House & Garden 
ii'i;' 
BARGAINS IN BRASS, GLASS AND CHINA 
sticks, and those two pairs ot quaint little 
andirons have a similar history. So, too, has 
the slender little serving-table (picked up 
on the sidewalk for three dollars) and the 
century-old rush-bottom chair. 
It is pleasant to see the cheaper pieces of 
factory-made furniture disappearing one by 
one from the house, as their places are 
supplied by fine old mahogany, every article 
of which has its story, its association of some 
self-denial. The house in its furnishing and 
minor decoration is thus a record of the 
owner’s taste. Perhaps a dozen years have 
gone to the making of such a collection, but 
the result is such as could have been attained 
in no other way, save by the expenditure of 
perhaps ten times the money. Only a man 
very sure of his self-control may wisely 
undertake to indulge in such collecting. The 
collector of small means must sternly deter¬ 
mine that nothing shall betray him into 
buying any article that is not a great bargain. 
The moment that he persuades himself that 
he can for once indulge in an extravagance 
he is lost. If, however, he persist in his 
determination to buy nothing that is not well 
within his means, he will soon learn that he 
has only to wait and watch in order to get 
whatever he wants, and at his own price. 
There are, at the same time, a few facts 
especially worth knowing to him who would 
learn the art of picking up such unconsidered 
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