Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1884-10-14
NO. 263

auetioueer, or selling broker, takes his place
in the tribune. He is a cool, self-possessed,
good-looking man, with q keen eye rosy
cheeks, and hair parted in the middle. On
either side of him sits clerk-one bald and
dark, the other hirsute and blonde. No time
is lost in preliminaries an eloquent wool
auctioneer would be an intolerable nuisance,
and this one is as sparing of words as tele-
gram from China. Every buyer before him
is the busiest of men, and he has to sell
hundred thousand pounds worth OF woot be-
fore six o'clock. 'fLot 213, 10 bales" he
says. Simple words but the signal for
very tempest of excitement. From every
part of the room come; as it were, scattered
shots in quick succession-''Eigh half, nine,
ten, ten-half." " Then up spring dozen, or
it may be a score, of eager, earnest men, who
shout passionately at the top of their voices,
ten-half, ten-half,'' y until it seems almost as
if the roof would split. Some stretch their
arms toward the tribune, as if they were
threatening foe; others work them to and
fro as if they were engaged in mortal COM
bat; others, again, raise them upward, if
they were appealing to heaven. They yell
still more loudly, gesticulate still more Wild
ly some in their excitement bending forward
until they nearly topple over on the seats
below 1t is bear garden, Babel, scene
of indescribable confusion, and to the unini-
tiated spectator it seems as if the frantic bid
QerS were ABOUT spring Gnelf places
and punch each others heads. But the auc-
tioneer speaks one word, and the storm is
stilled; every voice is hushed, every man re-
sunes his seat. That word is F'Tomkins."
The lot has been knocked down to Tomkins.
Without drawing breath, the selling broker
goes on to the next lot, and then there is
another startling roar, followed by an equally
sudden collapse. The faces of some of the
bidders are study. One gentleman, with
q bald head, surrounded by fringe of black
hair and features Enthusiastically French, gets
so excited that you fear he may break
blood-vessel or have fit of apople1y. His
wide nostrils quiver, his swarthy face be-
comes dark red, he fights the air with his
arms. and hurls his bids at the auctioneer as
if he would annihilate him. Near the Gaul
is fair Teuton, stalwart and tall, shouting
offers as if he were crying ''Vorwarts" in
the smoke of battle and glaring at his com
petitors if he would like to charge down
upon them as the Uhlans charged down on
the French at Gravelotte and Sedan. Not
far from the foreigners sits u gentleman
whose cast of features and style of dress
leave little doubt that he is manufacturer
wool stapler, and halls from northern
county. To make his bid more effective he
puts one hand to the side of the mouth and
gesticulates with the other, but he needs no
artificial aid, for he has voice of thunder
and shouts like Boanerges. But why all
this noise; why cannot wool auctioneer
Knock down MS wears 10 Jle l1SneSb D1Uder,
like any other auctioneer! There is the rub;
the difficulty is to ''spot" the highest bidder.
All the firms represented at the auction
know to a fraction the value of every parcel
they wish to acquire, and five, ten,
score, as the case may be, are willing buyers
of a certain lot at, let us say, a shilling
pound-more they cannot afford to give.
The rule is, when there are several bidders at
the same price-and there generally are
several bidders-to prefer the one who bids
the first who is practically the one who first
succeeds in attracting the auctioneer's atten-
ton In such contest the feeble-voiced
have no chance, and the loudest shouters are
the most likely to come out victorious. When
the selling broker names the buyer who has
caught his ear, all the rest subside like would
be orators in the House of Commons who
fail to catch the speakers eye. The conf
dence in the auctioneer's impartiality seems
to be absolute; he never loses his self posses
sion and time is too precious to be wasted in
wfangling.