A LOTTERY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11000, 12 February 1914, Page 1

A LOTTERY.

AT THE LOST LUGGAGE.SALE

SWAGS, CYCLES AND HATS

At certain stated intervals'the Railway Department conducts'an auction, sale of lost luggage and unclaimed parcels, devoting the proceeds of this sale to -.the. defraying of uncollected storage charges. As a source of .-revenue- this particular branch of the Department's activities must prove extremely lucrative, for the -sale.is to all intents and purpose* a lottery. . The contents of the various .."lots" are-.more 'or less concealed from • the purchasers,, who gamble oil the probabilities. ' - Such' a sale was' held at the.railway goods sheds tin's afternoon.,, The auctioneer was'a man of-Napoleonic .temperament, who' accepted bids, with disconcerting. Midden lie's.-,. • and' the lots, whose name was legion, consisted for the most parr., of shapeless bundles, ap-parently-consisting of various'articles o-i clothing, rugs, .blankets, straw hats boots, cameras, bicycle lamps and other k.ncK snacb.. strung .together hastiiv with string;<„-. rope These, bundle* ietehed irom Is up to 7s. aecom.ng to s-ize and visible peculiarities'.''• : ;

; Snags; of wKich then* \ Vf) .s a variety -commanded spirited Manklas \ in really goucl 'condition J , '""^. , "« .. H ?. J !". ,l 'M* Collections ol ijnttrmi straw ],., is.' mnlo and lemale, went'lor low prices-. Indieimtion Was n ro,usedin tin?, breasts of a RTc-tion ot t.M.. bidders when countless Kindles containing railway caps and <■«>-<* began fo %;u-c very l al - ?i eiv in ibe saio. It wa, declared that those and « civ-tile ca.st oli' clothes of porters a!KUl,,Uo:ima,ters; The lot,, hearer, quickly at. lining (id to'ls apiece. ,>aelv.s.,•;;;(; . hrown paper packages whose contents Mere wholly . concealed! were counted ior very keenly, and realised prices probably out of all projKiriioir.tu the. vnjue of the. contents. A nackmg which looked as if it might contain a d<json of «i o iit w,|s taU.oed by the knouin<r bidders, who noticed that it was easily bandied Intlit' auctioneer's, clerk, and was probacy empty It brought 3s 6d. from a bidder wno had hitherto been unsuccessful in getting anything knocked down to him. .Bicycles, of which a few were offered For sale, brought small prices, but they were not worth iiiuclm'u most cases. A man's roadster., in fair repair, but ol ancient appearance, fetched Ms. a' bettor one brought 35i>, and a lack's bicycle in really good order went ior Kaiapoi nigs made up to 10s, and such miscellaneous lots ax coils of rope, lengths of insulated cable and trunks containing something- very heavy, which might be either bricks or books, sold at prices between hall'-a-crown and live shillings. -No lot was passed at ■auction, and the sale, from the .standpoint of the Department, at any rate, w-'.s an extremely successful '~ne.