ANGLICAN GIFT AUCTIQN.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 15, 21 December 1878, Page 2

ANGLICAN GIFT AUCTIQN.

The funds of tl\e Cln\reh of England Palinoivstan, havo lo.ng been m a lan» guishin^ but f^t Jast the ladies of the congregation have 4e v i s eda scheme b.y whioh its coffers can he reple.r\isiv ;t iTlie district has been, canvassed, for donatian.a of aplicles* which it is intended to dispose of by public auction an the 3 1st of Dccen^ber ; and although money has not been asked for —^nd, tve believe woitkl not be accepted — any-, thing from a crutch to a carriage will he thaukfully- received. As a consequence, the refusal of a d.anaticu has been as yet un'c^awn, for witli the. fa r -t that a penny pencil will be ta^eu m preference to nothing, ha,s p,u,t sucli thing as a refusal gntirely out of court. We ramen^ber JoJ\u Y«W Ajjuew Bruce, the. kjv\| contractor- of Victoria, initiating a similar proceeding m that co^evny ."von^e eighteen yemw. a^o,, and the charity for which it was orgemised benefited to the tu.no of £tJOJ, His auction was called "A New; Way to Pay Old Debts." and a very excellent \Yay it proved. Bruce was a well -known character m. Victoria, and one p,f the causes o,f his notoriety was a. thickfurr«<l white beaver-bell-topper, wli^ph rivalled the hjstorie fa^me of Horace Qrpehjy*a. chupeau. While he was conducting the sale, a wa« suggested \haf Bruce should offor his venerated t^lf for- competition, anc) a.c4ing upon tl^e RUg-jestian the auctioneer uncovered, and held the article aloft, inviting a bid, and after half an. hour's smart cam petition, had. the satisfaction, of rlisp.osing of his head-dress for the very respectable sum of JOB 5. Nojct old hoMCTsliae was put up, which was I guaranteed as from the howe upon wh«?h Napoleon had crossed the Alps, ! and the supposed rolio of the defunct quadruped, with its n>etn.orable assoeia tions, brought j835 into the treasury haforo the hammer fell. A lover of 1 a.n"tent manu«cripls was beguiled into parting with £il for a dirty pioco of paper^ under the ideu tliat it w^s a, page out of the Book of Fate, only to find when he had made the exchange thac it was a bill from Mr Bruce's washerwoman, and, worse still, an unreceipted : one. Som3 of the articles which have forwarded to the Palmerston Committee are worthy of mention, if for no other reason than by way of contrast. There is a live sucking pig and a haby'n cradle, two bricks and a barber's pole, a leather- covered crutch and a corkscrew, a set of croquet and a brindled cow, a hair-brush and a hairless horse (olothes), a lot o.f archery and a waggonaxle, beside tables, tea and coffee pots, saucepans, boots and shoes, bridles, half ton aid iron, half ton hay, a horse with, four legs, together- with as much baby-linen as would keep Brigham Yonnspnn. stock for a.yeas not to speak of paintings, ducks, pigs, lambs, and other residents of the nursery. We congratulate the ladies of the committee upon the very excellent means devised to ■• raisa the win:!," and wf augur that it will not bo the articles of the greatest value which will bring the highest prices. _______ - ..^^___