The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1885-02-12

A Interesting Picture from the London
Wool Exchange.
There is no more curious eight 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 500 people.
Benches, in the form of q semi-circle,
rise tier above tier, SO that all the sit
ters are plainly visible from the tribune
or rostrum-an elevated desk at the
bottom of the room. Every seat Is
numbered, and the highest number is
39S. A narrow gallery provides ac-
commodation for the few spectators.
Five minutes before 4 nearly every seat
is occupied, the demand for them ex-
ceeding the supply; and as the clock
strikes the hour the auctioneer, or sell
ing broker, takes his place in the trib-
une. He is cool. self-possessed, good
looking man, with a keen eye, rosy
cheeks, and hair parted in the middle.
On either side of him sits q clerk-one
bald and dark, and 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 q telegram from
China. Every buyer before him is
the busiest of men, and he has to
sell 100000 pounds sterling worth
of wool before o'clock. Lot 219, ten
bales" he says. Simple words, but
the signal for the very tempest of ex-
citement. From every part of the room
come, as it were, scattered shots In
quick succession" eight, half, nine,
ten, ten-half." Then up spring dozen,
or it may be q score, of eager, earnest
men, who shout passionately at the top
of their voices, and almost in chorus:
"Ten-half, ten-half, ten-half, ten-half,"
until it almost seems 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 combat; others; again, raise
them upward, as if they were appeal
ing to heaven. They yell still more
loudly; gesticulate still more wildly,
some in their excitement bending for
ward until they nearly topple over on
the seats below. 1t is bear garden, a
Babel, scene of Undesirable con-
fusion, and to the initiated spectator it
seems as if the frantic bidders were
about to spring from their places and
punch each others heads.
But the auctioneer speaks one word,
and the storm is stilled every voice is
hushed, every man resumes his seat.
That word is "Tomkins." The lot has
been knocked down TO Tomkins.
Without one word 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 bald head sur
rounded by fringe of black hair, and
features Enthusiastically French, gets SO
excited that you fear he nay break a
blood vessel or have fit of apoplexy.
His wide nostrils culver, his swarthy
face becomes dark red, he fights the air
with his arms, and hurls bids at the
auctioneer as If he would annihilate
him
Near the Gaul is fair Teuton, stall
wart and tall, shouting offers as if he
were crying "Vorwartsp In the smoke
of battle and glaring at his competitors
as if he would like to charge down
upon them as the Uhlans charged down
upon the French ut Gravelotte and Sc
dan. Not far from the foreigners sits
gentleman whose cast of features and
style of dress leave little doubt that he
is manufacturer of wood, or stapler,
and halls from a northern country. To
make his bid more effective he puts one
hand to the side of his mouth and GEES
tulates with the other; but he needs no
artificial aid, for he has voice of thun-
der and shouts like Boanerges.
But why all this noise? Why can
not wool auctioneer knock down his
wares to the highest bidder, like any
other auctioneer? There is the rub !;
the difficulty to "spot" the highest bid
der. All the firms represented at the
auction know to q fraction the value of
every parcel they wish to acquire, and
FIVE or ten, or score, as the case may
be, are willing buyers of certain lot
at, let US say | shilling pound-more
they can not 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, which is practically
the one who first succeeds in attracting
the auctioneer's attention. Ia such
contest the feeble-voiced have no
chance, and the loud shouters are the
most likely to come out of it victorious.
When the selling broker names the
buyer who has caught his ear, all the
rest subeide 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-possession, and time is too
precious to be wasted in wrangling.-
London Spectator.