A LIVERPOOL WOOL SALE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 622, 20 March 1874, Page 3

A LIVERPOOL WOOL SALE.

(Graphic). Owing to the vast increase of woollen manufactories the imports of wool flora our Colonies and foreign countries has increased to an onermoos extent during,the past twenty years, and now far exceeds our home produce. Of the million and a quarter of bales, averaging nearly 3 cwt. each, imported into Europe annually hj alf a million come from our Australian Colonies, and 140,000 from the Cape of Good Hope, all to London, and are stored in the London Docks and in warehouses specially built (or the purpose. Sonic quarter ofa midion bales from the Rio de la Plata are divided between London, Liverpool and the Continent, whilst India, the lands around the Mediterranean (especially the Levant portion), and other countries supply s me third of a million, more than half of which comes to Liverpool The wool is of various qualities, from the coarse Russian to the fine metallic lustrous alpaca and mohair and the soft vicuna, varying according to the breed of the animal and the nature of the climate and physical character of the country from which it is exported, the value ranging from a few pence to four or five shillings the pound, according to its quality and cleanliness, and is used, we need scarcely say, for a vast diversity of purposes, from the manufacture of caipets to the soft shawls and dainty wraps produced by our Scottish mills. All of this wool, however, is not manufactured in England, and the sale by public auction of the bulk of it attracts buyers from all quarters of Europe and North America; consequently the sale room, with its groat variety of nationalities, presents striking and interesting foatu tea, which are the more marked when the eager competition for some favoured wool brings out the keen but varying business characteristics of Frenchman German, Swede, Yorkshire, and West of England men. The sales are held in Liverpool during two weeks every two months, and in London five times in each year, varying in length from a fortnight to six weeks. They are held late in the afternoon, the day being spent by the buyers in carefully examining the wool in the various warehouses, fur which good daylight is necessary.