Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1893-01-17
AucrloNesalNo poooss.



eehsmss 81 he SHARP ana sbr.va I.
Beat the Man on ne Block.
Very few people are aware. when oo,rs
70 an auction, that there exixts s ,,.o -
furniture dealers, and other eentlernen IL, a
their kidney" who patronize tbese nl.css
what y known to those in the swim -
trinR.w :
On arriving It furniture sale these
worthless agrees not to bid against each
other. :
Suppose rather valuable antique sofs
(which, II we may trust TO the voluble
eloquence OF the auctiOneer. was made -
Noah ct about the same time be built the
ark was put up. One Of the ring, We viii
sau him a, wants just such an article.
ereigDs. q.
A bids for Il, and al the other dealers
are silent. After 4 few bids from the ven
cradle old dames who frequent these auc.
lions, It u knocked down to him for Ave
ana twenty shillingx When few more
iots are disposed Of 4 fine old armchair Il
Drought out. which IL purchased under
sne same conditions by B, also Of the ring.
hach Of these worthless knows perfectly
ven what each article is worth, but under
tne principle that there IL honor among
thieves, none OF the dealers ever hid
against one another.
Wnen the sale il over all the ring repair
70 some out OF the way place. A then puts
up tne sofa which was knocked down to
MN e. hve and twenty shillings b raises
the price to twenty-six shilIlngs, placing
tne smiling into the pool" G follows
suit and adds his shilling. The others keep
on bidding until fair sum Is reached, when
the article IL knocked down 10 the highest
bidder, who pays A the original sum he
paid Tor the sofa at the auction. The other
money II left In the pool. All the pur-
chases are dealt with in similar manner
When all are disposed Of, the money in the
pool, which BY this time amounts Of course
to considerable sum, Is equally divided
among the members Of the ring.
IL may be asked: why 10 such great
deal Of trouble takeni Why could. not the
goods at once become the property Of the
buyerf" It must, however, be remem-
bered that the policy OF such men Is ''dia-
mond cut diamond with ! vengeance,
and division of profits among themselves,
instead Of the auctioneer getting the bene-
1T, is naturally more likely to conducs to
the advantage Of them all.
Should one broker by mistake at the auc-
ton bid more for an article than it is after
ward found to be worth, the ring share tho
loss in the same manner as they share the
profits. This. however, very seldom oc-
ours.
It may be thought the auctioneer does
not eagerly seek the bids of these gentry.
This is often the case, and when their bids
are really too absurdly low he runs up
the price by the aid of imaginary bidders.
But the brokers will not GO any further
than they think will answer their purpose,
and the lot Is bought In by the auctioneer
himself
To make private purchasers transact
their business through them these dealers
will frequently bid against him or her,
and run the article up to about treble its
real value. Had the purchaser clipped
the wink" to one of theirnumber he would
most probably. for reasons l have stated
above. have been able to obtain it at
much lower figure. The article would be
put up again in the same way by the
broker, and would make. say, thirty shil-
lings. The broker would most likely
charge his client two guineas and pocket
the difference, besides taking his share Of
the pool.-London Tit Bits.