BATTLE OF FLOWERS

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 252, 21 July 1934, Page 6

BATTLE OF FLOWERS

Where the Word is Mightier Than the Sword WELLINGTON AUCTIONS 7 Twice a week in Wellington a man performs the duty of umpire in a battle of flowers. ,Not such, a carnival as one sees on the films at fashionable Riviera tourist places, but a battle for all that. Further, this man is more than an umpire. He is an inciter who delights to set one citizen against his neighbour in spirited but withal goodnatured contest. To stand tielow the. auctioneer of flowers at his occupation is to take part hi one of . the brighter but lesser known phases of Wellington’s commerce.' The essence of his job is a challenge to the.inexorable laws of supply and - demand, ’and his persuasive eloquence toward repeal of those laws provides no little entertainment for all who have an inclination to listen In ahiong the crowd. ♦ » ■» Although it is winter the loiig shelves in the market place are massed with blooms in variety. Bulb flowers that have" braved the . wind and the rain of bleak July and have come to maturity seemingly before their hour, predominate. - Quantities of narcissi—-s-oliel d’or—(“soles,’(’ the auctioneer calls them' in the jargon of the mart), bundled in hundreds pf dozens are lieaped with jonquils,' a few daffodils (it is a bit cold yet), early freezias, and a purple patch,of violets! Chrysanthemums are thei-e too, but not many. The price will be good, for these have held on to life long out of season. For the rest, they. are queerly assorted-— Iceland poppies, anemones, cyclamen, and many another somewhat coaxed to ilowerhood by a magic of garden lore at which one could only marvel.

Auctioneer's Persuasiveness. '

“Now, buyers all, this is a lovely bunch. If I hadn’t been married 20 years I would have them for my wife What am I offered?”

A titter went round the bench of bidders, for this mild touch of hypocrisy from the youthful figure on the “rostrum” caught the popular fancy. Even the half-dozen Chinese in the throng felt constrained to be amused. — “Look, all nice long Lovely as the day (it was drizzling dismally). One shilling—half—ninepence —two bob. Come along, ladies and gentlemen! All picked specially for you. A'm I done at two bob?” . ’ It seemed that he was. - So to the iiext-iToL” . ‘ - -

“We all love daphne. A beautiful box of daphne. ' What am I offered? One shilling, what do you say? Ob, well, sixpence then? Sixpence—eightpence—ninepence—a bob.” The auctioneer got his shilling, which proves that the laws of supply and demand can be manipulated’ with the agency of high good humour,- if not with threats of quotas and embargoes. ‘ '■ '■ : ,i. What will violets.fetch? The supply is meagre,;’and they.are much sought aftei;,, A .private householder ran the. price to the point of extravagance. The’ buyer for one of the big hotels went' higher. The ■ battle grew warm over the dewey prize. ■ < • ■*)What name, please ?”. the auctioneer asked, searching the rearmost faces when the bidding 'had' lulled, . Tie singled out a Chinaman. / . ■ ‘ “No, no! me no'buy.” .. . “But you looked (it /J The gallery was iji’high.glee, * , That is the worry of the market business. One dare not meet and hold' the gaze'-of the auctioneer. The price of such a liberty may be anything from sixpence to .10/-, depending how he is getting along with the laws of supply and. demand. . Buyers’ Technique. You soofa learn that there is a technique about buying at auction.Whether..you are at Christy’s? in London, and ;the object you covet is’a Turner, or in Allen Street, Wellington, where you seek half-a-crown’s worth of “crysants,” the- method is the same. EyebtQws, or more correctly, one eyebrow;, or the covert lift of a finger, are the signs, by -which things change hands in the duction room. ’At all events that is the .way among the seasoned at/the gajne. TO shout your bid is to invite amused astonishment. What vocal activity there is at the battle of the flowers belongs to the auctioneer. The crowd seems to .take no notice of what he is saying, like choir boys during the sermon. “He who hunts for flowers will find flowers.” ; ■ said Henry Ward Beecher, in one ot his lectures. Who in Wellington hunts for flowers? At the bi-weekly auction attend many city florists, two or three representatives of the large hotels, a street seller, and a sprinkling of housewives. Chinese acquire fair quantities as much to decorate the oranges and bananas as to sell for profit. One active bidder the other day was a man with a great basket, who may be seen daily on Lambton Quay. All are prepared to wrestle ■ mentally one with another in an effort to do just what the umpire does not want —to keep the price down and to measure supply with demand.

Lovely, fragrant flowers, dispersed in a hundred ways under the hammer, where tcill you be found at the end of this day? A buttonhole for the business man, decoration for the lounge, a bouquet for the bride, a wreath for the grave, a posie for the girl at the show to-night. Mr. Bernard Sltaw proposed free milk. Should he not go further and ordain flowers—free flowers?