FANTASTIC.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 280, 26 November 1938, Page 12

FANTASTIC.

WOOL SALE SCENE. BUYERS SCREAM "ARF! ARF!" STRONG—BUT NOT SILENT. It was a fantastic scene. Tn fact, it seemed incredible. But there they were —two or three score of fine-looking and apparently sane men - making an incredible noise, stamping, shrieking an<l contorting themselves into attitudes that suggested the greatest suffering. There was no need to iiiijuire as to where ttie wool sale was being held this morning. The din of the fray could be heard out ill the street.

Seated on the five tiers of benches set ill the form of a segment of a circle in the Town Hall concert chamber, each man's position marked with his name, the wool buyers of the world were having their "day out" at llie Auckland sale. I p in the gallery a packed audience of farmers, business people and those whom the Americans expressively call "rubbernecks"- just lovers of an entertainment, of any kind listened breathlessly as wool brought a halfpenny and a penny a pound more than

at the lust Xovemlier sales. After nil, that's a lilt «»f money when there is so much to he sold. Unflinching Auctioneer. The auctioneer seemed to be the only calm man in the building. Perched on his rostrum, with two capable assistants, he refused to flinch e»en when the buyers seemed about to leap from their benches and devour hjni. At long tables in front'of Jlim - and? 011 each side of the hall sat scores «f scribes working busily and the doors at the wings of the stage were packed with people who had a "stake" in tHe sale. But the main attractions, of course, were these cosmopolitan wool buyers from France and Japan and the United States and Kamchatka and Surbiton

. . . or wherever wool buyers originate. "Arf! Arf! Arf!" they screamed. It was puzzling, but the auctioneer seemed to know what it was all about. It was later revealed that this sound represented "half" of something or other — whether half a bale, half a crown, a halfpenny or a "half handle'' is a secret locked ill the breast of wool buyers, auctioneers and people who raise sheep. Then a buyec would chant, "One! One! One! One! . . ." the words streaming from his mouth so quickly that he finally collapsed from lack of breath. He would be challenged by "Arf" and "Two!" waving of pencils, screams, gymnastic! gyrations and hoarse bellowings. A ituyer of scholarly appearance and meek mien, who was apparently asleep, suddenly amazed by rising to his feet, assuming a look --if the fiercest, and deepest hatred, and utilising a voice that shook the concert chamber. After it. was all over. it. was understood that this man had succeeded in buying some wool. He deserved it.

Strangely enough the most raucous buyers wore ties that were bright. Not the old school tie by anv means, .lust ties that one could describe as "snappy" or "classy." Which raises the interesting psychological quction ii« to whether a man's voice and character arise from the kind of tie he chooses or whether he chooses the kind of tie he cho ises hecause he has the kind of voice he has. The question is difficult, but must have n n answer somewhere or other. Something like the question about the lien and the egg. Are Wool Buyers Human? Tn spite of their canopy of cigarette smoke, their extraordinary behaviour and their violent voices, one felt sure that these wool buyers were human - even if possessed of a different humanity from ordinary mortals, tine could not. for instance, imagine them raising prize carrots for the local shows, taking the dog for a walk, helping the wife; with the washing or doing any of those 1 , simple things so beloved of the ordinary man. After listening to their i voices, however, one could imagine that thev arc not henpecked. No woman | could possibly out-talk men such as | these. And so they went 011 . . . and on | . . and on . . . and their voices, apart j from a little hoarseness, stood the strain i wonderfully well. It was a "wild and , woolly" sale. j