Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-11
Types of Men Who Make Them.
selves Objectionable.
THEY INTERFERE WITH SALES
It's Not Easy to Understand What
Their Object Is.
HOW TO GET RID OF THEM

Written for The Evening Star.
| That modern Bowery patois adage
| There's knocker in every push may not
| be devised for drawing room usage, but If
| ii isn't applicable to the auctioneering bus
mess, then l never sold cents worth I'M
der the hammer, said Mr.. Samuel A.
Boyle, who, after thirty years of welding
| the auctioneer's gavel, is unusually compe-
tent to speak of the woes of the men whose
business 1t is to knock things down to the
highest bidder. Il don't suppose crowd
ever assembled around an auctioneer's ros-
trum that didn't include at least one
knocker and often enough there are sew
| eral of them, of varying types, to be con-
| tended with. majority of these knock
| ers of the salesrooms seem to me to oper-
| ate out of a quite inexplcable spirit of
| malice. They knock for the pure love of
knocking, for none of them gains ANYTHING
| through his efforts to handicap the auction
eer. In the old days. when the Changing
| bell in the front doorway announced the
progress of the auction sale, we used 10
call these nuisances of the salesrooms
'backcappers.' Then they began to be
| known as 'Owney Geagans.' Just precisely
| who Owney Geagan was is more than L
| know. but he must have been a colossal
nuisance to the auctioneers whose rooms
| he patronized to have had his name adopt
| ed as synonym, and finally as a substi-
| tute, for the backcapper the auctioneers
bette neir. The Owney Geagan has now
given place to the knocker and we've got
| the knockers of the saesrooms plotted and
charted and classified under various heads
| There are four major types of the sales
room knocker
| A Common Type.
''Knocker No. l is the most familiar
! type. All of the auctoneers know him. He
generally enters the salesroom after the
4 In,- !,
| with a goodly number of buyers present
| He makes attempt to get near the auc-
| tiCneer but takes up a stand back in the
| rear. on the outskirts If the crowd Every
| time the auctioneer puts up article for
| offers this knocker intimates with a ges-
| ture a nod that he'd like to have look
at it. The auctioneer passes the article to
him. He passes article after article in this
wise to the knOcker in the rear, until he
begins to perceive that he never gets bid
from the man on any of the things that he
is seemingly so eager to examine. The
auctioneer likewise perceives that the rear
cf-the-room knocker enters into CONVERSE
ton with a number of bidders in his i'm
mediate neighbOrhOOd. and that thenceforth
the people he talks with cease to bid. OF
course. the knOCker is at too great a dis
tance from the auctioneer's stand for the
latter to hear the character of the remarks
he is making: and although the man of
the gavel may be absolutely certain that
the chap belongs to the knocker species,
he has no direct proof of this. and it would
therefore be the height of folly for him to
accuse the fellow of backcapping. To 81
lence this type of knOcker, the experienced
auctioneer knows that there is but one
course to pursue and that is to win him
over.
He addresses the knocker and catches
him with his eye He puts up a watch, for
example. explains its mechanism and good
points infinitely. and then mods the knOcker
up to the counter. The auctiOneer leans
the counter. and with his pencil for
pointer, indicates all of the points of the
Watchs construction with great elaboration
and smOcthness. Then the auctioneer holds
the watch up to public view again. being
careful to hold the knoCker with his eye
ana to interlard his congratulations with
frequent appeals to the Owney Geagan's
vanity, such as This gentleman here is
Judge of a w2tch-an infinitely better Judge
than l am etc This method carefully
followed out, converts the most difficult
looking rear-Of-the-room knocker into a
booster Tor the auctioneer, and he'll even
endeavOr to influence everybody he knows
in the room to bid on the articles put I'D
by the aucttoneer It's a mournful thing to
reject upon how many men are swayed
hither and yon by their tWo-penny ha'-
penny vanity.
He Knows 1t All.
'knocker No. is the man who knows it
all His slow. deprecatory grin is as ag-
sraVating as would be boil on the end of
the autioneer's nose, and he is heavy tax
on the gavel-wieIder's patience. Yet he has
to be handled automatically. like all the
rest of them. Knocker No. almost in
Variably takes up a position in the center
81 the room, IN direct line with the auc-
Ioheef s vision. He is the first man to in
dlcate desire to examine every article the
auctloneer puts up. He hands everything
pack with crafty smile that seems to saw
as plainly as words You can't palm any
OF that kind of stuff off on me- If the auc
tioheer indicates by his manner that he
mas observed this chaps contemptuous
SSiSie OF handling goods the knocker is La
pie 10 sing out, Familiarity, oh I'm naxt
olu hlan-been in the business myself He
is WEAKNESS to the flesh, but he, too can
De gotten rid of He operates apparently
OUT OF a pure love of meanness For evan
pie, the auctioneer offers something H.
probably catches an immediate Offer of sIo
TO start it going. Wv
Lrdd ms IS the cue for the No. type of
smoker. He Is liable to veil ont in a
Striueht tone, Who bid the STOP thus en-
utdForihg TO make it appear that the aI,c
h ttpneer mas fixed and arbitrary value
iiiH9eii' without really waiting for an I'M
tlal bid. When this happens The aunt;n,
eei sees mat he has dangerous knocker
10 contend with. and that the sooner he
s 81 iiu OF the chap the better it'll be for
inc success OF his sale The Inexperienced
auctIoheer Will, as soon as the knocker nuts
tIle HfSt question to the source of a bid
iini aiS point out the bidder, but he
could make no graver mistake for bv co
uoihB ne plainly indicates to the knockar
.iat ne Tears him, and the knocker of the
type m speaking of is so quick to take
hoFati'ase or situation that he's liable
No ~ thereafter question every bid made.
ii ne auctloneer of long experience takes a
ulllerent course. The very first time the
smoker throws out this impertinent in
uulry as TO the source of bid, the auc-
tloneer VINO knows the type suspends
operations long enough to look the chap
square IN the eye and say, in effect, My
soh dont know the name of the gen
tlenlan who gave me the ten-dollar bid; If
l, old 1 might possibly introduce you to
nliIl, put from your appearance and man.
ners L am In grave doubt to whether
.ne gentleman would care to form your
acquaintance
Ihat kind of jolt starts knocker No
on the run. He looks cheap and
nit sorry he spoke In nine cases out Of
ten. Then the purchaser of the article
steps forward and pays for the same. This
causes all OF the people In the room who
nave listened to the little passage at arms
between the auctioneer and the knocker to
LOOK at the latter, eWheTeupon. with that in
aennlpie cheap Peruvian piastre look stick
ing all over him, he sinks away.
Alcoholic ExhiIaratiOn.
sales Room Knocker No. is the man