LONDON WOOL SALES.

Waikato Times, Volume XI, Issue 893, 14 March 1878, Page 2

LONDON WOOL SALES.

The ' Kapuuda Herald,' publishes the following description from tha lettor of v South Australian iv JDag.

land of the manner of conducting the gro.it London Wool bate :-l have been to the wool sales these last two evenings, and will give you a short description of what they are like- The auction room is inOoleman street, next door to Messrs Goode Brothers. It is differently built and furnished from any room I have seen before. The auction desk is at the top of the room, jhe buyers sitting m rows, horsehoe form, with a narrow desk rumming round parallel with each seat. A gallery is at the back of the room away from the buyers. The evening before the sale catalogues are issued containing all particulars oi the wools to be sold on ths following day. Early m the moruing of the day of sale the buyeis go round to the different warehouses and inspect tho wool, and each man settles m his own mind wbat each lot is worth. Then m the afternoon they muster at the auction-room, and the sale begins, and an exceedingly smart but very noisy sale it is. Now, this evening, there were about 300 men m the room, and I suppose a hundred were buying. Last night and to-night a re-action basset m ou the low prices; so I nave seen a oonple 6f brisk evenings. *The auctioneer cries out the number, and then perhaps a dozen men bid, say Is 3d. The auctioneer takes the bid he hears fii?st as " the " bid, consequently each man bids his loudest and quickest, because should no one else advance the price he has lost the lofc. Of course the first bid does not sei tie the question, bat the same rule holds right through, and as they run up the price by halfpenny bids the noise for a superior lot is great. The exception to the rule I have just quoted is this, that should the buyer of the previous lot be among the highest bidders he has ifc whether he cries first or last, because he is the last buyer. I cannot describe the row which these lusty Yorkshiremen, the vehement Frenchmen, and the gruff Germans make as they yell out their bids."