KNITTING WOOL AUCTIONED

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25306, 4 October 1947, Page 10

KNITTING WOOL AUCTIONED

ONLY HALF OF OFFERING SOLD Although there is a shortage of knitting wool, £BOO worth of imported Australian wool, some of which showed a faulty dye, did not meet a very ready demand when it was auctioned in Christchurch yesterday, only about half being sold. The maximum price fixed for the wool by the Price Tribunal was Is 7d a skein, but at Is 3d a skein the wool did not attract many buyers. There were many shades of Australian four-ply offering and the unevenness of the dye was the only defect in otherwise sound wool, said the auctioneer when the sale began before a crowded room. -The first lot, of 1001 b, went at £1 Is a pound to the one buyer, and after this 641 b went to various buyers at the same price. Most other lots sold at £1 a pound, or Is 3d a skein. The majority of buyers were private customers. No representatives of retai] firms were’noticed among'the buyers. Interviewed after the sale the auctioneer said he could not understand why the wool had not sold more quickly- At a recent Wellington sale of a similar wool, about £2OOO worth wassold. Some Christchurch buyers had expressed the opinion that the wool was too expensive: but English wool, tvhen available, was Is 3d a skein and New Zealand woo] from lOd to Is a skein.

Later in the afternoon the remainder of the wool was offered for private sale. There were many inquiries but few buyers.