The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-12-25
Hip Long Tries to Corner the
Cinnamon Bark.
POTENT PILLS OBTAIN BIDDERS.
Only the Two Single-Eyed and Be-
dragged Peacock Feathers and
the BrindIe Cat Left.

way at 722 Clay street. They are not pa
trician feathers of the three-eyed sort
which are sometimes taken away from
great mandarins. but the single-eyed va
riety which il is permitted a druggist 10
display.
These peacock feathers, a brndle cat
and a stock of drugs were the property of
kee Sang Tong before be became en-
tangled financially and was visited by the
Sheriff
Fifteen cent, fifteen cent, twenty cent,
twenty cent. two bit, two bit, who give
two bit? Sold to Hip Long; TWO bit; g'
me the money"
Hip Long took his piece Of dried CHINA
mon bark. The two-bit piece passed in
speetion. Theirs was no hole in it neatly
plastered up with tinfOil, so it went ring
Ing 10 join its fellows in box back of the
counter, where nickelS, dimes and quarters
constituted a growing pile y OF small
change.
Kee Sang longs brindle cat watched
the white aucioneer from the safe
vantage of the cellar steps. The In
diana Auction Company was disposing of
the wares of the bankrupt Kee Sang Tong,
and its red flag waved from the doorway
beneath the abandoned peacock piumes.
a dinner-bell, such Is all auctiOn-shops
are supposed to have, duly warned the
passing Chinese TO step 10, inspect and
buy They came. The little room was
filed, The mingled odoTs of dried CHINA
mon, ginseng, pipe-scrapings Of opium and
whiffs of cigarettes was there, too. The
dry dust as tins and boxes and papers and
packages were hurried!y moved about
made the air wheezy. so that the brndle cat
coughed and reireated down the cellar
stairway a step or two.
Four white men and Chinese conducted
the sale. The fat white man stood on a
box near the doorway aud shouted invita-
lions to the Chinese to enter. He was Sc
Iected for this purpose because he was lat.
The Chinese Tegarn oDeseneSs as the
sign of prosperity and so be was stood as
a figure piece near the doorway. The
little white man, because he was short,
insisted on rummagng the shelves and
reaching for packages in inaccessible
places. The auctioneer was there with
a football halfback's haircut. He stood
on the counter and cried his wares
in pigeon-English. A Chinese engaged for
the occasion stood on the counter beside
him, gave him tips as to prices and things,
and when the auctloneer's throat veal
led, did little auetione ering himself in
the Cantonese dialect.
The fourth white man stood in the rear
of the room and watched the proceedings
and the Chinese.
There was not very spirited bidding on
the dried cinnamon bark at the start. Hip
Long did pretty much all the bidding him.
self, and had secured a half-dozen tTea-
sures in cinnamon before the other
r. l.
There was bit of suspicion about this
sale Of cinnamon bark, In two instances
after the spiced roll had been waved about
the heads of the anxious buyers without a
bid, it suddenly drOppei down before Hip
Loug, with the announcement by the auC-
tiODeer that 1t was Hip Longs by virtue
Of his bid of two-bts. though no announce
ment by word of mouth from Hip Long
had been audible. As Hip Long accepted
the prize and paid for it, it must have been
all right, OF else Hip Long was in On the
combine.
Finally, as the stock of cinnamon bark
decreased and Hip Long had about cor
nered the market, the bidding grew sDir-
tied. The bid for the fragments in the tin
can, can included, started at 10 cents, rose
u 20 cents, TO % cents, 10 80 cents, to 80
knocked down to some one other than
Hip Long for 90 cents.
The next object was charm. Good TO-
Ioomatism," as the Chinese assistant auc-
tioneer assured the crowd. TIE white auc-
tioDeer expauated at some length on this
charm. His assurance found a purchaser,
but it took a long talk before even
Chinese could be found courageous
4 ~ IT.
charm brought 10 cents. 1t was a part of
a dried snakeskin wound around gro
tesQuely twisted willow twig
Random packages were offered. They
sold readily. singy. at 10 cents. Some took
TWO at 80 cents; a few ventured to buy
four, and one heavier purchaser was al
lowed discount and received ten for 81.
Everything sold but one thing. This
came in boxes six TO box. In shape and
color it was like the egg of an owl, ana
when broken was found to contain some
sort of an image adorned in tinsel. Not
bid could be got. The boxes were dis
tributed about-given away. The Chinese
would open the box, look at the cont 'nts
and drop .he box indifTerently TO the floor.
where the artificial eggshells were soon
crushed under foot. One Chinese ex-
planned that it was beneath the dignity of
a man to buy such thing.
There was a potent pill which sold.
When this was reached on the accidental
cataIogue-the ability of the little, short
man to hold to higher point OF vantage
there was a scramble. The price had un-
luckily been fixed, for the first one sold at
Is cents, and two-bits was all that any one
would bid. A combine ON pills against
the auctioneer had been formed, but at
two-bits each the boxes could not be
handed down fast enough to the brown
hands up reaching for the potent pill.
DIR. Y. Gee was large purchaser and
added considerably to his store OF eye Oh
newt ard leg Of frog.
Slowly the wares OF Kee Sang Tong are
disappearing. The pipe scrapings CT
opium will be sold last. and then nothing
will remain but the bedraggled peacock
feathers and the brindle cat.
Kee Sang Tong has gone. When he
abandoned his peacock feathers he told no
one whittier he was going. 1t may be that