The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1910-01-15
THE WOOL SALE.
Captains OF Industry" Fight for
Profits, While the Workers
Go Ill-Clad.

There stands the auctioneer in his
rcstrum, grave. Unconditional.
Seated on a gallery fronting him
Gre the buyers. each al his own desk,
Young men, old men. bearded men.
clean shaven men, thin men. lat men.
Clark men, fair men. men OF nearly
every aspect undor heaven, but all
with the one Characteristic in common,
eyes that spring bids at the aucti-
oneer with lightning flash,
There ranged behind them sit the
clerks with pens travelling rapidly ov-
er paper.
In various parts OF the room cards
are hanging up, proclaiming the stern
Injunction silence"
What can it mean Silence"
Why, the place is pandemoniuml
You stand amazed. half-paralyzed, at
the hubbub that crashes upon Your
tympanum
The buyers are all talking at once
No. not talking-screaming. Shrieking,
yelling. believing. roaring, the veins
Of their ncckS swelling out with the
terrific agitation of their vocal or
guns.
And their actions are suited TO the
sounds. They jump TO their feet, they
gcsticulate wildly, fiercely madly;
arms flung out with imploring or
threatening motions towards the i'm.
perturable auctioneer muttering. al
most inaudible. so that his words have
TO be half guessed by the movement
OF his lips 12-1l-1-2-13-1-i
l~2-1-4-l-4"
Babel was surely a quiet suburban
retreat compared with this Such
hideous din could never have been
heard before outside the Plutonan re-
gions. Have these men gone mad all
at once?-dancing and bowling like
demons let loose from their
chains
A sudden silence; so sudden that II
hits you like a blow. The mallet has
fallen with an all bur imperceptible
tap, and the stolid auctioneer has
passed on to the next lot
So 1t goes on through a long cata.
logue-Slroccos OF fury separated by
brief spaces OF silence that are mere
ly painful lulls in series OF storms
You see here what men will become
when there Is profit to be made They
Will get right back to the wild-beast
stage, and toss away from them all
the humanizlng impedimentS OF civil,
izatioD They Will trample over one
another in every way but In actual
fact, and in that way too il it were
likely TO give him the bid, or impress
that modern descendant Of Thor, who
rules This world of theirs with ham
mcr
What history. what an epitome of
human life it would be could YOU fol
low this wool in Its travels and learn
Its destiny.
You would see II taken to the mills
to be woven into ralment. You would
see it made into superfine clothes for
tho Tich. for the proud paupers who
live upon the labors OF other people
and count their dependence nobility.
You would see 1t transformed into
dainty garments for fashionable wo.
men, and warm coats for their pet
dogs. And YOU would see that for
millions OF half'nalIed creatures there
VIII oe not shred OF this wool to
cover their shiyering forms
The bitter cry OF the ill-clad poor
rlses from the cold Countries OF the
earth
But In the insane nolse OF shouting
n the wool sales, in this maelstrom
OF mercenary passions. all sounds OF
humanity are drowned-buried deep.
Ell than the river that flows so placid.
IL and heedlcssly outside the window.
Exchange