The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-04-02

Buyers came from the shores of Mobile bay, from the foothills of the Tennessee mountains, from the confines of Meridian, to the west, and Columbus to the east and all the fair lands in between were represented by men the backs of whose necks somo of them, looked like the crust of cornbread, but whose appraising eyes
 glanced with keen diagnosis of each ami mai offered.
 Never was there such variety of mules
 since the first spanish jack went philan-
 dering. Mules there were with the maies- tic dignity and poise of supreme court judges; there were mules that seemed born for trick work in circuses and there were plenty that were just mules. They
 bay, roan and sorrel, black and striped.
 all feeling their oats and dancing up and down the runway as if they enjoyed the proceedings
 And all the time the big voice at the | desk in the center of the inspection stand boomed it's plea for raise. The auction | ger held section of inch rubber hose TO, a gave and when he whacked the desk | lnt tOHciuSlOH OL 1 SntNf "e''f live stock pranced in passion of know | ingness.
 l FINE HORSES
 | But the mules were not all there was | to it by any manner of means. Horses
 held sway nearly half the time, and some | of them were beauties. Big iron gray
 broad rumped percherons, with festooned | fetlocks and wavy names, leaving foot
 prints half as big sauce-pans: racS 1 looking standard breds with inquisitive muzzles seeking the apples and Jumps oi sugar they had known from other hands; close knit. short barreled cart horses, the picture of energy and fitness.
 At 10 o'clock yesterday morning the sale
 started and all morning and all after | noon 1t continued Every animal offered was sold few remained on the block | over three minutes. the bids came thicR 1 and fast and every now and then when l some particularly desirable animal Was
 led out the offers would jump 10 and SA
 as the buyers parked from all sides of the ring. Like the auctions of the county fairs of
 a past generation, the stock auction sale
 swept all with it's interest," the spirit oi competition got in the air, and time ana again the conductors of the sale wouio change places to get breathing spell | More than a thousand people were l there men of all ages classificauons and
 nearly all colors. Some of the big stoc'S
 men of Alabama were present in person
 or were well represented
 BIG BUYERS
 1 Prominent buyers seen were Nixon ana
 Phillips of Lineville Propst of Bay Min.
 cite; young Kigore of Jasper; Bernstein
 and EckIes of Decatur; Col. Morris of MO
 bile county: Judge Robertson of chatta- nooea; R. T. Grimes of Meridian, Miss, IZ. T. Stapleton of Columbus. Ga, ana many others who are well known hand Hers and dealers of draft animals through
 out, Alabama.
 1 Back of the inspection stand, Tn ions | runway, horses and mules were parked l side by side for hundred feet, and on ', beyond in the rangy stables the inclosursS and stalls were teeming with the TOUT footed servants of man drawn from m diana. Kentucky, Alabama, Mississipp 1 and Tennessee.
 l In corners out of reach of flying. frisNV heels. improvised counters were sprea
 with barbecued pork and beef wedges o' bread, and coffee. black and fragrant ! Between their purchases the enyer' would step to the lunch counters and try to get a bite. only to cast bread an' meat aside and hustle back to the ring as the high pitched voices pumping s2 at. A clip. informed them that some un