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there were no automobles, airplanes, radio and none of our modern conveniences. Some of our modern inventions were in a very primitive stage of development and frowned upon by most of the people. Even with the advent of the model "T" Ford, if you were to meet a horse-drawn vehicle upon a road, you must stop at the side of the road, get out and lead the horse drawn vehicle past your automobile, then restart and proceed. This is just one example of how the public looked upon these so-called modern inventions. The reaction to the first airplane was universal, "If God wanted man to fly, he would have been born with wings".
I shall never forget the appearance of Hailey's Comet about 1910. The scientists told us that the earth would pass through the tail of this Comet doing no harm to anything. Unscrupulous people took advantage of this, predicting that this would be the end of the world. The excitement over this became very great, many selling everything they owned, may suicides, allnight meetings in many churches. So-called quack doctors sold pills, supposed to protect one against harm. At last the time of passage arrived.
This was a sight never to be forgotten, in the east at nightfall this great ball of light with a tail which extended across most of the sky. The following night it was the same beautiful sight only in the western sky. Those who had made these dire predictions could not be found, a few people then put a little more faith in science.
From the last of the horse and buggy days to today, I have witnessed the greatest advance in all lines of science of any period in history, and my only hope is to be able to see what the next twenty years will bring.
About the year 1914, having finished high school, I was at a loss what to do next, attend the University of Virginia, or go to work. As stated before I was just an average student, I did not feel that this was good enough for me to attend college.
At this time, my uncle Alonzo Trice, who was our next-door neighbor, retired as Chief of Police of the City of Charlottesville, Virginia, and moved to a farm in the country. He rented his home to a Mr. W. F. Johnson. Mr. Johnson was in the business of buying antiques for several large antique dealers throughout the country. We became very close friends and worked as partners in this business for some time. Later I worked alone until World War I.
It was during this period that I spent all my time hunting antiques for several large antique dealers. Virginia during this period was an antique dealers' paradise, every home had something