St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-12-27
WOOL AUCTIONS in LONDON.

There is no more curious sight in the.
city than one of the wool auctions
which are now being held every after
noon in the Wool Exchange, Coleman
street. Imagine large and lofty room,
capable of holding about five hundred
people Benches, in the form Of a
semi-circle, rise tier above tier, so that
all the sitters are plainly visible from
the tribune, or rostrnm-an elevated
desk at the bottom of the room Every
seat IS numbered, and the highest num-
Der is 1913. A narrow gallery provides
accommodation for the spectators. At
l3:55 o'clock nearly every seat is occu-
pied, the demand for them exceeding
the supply, and as the clock strikes the
hour the aactioneer, or selling broker,
takes his place in the tribune. He is
cool, self-possessed, good-looking man,
with keen eye, rosy cheeks, and hair
parted in the middle. On either side of
him sits cIerk-one bald and dark,
the other hirsute and blonde. No time
is lost in pre1iminaries; an eloquent
wool auctioneer would be an intoler-
able nuisance, and this one is as sparing
of words as telegram from China.
Every buyer before him is the busiest OF
men, and he has to sell 100000 worth
of wool before six O'Clock. LOT 213,
ten bales" he says. Simple words, but
the signal for very tempest of excite
ment. From every part OF the
room come, as it were, scattered shots
l. I,4 holF
ten, ten-half." Then up spring a
dozen, or it may be a score, of eager,
earnest men, who shout passion
ately at the top of their voices, and al
most in chorus: "sTen-half, ten-half, ten
half, ;" until it seems as if the roof would
split Some stretch their arms toward
the tribune, as if they were threatening
q foe; others work them to and fro, as
if they were engaged in mortal combat;
others, again, raise them upward, as if
they We're appealing to Heaven. They
yell still more loudly, gesticulate still
more wildly, some in their excitement
bending forward until they nearly top
pile over on the seats below. 1t is a
bear garden, Babel, q scene of indie
scribable confusion, and to the uniniti-
bidders were about to spring from their
places and punch each others heads.
But the auctioneer speaks one word,
and the storm is lulled; every voice is
flushed, every man resumes his seat.
That word is ''Tomkins. One lot has
been knocked down to Tomkins. With
out 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 a study. One
gentleman, with bald head surrounded
by fringe of black hair, and features
nnmistakably French, gets so excited
that you fear he may break a blood
vessel or have a fit of apoplexy His
wide nostrils culver, his swarthy
face becomes dark, he fights the air
with his arms and hurls bids at the
auctioneec, as if he would annihilate
him. Near the Gaul is fair Teuton,
stalwart and tall, shouting offers as
if he were crying 'sVorwartsn in the
smoke of battle, and glaring at his COM
petitorS as if he would like to charge
down on them as the Uhlans charged
down upon the French at Gravelotte
and Sedan. Not far from the foreign
,ers sits q gentleman whose cast of
features and style of dress leaves little
doubt that he is a manufacturer of wool,
or stapler, and halls from northern
country. To make his bid more effect
i've he puts his hand to the side of his
mouth and gesticulates with the other;
but he needs no artificial aid, for he has
a voice of thunder and shouts like
Boanerges. But why all this noise?
Why can not wool auctioneer knock
down his wares to the higest bidder,
All the firms represented at the auc-
ton know to fraction the value of
every parcel they wish to acquire, and
five, or ten, or a score, as the case may
be, are willing buyers of a certain lot
at, let us say, shilling a pound
more than they can afford to give The
rule is, when there are several bidders
at the same price and there are gem
orally several bidders-to prefer the one
who bids the first, which is practically
the one who first succeeds in attracting
the auetioneer's attention. In such a
contest the feeble-voiced have no
chance to come out of it 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 confidence in
the Speakers impartially seems to be
absolute; he never loses his self-posses-
sion, and time is too precious to be
wasted in Wrangling. London SpectG-
tor.
Why He Felt Easy.