The Lamar register., 1898-02-26
STORY OF AUCTION.
TRADITIONS OF CRAFT RE-
LATED BY AN ENoLIsHNAN.
Uss of tho Inch of candIe-Msrksd
the Time That Was Allowed to Each
saie--singuiar way. of Kidding That
We're In Vogue

the united kingdom has passed away
In the person of Mr.. Robert Price of
Warwick court. Gray's inn. who died
recently, says the London Telegraph.
Sixty years ago he entered the ONCE
OF Mr.. Charles Furbar, situated then.
as now. In Warwick court, and after
the fashion OF past generation he re-
fused to live elsewhere than over the
Office" Though Mr.. Price wis spe-
cialist In ohattel valuations and could
prepare catalogues in this department
in fashion which excited the envy of
many younger man. his personality
Is chiefly interesting TO the general
public as forming one of the last l'aks
with a period when sales by the can
die inch" were in vogue and ausuons,
so far from being conducted with dig
nifty. very frequently degenerated int
a drunken orgie. In those days it was
not an uEcommon thing for knights
of the hammer to have the conduct OF
furnishing, undertaking. agency. farm
ing, or other business; and they were
thus ehsSie1 TO earn an income which
the auction department merely supple
mentcd- In many parts Of the country
this combination still exists; and as
regards selling by the inch of candle"
80 hard do old customs die--an e1-
ample OF this class OF sale was report
cd from Devonshire less than week
ago. The origin OF this expression
arose from the employment Of candles
as the means OF measuring time. and It
was understood that one lot OF goods
should not continue 20 be offered TO
the bidding OF the company for longer
time than would suffice for the burn
ing Of one inch of candle. As soon as
this rude kind of measure had wasted
To the extent In question. the man who
had made the highest bid was declared
20 be the purchaser. Those were plod-
riding. reposeful days. Innocent OF tele-
phones and kilograms. when as much
a. one quarter of an hour was permit
ted for the consumption of the meas
urcd Inch. the interval being agrseably
passed in frequent libations at the ex-
pense OF the vendors.
Long before the advent of the late
Mr.. Price. sales by candle were pop
ular In this country. and all kinds OF
surmises have been made as TO the
origin Of the custom. One authority
declares that the method originated In
Holland. the Dutch being a quie,-loy-
Ing people. 10 whom the e1tinguishing
of a piece OF candle would appeal more
! than the tap Of hammer" The writer.
as II impressed by the feebleness of
this argument. hastens To add: The
Dutch country is much renowned for
It's frogs and as the blowing out OF
candle would place the auction room
In darkness. and since the aucttoneer
could not be seen. the bidding OF neces-
sity would cease" On the whole, the
balance of evidence favors the state
ment that the candle was used orig
inally for the sole purpose of measur-
ing time. even as the sand-glass is en-
ployed for auctions in some parts OF
Scotland and England at the present
day. A number of documents might be
quoted In support of this view and
Pepys. In his Diary. under date Nov.
s. 1850. writes: f'In our office, where
we met for the sale OF two ships by
! an inch OF candle. observed how they
did invite one another. and how at
last they all did cry. and we had much
10 do TO tell who did cry last The
ships were the Indian. sold for Ell. 800,
and the Half Mooue. sold for eSs0"
!. ,rhere are still some sales In London
which would merit this description as
to crying, the wool sales for Instance.
where the Gninitiated are certainly