo lie has bas rade roade good in IB so w many man oth othet r cases case ea that one failure not DOt be counted against him when In III fact be he i Is one on of the tile moat most popular and successful members of the community Ills Hio business bu tn once 0 discredited dl is now rec ree recognized recognized as one of the fine as all well as use useful ful fil arts art of persuasion it has hitS be been n aptly called The auctioneer can ean n point with pride to tote tie te long and honorable history of his pro profession Some authorities trace that his history try tory 1 back almost to the days of Noah Koah and Adam and It ft is La certain that the profession alOft sion is much older than Methuselah The first recorded Auction according to Jo occurred when the children of Israel captured a certain city and after looting it sold wid their plunder at public outcry According to another author iy L when Abraham bought the cave of or orL Machpelah L for YI shekels of silver the wad wa all made by auction Later Is said to have bae sold Rachel to Ja Jacob Jacob cob at auction the price being certain services on Jacobs part which accord according ing irig to tradition he failed to perform Within the last lut years the profession pr in the th I States has advanced in the mount amount and character of the business transacted ts as well as in the Improved standing or of the profession among the tM pee peo people fe generally Early Parly In the last century there was Vs great reat opposition to auctions and a nd auctioneers s which culminated in in liSS ls when a petition to congress was as signed by a number of or New York mer merchants chants chaut urging that the th government Im impose pose fiose a heavy heaY hea tax ta on the business With a S view to destroying it al altogether altogether a together At that time the New tw York ers dealt largely larget in Imported goods foods and aDd they the were charged with de demoralizing demoralizing demoralizing moralizing the market and illI with other JI re or oi less heinous offenses s They The re reo Piled to these charges in a memorial memoria to to such good purpose that they the were core not taxed to death Since then the usefulness u and activity of auctioneers has Increased until today the demand far exceeds the supply In the panic period from to when many business failures failure occurred auctioneers were constantly occupied closing out in insolvent insolvent solvent firms etc On that account and anti because UM the auctioneer is rr called caned in to settle an estate after the death of an lID some e people have an idea that Jie Je auction ser is te a sort sot of vulture re On the contrary he be is generally admitted to we no wea not a t 1 benefactor to the race He Ito usually sells seiW things in the fairest possible way and af affords affords fords people a II chance to buy at their own prices It If they pay pa more than an ticIe IS a worth that is 16 not the auctioneers auctioneer fault The Tha boast of or the profession as an Iowa auctioneer said eald in an advertisement not 1 cog cn ago is ill that It makes sales roles of any an hing anywhere l re this side of or the realm alm A glance glauce gla e at a few fe recent auctions auctions I Ions this to be true A cemetery I nas sas as sold not long ago to a Pennsylvania r nan an who wished to utilise it as a a private i ground A choice assortment of M ld tombstones grave rails and head headstones headstones stones tonee was offered of for sale In the grave rard ard of St Peters church in the Bronx New N York Another odd auction sale was wall that which of the battlefield of or Gains GaIi mill near Cold Harbor where I Stonewall Jackson met the Union army in 10 n IC Not ot long Jong ago the Basingstoke canal in England v nn n miles long with twentynine locks locki and an annual revenue of DC S was offered for sale at auction Perhaps the th only ordy instance of an entire village coming under the hammer hammEl was that of Winthrop Harbor near Dowles Dowie famous Zion City IlL III which is said to have been bought bo by agents of or the now deceased prophet Some years rears ago a aNew aNew New ew Jersey Jers Jerse y man purchased purchase two ponds a auction and made a neat fortune from chalk deposits dep found in the Id U d of or the A number of railroads have been sold Old at auction perhaps the mOt most notable Instance occurring in 1888 when the Union Onion Pacific between Omaha and Ogden was wasI sold add by order of the States gov government go I IStO t The government frequently en lb patronizes the auctioneer In wartime captured prizes ore are sold at auction In the piping times of or peace p ce Imports on which customs duties are not paid are sold at auction as asare asare asare are also obsolete naval vessels and old furniture and other junk that accumulates lutes lates In the capitol capital and department build buildIngs lugs lags Not long ago a number of demi deml demijohns demiJohns johns were dispa ed of at a war depart department department ment meat sale Nobody explained how they thel happened to be among the effects of oC the government despite the law la laI The annual annal al auction Is a tee fee feature I ture tune of Washington life lire and though cat catalogues catalogues give ghe a hint of the contents of letter and package a lot of useless stuff la It generally bought for the fun of tile thing The old hoes boss sales of express companies in many man cities dispose of or the unclaimed packages pa and as It Is buying I II a p pig JIg p hi In a poke game there Is much fun I attached to 10 such auctions auction Where here one ope man may maT bid In a package for a song long and find that It contains valuable Jewelry an AD another ADother another other may ma p pay y ninth much for a large largo box to find It U holds rusty naty ploughshares alfOs Auctioneers like the members of every ev I Iother other profession are specializing There Therea are a many man real 1 estate te auctioneers espe tEpa especially chilly In the large e cities dUes Unique t que among th thee ee in III a Massachusetts man who fol 1 I II lows I the speeder e plan plait which Is I said to hay have ben b invented J rJ y his hla ra fa rather father f ther then Under this system a place piece of land tand Is divided into several parcels Bids are arf solicited alternately upon the plot as lIS a whole hole and upon each eam parcel anti and It is II sold all together or in parts whichever way it will bring the moot t money mone moneIn In the th west livestock Is a popular and lucrative branch of oC the U buei ness neep Some auctioneers deal lid particular p ly in furniture antiques curios and art obI t fW York and Washington are fertile ferUle fields for or these the e specialties In the tile tatter latter city there ther Is in a constant t tant stream tream of oC sov gov government 0 eminent ern nt officiate and others coming and going who furnish famish houses houles when they arrive and sell n out at auction when they depart Articles belonging to dent Roosevelt and nd to th the Persian minis ten ter were recently lItI sold soM there Th There re are a I Iwen wen well known know auction periodically p lI in New N NewYork i York of bOoks e kR stamps m coins eoln roC raps rua ru s etc ett One 0 LoIn Jo firm has been bf n book for fer over a century In New York avenal eral auctioneers e con eon conduct duct clearing houses S of or Insolvency and aMi do a business aggregating a over oer SU OCI OCIa a rear ear fit In unredeemed md plo d e of ef pawn pawnshops pa pawnshops h shops In Australia and New Ne Zealand wool Is auctioned regularly In Sumatra the coffee crop is marketed market In m that way wa wain In London there are aN auctions from time Urn timeto to time tims of f skins leather horns bones bonn tallow lumber and amI oth t products product At a Dutch suction auction s sq called the aue au tone r begins by naming ga a high prim and gradually reducing it k until Ul t b reaches a figure which v Is willing to give Auctioneers are subject to licenses and other regulations Thes are paid on a rom roni mission sJon barfs Th Tho prices obtained fr r I various artile artiel vary ary greatly th lh of t tho tt neer h his a f adi i the hP I and season of ofa n I ai a th temoer of his MI bI audience ar aNt i q Hor h r 1 Sometimes S s A 1 thing w wr wi n f r ar af 5 auction n than it would Quid a II ar r 2 a es Then again aln something Rh 10 r e gr Tor or oi a mere son song In E tere erf is J i an n Auctioneers Institute with a 1 membership of tI i There is also a gust quart tri trl t r punished Quoting auitt lion tt prices for all sorts of things thing in New York London Paris Parts and Berlin There Is 13 an old theory that an auction auctioneer eer ear like a poet is born not made but that does net seem I to be Je borne out by bythe b bythe the facts Some years ago John T Graham Gra of Des DesMoines Moines la in started the tM first school of i from which of the i after four hammer were turned out a weeks course During Dining that bat time they were ere taught the ethics of or the profession I voice culture how to act and what to toIa say Ia under almost every eer conceivable cir circumstance circumstance cm and other useful knowledge which was epitomized under the heading heeding I of suggestions While education lion tion does dOe much natural talent counts for fora forR a R great greao deal also as do experience and heredity her There have been many faint families families lies of or auctioneers Representative e Greene of or Massachusetts belongs belong to on one of them His father started business at Natchez Miss 1118 In US 1235 1 The congressman succeeded his sire as U young youn Mr Greene will succeed the present head of or the tM firm During the Democratic filibuster in the house of representatives several I oral years ago when there were roll calls on every My pos pee possible sible sibie proposition the voices oke of the read reed readIng reedIng Ing clerks were worn out and a capitol policeman who ho was an eer was RUed to the rescue For days his hi tire Ure tireless less leas foghorn voice was al bean beani from one ODe end of the capitol to the other The Th qualifications of a good auctioneer are re many man An Ottawa authority sum wim marbled manned them all tte follows follo He must be bt strictly temperate moderately moderately honest and up to date elate In addition to these t qualifications he be should have b ve good health the gift of gab a vole voice a fine presence and aiR a knowledge about the things he heMUS sells MUS rood good tempered and quick witted altogether the smartest man in the world as one admirer of the profession icon sion t cm says He must mut have a sort of hyp hp hypnotic power if he would emulate the tb man who induced a street sweeper to buy bu a abase abess base bess viol which the disgusted laborer later broke Into kindling wood The Ideal IMa of or the th hammer plays upon the feelings of or his customers as a successful advocate sways a R Jury inn or a musician exes and aDd woos his instrument Copyright IMS 1001 I by b Frederic J HaskIn I B Tomorrow Public Lectures in Schools j i |