AUCTIONING WATERCRESS
At Chard, in Somerset, they still auction the yearly tenancy of a valuable watercress field. Bidders meet at an inn, and the proceedings are started by the lighting of a tallow candle an inch long. The moment the candle is lit there is silence, except for the bids. The candle usually burns for about half an hour, and the tenancy goes to the man who makes the last bid before the flame goes out.
Another strange yearly auction governs the right to take tolls at a village near Wells. The chairman of the Bridge Commissioners opens the proceedings by turning over a sandglass, but the moment there is a bid the glass is reversed. The auction closes when the glass has been, turned three times without a bid, the last bidder winning. In pre-1914 days the rights were valued at £SO, but with the tremendous increase in motoring they now realise well over £IOOO.
A Boston, Lines., builder went to a sale of property, and, while dozing, mechanically made a bid of £l5O. It was the highest bid—and he found himself the owner of a* shop, bakery store, four-bedroom house with vacant possession, and five two-bed-room cottages.
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Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 74, 17 January 1947, Page 5
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199AUCTIONING WATERCRESS Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 74, 17 January 1947, Page 5
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