The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-06-28
4 BIG FRUIT AUCTION.
California on Show at the
Chicago Depot.
WILLIAM II. STILL TALKING.
Washington Wisps-HarrisOn Denies
New PrOhibitiOnists-Ha
Master of Arts.
WILLIAM II. STILL TALKING
California Fruit at Auction.

and rivalry and representative char
acter of the national political conven-
ton were presented this morning in
the line stretching to the railroad de-
pot just across the river from where
State Street and South Water, the two
busiest thoroughfares in Chicago, cross
one another. The honors and atten-
ton showered upon the Californiaps at
the great national gatherings in st.
Louis and Chicago, had equally their
counterpart here. California, in fact,
seemed the one subject in which for
the time beng. everybody present was
interested. High piles of lucious
looking fruit in boxes. bewllder
ing in variety and extent, Uttered the
floor of the depot in every
direction. Still more fruit was pouring
from heavily laden cars, drawn upon
tracks beside the depot's many open
doors, while on the other side of the
depot Through ether open doors were
seen swearing. yellow teamsters, with
trucks and wagons, crowding each other
for first place in the general onslaught
evidently soon to commence. Among
the stack of boxes on the floor little
groups of we'll dressed business men
were moving, pencil and note book in
hand, carefully examining and making
calculations regarding the boxes that the
stalWart porters about them were pulling
open everywhere. Right in the midst
OF the rows upon rows of boxes and
exactly like miniature convention a
number of chairs were ranged just in
front of what looked surprisingly
similar to the speakers stand occupied
by Ex-Governor White, OF California,
when presiding over the Democratic
hosts at st. Louis, or that Of the OF er
distinguished Californian, Estee, in the
gathering of Republicans at the
Auditorium. There was one notable
difference, no gaudy decorations were
visible anywhere, and the scene, though
lively ia the extreme, had an
aspect that bespoke business and
nothing else. No horn-blowing
or cheering or speech making was
necessary to stir things up, and
when a brisk young man mounted
stand and raped again for order, the
ular hop, skip and jump. 1t was virtu-
ally the Inauguration of the auction
system of handling fruit in this market,
for though sales had been going on for
nearly q week, the experiment was too
unfamiliar to buyers III attendance to
be said, until this morning, to be really
under way. Heretofore one firm has
had practically monopoly, so far as
Chicago and the vast territory tribu-
tary is concerned, of the entire
product of the great California
orchards, purchases by private sale and
the result was that the traffic here was
stunted almost from its birth. Gener-
ally money could be realized and profits
or losses were counted by growers in
California only after weeks of delay,
when the final consignee, in some out
lying town, had at last been rounded
up, single handed, by the sale agent of
the Cslifornians in this city. Hundreds
of boxes were knocked down this morn
ing in a minute and the cash was, by
the terms of the sale, available
on the spot. Everything in the
depot had been disposed of within
half an hour, and in less than
sixty minutes afterward, the money
for the product was ready on demand
III San Francisco banks for the growers
of the Pacific slope wherever they might
be located, to draw upon in an instant
Strangely enough too. there was. so far
as could be ascertained, no letting down
in the average prices realized by the old
system. Open, hot competition from
at least twenty-five different firms was
the explanation. Every man knew
what his neighber was doing, and all
took hold boldly, knowing as they did
that no favor1te was to overreach them
by doing better secretly in the dark.
Three cars, the total arrivals to-day
brought a gross average price of S142
per ton. A notable feature of the auc-
ton was that the sales were not
confined to Chicago or the west,
but large quantities were taken by
agents for Canada, and even
whenever Chicsgoans proper failed to
ent whose attention could be detracted
how they regarded the new system and
what its influence would be. s. Page, a
well-known dealer. happened to be the
first. He was very enthusiastic.
think, said he, that Chicago is now 60
ing to be the market for California
fruit. l have commenced issuing letters
to all my correspondents soliciting
trade. We can do something now and ,
build up trade where before the mar
ket was all but closed to US. M. Ostagg,
of Ostagg & Co., who was one of the
liveliess bidders on the floor, stop
ped long enough to say: This
beats selling one box at four
dollars and hundred at most
nothing. Why, where the people have
eaten one car of California fruit, they
will soon eat ten. Everybody will
want it when they don't have
to wait for it to be rotten
before they can afford to buy
it. Instead of luxury for the few it
will be the staple for the many. The
growers will be benefited more
than anybody else, for they will get
fair average price for everything with
quick returns. Similar views were ex-
pressed by representatives of Garibaldi,
Cuneoz & Co., F. A. Thomas & Sons,
Dunley, Clapp & Doe, and many 9TH
ers. The firm which had a monopoly
of the product of 700 California grow
ers, Porter Bros, intimated that they
at first feared it would hurt their bust
ness, but were pretty we'll satisfied that
the enormously increased traffic which
was almost certain to ensue before long,
would more than compensate them.