BY FRANCIS S. DIXON 
PART I. 
T HE chief peculiarity of the collector of antiques 
is that he invariably considers himself an 
authority, and any reflection upon his taste 
and judgment usually results in making him an 
enemy for life. Therefore the object of these con¬ 
fessions is not to jar the faith of trusting collectors 
whose houses are bristling with antiques of question¬ 
able age, but rather to show that imitations of the 
ravages of time are simplicity itself in almost all cases, 
and only the hand of the artist is necessary to send 
the freshest bits back across the ages. 
Everyone knows that the stout ship “Mayflower” 
must have been elastic if she carried the cargo with 
which she is credited, for a whole fleet of modern 
freighters could not accomplish the feat to-day. At 
any rate the poor souls whose pleasure and pain it 
was to land on Plymouth Rock experienced great 
relief probably when they at last escaped the maze 
of chair legs, spinning-wheels, mirrors, and chests 
and stretched themselves in flight from Indians and 
wild beasts. Their quarters aboard ship were, 
without doubt, decidedly cramped. 
Ever since that memorable landing the craze for 
relics of bygone days has continued with undimin¬ 
ished vigor and for a long time the supply has not 
been equal to the demand. 
When I first went into business I had a small collec¬ 
tion of old furniture and china with a few paintings 
and prints, and a little silver plate. My collection 
was disposed of at prices that made the business 
seem promising and I began looking about for more 
stock. There was not much to be had and what I 
found was so dilapidated that I was obliged to engage 
a cabinet-maker to put things into a presentable 
FAKE EMPIRE SOFA. A STYLE MUCH PRIZED 
