Orphan Half-Pound Of Coffee

Northern Advocate, 26 May 1938, Page 12

Orphan Half-Pound Of Coffee

Mincing Lane was insulted recently. A single half-pound of coffee was sold by public auction within its sacred precincts, says the “News Chronicle.” The narrow, grey city street is accustomed to an auction twice a week, at which tens of thousands ,of “bags” of coffee—a “bag" contains about one to one and a-half cwt.—are sold at the imperceptible nod of some big business man. Seventy thousand pounds often changes hands in a day. Mincing Lane knows all about Tabasco and Coatzalcoalcos from Mexico. Coban from Guatemala, Guayaquil from Ecuador, Harar from Abyssinia, Mocha from Arabia, Tellicherry from India, Ayer Bangies from Malaya. and all the 300 varieties of coffee bean in which the wholesale trade is carried on. Just Coffee. But there was sold an orphan halfpound undistinguished, unidentified, indeterminate, commonplace coffee. Coffee of such mean antecedents that the duty had no even been paid upon it. This affronting package formed part of a single lot among the 205 lots sold by the Custom House. The sale started at 10.30. It was over by 1 o’clock. By that time members of the public had bought, among other things: 53 lots of cigars, three lots of cigarettes, 27 lo'.s cf wine and spirit (some marked with the mystic letters “LIB. —Imported in Bottle), 4 lots of perfumed spirits, five lots of mechanical lighters, one lot of playing cards, a guitar, 28 lots of cameras, cine projector, still, folding, box, photographers for the use of; 13 lots of glasses, ranging from spectacles to binoculars; a pair of skis; two cases of wireless cabinets; one lot of cutting instruments, comprising eight razors, 1400 bladeg, one knife, one paper-knife, three safetyrazors. And, of course, Boz. of coffee. Cigars by Weight. Cigars, when sold by the Customs, are not branded, nor sold by the 100, nor even by the box. They are sold by weight: viz., Lot 12: 31b. lloz. of cigars. These sales ai‘e held twice a year. They enable the Custom House, to get rid of materials left on their hands or things confiscated.