One of those odd geniuses, who spend their lives and means in
collecting curious and rare articles, lately died. His name was
Sylvester Bonaffon, a retired merchant of Philadelphia. His elaborate
collections were sold at auction, and their oddity has attracted
general attention. His chief mania was for clocks, which literally
covered every portion of available space in his apartments, whether
they were placed on chairs, tables, shelves, or hung against the wall.
Some of these timepieces were of unique construction. One clock was
made to run for 400 days after one winding; another was set in the
dashboard of his carriage, and he used Mr. Bonaffon also had an
especial fondness for electrical apparatus. His windows were provided
with ingenious burglar alarms, his rooms with fire alarms, and he
ignited his gas always by electricity. His place of business, his
stable, the Continental Hotel where he dined, were all connected with
instruments in his room; and he even had perfected arrangements so
that he could set at home and send his own messages to California.
Besides the clocks and electric apparatus, there was an immense
collection of _bric-a-brac_ of every conceivable variety, which was
sold at the auction--as is usually the case--at prices much below
those paid by its late owner.
* * * * *