The Dickinson press., 1888-04-28
AT A TEA AUCTION.
HOW THE EXPERTS VALUE THE
STOCK BEFORE 1T is SOLD.
scene in u Saicsroom-i Visit from Pro.
fcssi"nal Tea Tastrrs-A Preliminary
Tcst-The Ar"mu-Gcttins the Flavor.
Quiet Purchasers.


he represented in the stock of tea which
u firm of aucionccrs offer for sale on
q given day. Two hundred or more different
grades of tea may bc IN the consignment.
y sample chest, half chest, or package of
each grade is sent to the auction room for
Inspection and samplins lay prospective pur-
ch;>crS These are ranged in tiers about
the auction room 50 thai their distinctive
names and marks may bc seen. All these
marks. and queer lot of hicrogyphics they
are. ar" reproduced i'll the catalogue, ALWAYS
large l"iNrl, and with plenty of room for
notes alongside the description of each lot of
particular grade of tea The lots vary
from single package or half chest up to
perhaps II hundred packages of the fragrant
Oriental leaves. The small lots III" usually
par! !icnlarly choice brands of tea, the large
ones the cheaper and "stlndarl' grades.
The distinctive marks on these chests aside
from the Chitcsr figures are either figures OF
letters, sometimes standing alone, but oftcncr
lnc!oSed i'll circle, Il square, triangle. an
cliiSc, or some other geometrical figure and
occasionally accompanied by an anchor or
some similar figure that is symbol of 10
one knows what exactly. Once in their
places i'll the auction room, the sample chests
are nnde ready for customers who wish to
| Try the teas. And here is where tea auction
sai"S differ from other auction sales \ tllr-
chaser may try before lie buys To enable
him to try, biz, holes, an inch and IL half or
SO in diameter. are cut through the chest and
its wicker cover, SO that tile tea can easily
l'r reached. The sample packages thus pre-
pared, everything is ready for the sale
PROFESSIONAL. TEA T.lSTERS
For tw" days before the sale young men
with til" lis quarto catalogues and accom-
panied 10y ii hoy with small tin boxes visit
the auction rooms and take samples for test
ing. These Young men are usually profess
| slenal tea t;lSters, and To the casual visitor to
an auction room ther methods arc peculiar,
To say the least. ~ wisp of the split bamboo,
sllc! us the network of mating that covers
the packages is made "f, is the samplers
weapon for attack on the .cl chests about
him. His catalogue is held in his left land.
With the right he thrusts his wispof bamboo,
doubled 50 US L" make sort of hoe, into the
round hole III the tea chest, and from the
chest iiauls Il handful Of the tea on to the
catalogue pages. The eye serves to tell him
if the tea has been colorc,l or bleachn.l. That
point settled, the necessary note is made in
| liiH catalogue. Then comes the preliminary
test. The tea is dumped from tie samplers
hand partially closed, the sampler blows
vigorously into the mass of leaves, and mt
one" applies the leaves to his nose Thus lie
gets fair idea of the aroma AS he la, no
further use for that particular sample he
throws: it into Il trough which stands at the
foot of the rows of chests and which is put
there for the express purpose of holding, these
discarded samples and the PARTICLES that do
not fall on the catalogue pages when the wsp
OF lmnio" pulls the sample from tile chest
And 50 the sampler goes the round of the
long row of tea chests, cycling and smelling,
and once in great while tasting a bit of tho
tea, ;!lit always throwing away two or three
J pounds during the course of his afternoon in
| si,e'ton.
MI the observations of this expert US to
Color aroma and quality arc noted in his
catalogue. Some samples are quickly dis
| rosr.! OF, and the sampler marks in his c;ta-
l''%nc the value of the particular brand of
tea lie has inspected. But there are some
brands, usually of the finer grades, that
puzzle linn. He is in doubt as to the actual
value Of tho leaves he has looked at and
snelicd of IL half dozen times perhaps So
lac instr,cts II youth who accompanies, him tn
''tako u sample" This yorinysler, using tho
same means as his companion has before Kim,
liauls II liberal sample from the chest into u
Tin box, which is duly marked and labeled
"ith the same hier"glyphics that are in
stlibc'i on the chest and in the catalogue A
| dozen samples may be taken in this way for
| tcrxpcrt's use outside of the auction room.
| Tnoae Collected his work among the sample
| chests is ended.
GETTING THE FULL FLAVOR.
| Accompanied by the boy and his small
| Tin boxes, the expert leaves the auction room
and goes to his office to finish his valuation
of the samplc; hls boy carries Seated at
Il round talk" which turns on its standard
ut the slightest touch, lie Iinishc; his work
with u speed winch Is littlc less than mar.
.cloas. y dozen French china cups and {.
ss!novar, OF ui.a, OF hot water help him to
do this. Leaves from the sample tin boxes
are put i'll the china cups and treated to u
BATH of tho boiling water from the URN in
t. c,.iter Of the table. There is prelim:-
Lad. sl...f ut the aroma arising from oacll
| :..'.!rti!;.l cup, and then u tnato-jtl,t SIP
,scv t..e Favor fully. This tcs. settles the
valuation oi The tea in u ulomet, aud the cx-
pert l.iaI", in his catalogue what Ec deems
tc ,,l.n,.es t.us treated to Lc worth 10
o..c c;.r L! putes that valuation, for the tcu
,.,.';cr ii IN his line an autocr,.t, Q dcspot
:...,a,. decision 10 one dares question The
catalogue now marked is sent to tLe buyer
ii t.!c Lo@so the expert represents, and with
t-.e latter there remains only the purely
...cc.!i,aical work Of attending tho sale and
nayln5, il lie can, at Oh below the figures
,!:-ci by t..e expert ut the maximum value OF
tie tu;.s.
The &Gctipn sale itself is very like any
One. trade salc. A hundred men sit about
the a"e.i n room in front Of the glib tonglcd
c.'l.: Catalogue and pencil in hand tho
crowd OF buyers are u very quiet party, and
Lei the auctionecr make all the noise. A
pencil or catalogue raised in tho air for an
Instant goes for bid. Sometimes u nod Of
the head sutiiccs to settle the ownership, Of a
consi ignnent of tea. 1t is very rarely that a
word is spoken, except when the starting bid
Is made. When other spoken bids follow they
are usually made by some out of town buyer.
The auctioneer knows everybody in the
room except these same out Of town mcr-
chants, who are looking for bargains. So he
quietly tells his clerks the name of the pur-
chaser, and a stranger visiting the sale is left
i'll mystery most of the time, not only lis to
who the buyer is, but also as to which one of
the men in that very quiet but very business
like crowd made the bid Five thousand or
5000 packages of tea may he disposed Of in
an hour OF an hour and q half, and then the
crowd of buyers melt away just as quickly
as it had assembled itself for the salc.-Nc"
York Times.