Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-06-27
A slavc Auction.

r5a A Slave Auction. fgJ
It appears from Mr.. RIssel's latest re.
rEived letter to the london Tszaae5, that
while he was soiouFning al the capital of
the Southern Copfyderaey. he thought it
would be Instructive to attend FOE the FIRST
time slave auction. Whit he saw and
felt is thus Yividly- described; li;a is
The crowd was small, Three or four
idle men. in rough, liomeEpun makeshift
uniforms, leunt against THE iron rails en-
closingn small pond Of fonl. greeu-looktng
water, surrOuMded by brick work which
decorates tile space in front of tue Elk.
change Hotel. The speaker stood on an
empty deal pnckiug case. A man in a cart
was listening with lacI-lustre eye to the
address, Some three or four Others, in a
sort of vehicle. which might Sither he 1t
hrarse or piano van, hud also drawn 'Gp
for the benefit of the address. Five or six
men in long, biack coats. and high hat ;,
some whiillii'g sticks and chewing tobacco,
and discharging streams of discolored sn-
Iva, completed tue group. t.N.i. ne hti:,.
nerd and tifty dollars. Only nine hun.
nerd and fifty dollars offered for him. ex.
claimed the man IN tone Of iIjaFed dig.
nifty, remOnsiElnce and surprise which
can be insinuated ny HiF trqg auC.tionecrs
into the dryest numerical sthtrnctits.-
''Will no one make any advRnte on nine
hundred and fifty dUll"rs?'S A tnnn near
me opened fllis mouth, spdt, md said
s'twenty- -tive.p ~OnIy nine hun nerd and
lseventv-tive dollars offered f0r7htm WHY.
that's TndGklous; only nine huA.hereil ANA
seventy five dollars. Will1O .6le," &c.-i.,
Besides tile Orator anctioneer stood n
stout young man Of FIVE and twenty years
of age, with II bHndle in his hand. He
wasA muscular fellow, broad Shouldered.
narrow aaHked, hut rathersmhlIfn s{Ature;
: he had on IA broad, greasy, old widP-Awhke
blue Jdrket, coarse cotton shirt, loUss
and rather ragged trousers, and Lrogfn
shoes. Tile expression of his face Was
heavy ami sad, but it was by no means
disagreedble, in spite Of his thick lips,
broad nostrils and high cheek bones. On
t his head was wool instead of hail. his wiis
kers were little flocculent black tufts, and
| his skin wHs HS dark as that of4the late Mr.
fDyce SOmbre or Of Sir Jung Bnhadoor
himself j ant neither senttmen t.tlist nor
t-black republican, nor negro worshipper,
| bat confess tile sight caused n istrnnGe
thrill through my heart. tried in vain 10
make myself fIrmiliar with the fact that I
could, for the sum of S075 become as nl,sn.
ilutely the owner of that mass of blood.
bones Ssinews, flesh and brains a 5 the hnrse
which stood by my side / have seen slaye
markets In the East, but, somehow. or 9th
eT, the Orientalism of the scene cast 4 color
ing over the nature of the sales there ,s
TO deprive them of the disAgreeable harsh
ness and mattcr-of.fnct character of the
transaction before me. For the Turk, or
SmTrniote, or Egyptian, 10 buy and sell
slaves seemed rather suited to the eternal
fitness Of things than otherwise. s7u9' af1
| ..s The tnrltaunII gl,a 1oa.a t..,.....1
F.! pipe.smoking merchants, speaking an utl-
known tongue, looked as If they were en-
gagged in u legitimate business One
knew that their slaves woulI not he con-
demned TO any very hard labor, and that
they would !he in kome sort the inmates OF
the fntniIyannd members of it. Here it
grated on my ear to listen to the famfliar
tones Of the English tongne as the me-
dinm by which the transfer was effect.
ed, and il wsls painful to see decent.
looking men in European garb engaged
10 she work before me. The negro was
sold toioHeSof the bystnndcrs, and walk
cd OIL with his hp6dle. God knows
where. t'NiGgGFs Is cheap" Iris The only
remark Of the bystanders. Another snt-
tioneerpa fat, flnbby, persniring puffy man.
] was tfyinSto feIl negro girl who stood
on the deal Snx beside him She WAS
dressedspretty much like London servant
girl of the bower order ont of place, except
that her shoes were 'shredj Of leltther patchl
es"nd her bonnet would h,trr Scarce pass
ed muster in the New cut She too. had
y little bundle ia her htnd, and Hooked ont
at the buyers from pair oflarge sad ewes.
, 'Ntggers were cheap i" sstiH here wRs This
yonng woman going for an upset price Of
$50, but no one Would bid; and the aucl
tioneer. nfter vain attempts to raise. the
price nnd excite competition, said. q Not
s'.sd to-dmy. Sally yoti' may get do vvn %
She stepped down from the box and walk-
ed off down the main street without furtheF
notice, while the auctioneer sauntered
awhy-in another direction a7ys iEa.sE