The blockade auction sales at Charleston
A letter from
Charleston gives an interesting description of the mode of conducting the blockade auctions in that city, which the public see advertised in all the newspapers of the
Confederacy — After describing the quiet and altered appearance of the city the writer says:
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On King and East Bay streets at least four fifths of the stores are closed, and on Meeting street the only oasis one seen in the great desert of suspension is at the houses where the plies of goods which so constantly run the blockade are suctioneered off. Here, when an auction is to take place, merchants, professional characters, and men of leisure, all eager for the accumulation of dollars, congregate in vast numbers, and the store-rooms present a scenes of busy life, which contrasts strongly with the remaining portions of the city.
I have, by dint of extraordinary perseverance, worked my way into one of these densely packed auction rooms, and found the scene presented one of sufficient interest to describe.
A burly man, of about 540 pounds avoirdupois, mounts a chair and announces that the sale is about to commence, continuing with the remarks that the conditions are
cash, and that no issue of the Hoyer & Ludwig Confederate plate will be taken.
The crier, who possesses a strength of lung of which
Stentor himself would have been proud, and a rapidity of articulation that has never been surpassed by human tongue, is accompanied by a little gray headed man, who wears a woollen cap of richly variegated hues, the crown of which displays the
Confederate flag.
This little mans chief occupation is to exalt the merits of the goods on sale, throw in occasional witticisms, and catch the "winks and blinks" of bidders which the crier overlooks.
A wink is as good as a nod with the little man, and he bawls it out as lustily as if he were giving an alarm of fire or crying stop their.
The great majority of the crowd who attend these cargo sales are German Jews, and one is as much surprised at their numbers as at their unpronounceable and strangely sounding cognomens, which at the knock down of every article grates harshly upon the ear of a stranger.
For the amusement of your uninitiated readers, I give a few, which it was my privilege to hear, viz; Liechtenstein, Mittledorfer, Steinicin, Doorflinger, Rosenbaum, Gretzgraw, Zinglouf, Netscrating, Slinglow, Ungrauphit, etc.
Many of the merchants here complain that although these immense cargoes are sold at their very doors, yet by means of combinations made among buyers from abroad, they are unable to purchase articles sufficient to justify them in keeping open their stores.
For example, three, four, five, or six buyers may combine and purchase a lot of articles amounting in the aggregate to one hundred thousand or more dollars, and then divide the loss.
This is frequently done and, as the auctioneers, who have a most extensive catalogue to dispose of, go upon the principle of condensing all they can, the buyer of more limited purse has no means of replenishing his exhausted stock.
The magnitude of these sales is really surprising, and the last one made by
R. A. Pringle & Co, I understand, footed up over two millions and a half of dollars.
The parties for whose benefit they are chiefly made, viz;
John Frazer & Co., have already realized $10,000,000. Of this amount $6,000,000 have been invested in Confederate bonds.
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