POLICE AUCTION SALE

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21411, 1 March 1935, Page 10

POLICE AUCTION SALE

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS. Sir,—With your permission I will add a little to your report on the annual sale of unclaimed goods by the Police Department. It is a pity your reporter did not take the temperature of that auction room, but my rough guess was 9U degrees, and the loss of moisture was enormous, so that people were in such a state they failed to recognise their own bicycles again. So much for the room, as my further comments on it might be ruled out as blasphemous. If the police were there they should have smashed a few of the closed windows for the benefit of the purchasers, who, of course, are not allowed to do this themselves. , . Watching the bicycle sale, one could not help feeling curious to know what had become of the good bicycles, as there were only three or four which would approach in appearance and condition the average street cycle. Was this a tribute to the honesty of our cycle thieves, or was it thenstupidity, or what? As for the others, it was not surprising that many people had forgotten such old friends. Most of them looked worse than the one I ride which I have made thief-proof by removing most of the temptation. Guns interested me more than bicycles, for I wanted to know how the police got on with the goods they had collared, and were turning into ready cash a thing forbidden to the layman. Besides, as I sometimes take part in your correspondence bouts, I felt it might be advisable to organise some sort of home defence of my own. But that room knocked most of the fighting spirit out of me, so I came out unarmed, though very glad to breathe the fresh, cool outside air. which was down to 73 degrees or less.—Yours, GtC - T.A.S.

February 22, 1935. [When this letter was shown to him, Mr D. J. Cummings, Superintendent of Police, said the greater part of it seemed to be nonsense. If the writer wanted to know anything about the bicvcles or ether articles which were sold by the police recently, Mr Cummings would be glad to give it in an interview.]