Preparing for battle.  On Monday, July 20, 1998, the auction company secured the area and prepared the tents which would provide shelter for the merchandise to be sold at the 3-day auction scheduled for July 21-23, 1998. But this venerable building, which did not rent out any of its 3-and-a-half floors as apartment space, had dedicated all its area to storage, and consequently spewed forth with such mass quantities of merchandise, some of it 40 or more years old, and much of it unopened or even untouched since it was stored, that three more days were added (July 31 and August 1 & 2) in order to completely dispose of all the items.  (Photo and caption by Thomas Allen Kelley)