The Seaforth News, 1955-11-03, Page 3TH 1fl4 FROPIT
The Mechanical Auctioneer,
e '-orifi of the Auction Method
of 'Selling, was started on the
Ontario Stockyards Toronto,
Wednesday, August 10th. Actu-
ally it is the first time that this
has been tried in North Arne
rice. This innovation was greet-
ed with Widely varied opinions
and the majority of the old
timers are predicting an early
deeds. Mr. Fred Campbell. Man-
ager of the Ontario Public
Stockyards is convinced that it
will: be favourably received uy
both livestock shippers and pro-
ducers.
This new method varies from
the standard form of Selling
b7' the Auction Method in -that
bids are registered, on a clock
like arrangement, by buyers
ope,ating a button. The price is
started, by the Commission
Agent et a price higher than
actually expected and then any
Mayer may atop the dial, by
pressing a button, at the price
he is prepared to pay, The es-
tab::shed proceedure of raising
the price by auction unfit the
selling price is arrived at has
been discaded. Under this meth-
od' :he buyer has to decide when
to "step in" because there isn't
'any second bid,
4: * 4,
The mechanical auctioneer is
on the opposite side of the ring
Irene the buyers and is about 3
Peet wide and 8 feet high, It is
divided into 3 sections of ap-
prn:imately ?',1 each,
(I) The upper or top third
is a series of number approxi-
mately 2'.% to 3 inches high cov- •
ered by opaque glass. These
numbers represent dollars The
starting price is controlled by
the Clerk of the Sale who lights
`.saii ftp the Board at the amount
named by the Commission man,
a 5 . 5
S2) The second, or middle
third of the machine, is a dial,
similar to the face • of a large
clock, numbered in units of 5,
•
PAISLEY ' CHARM—One of he
e.egantt items receiving a fall
se,,o',ing is ,this high -necked
sheath jumper fashioned of a
Paisley -patterned cotton print.
in' muted gray and almond
green, it is set off with traces
o? black and crimson, Black
woollen blouse makes perfect
fo'l for jumper.
from 95 to 0, These numbers rep-
restns cents, Affixed to this dial
is a large hand that starts from
the position of 12 o'clock and
runs anti -clockwise.
5 4, *
(3) The lower section of the
machine is much the same as
the top section with the excep-
tion that the numbers are those
pre -arranged for the buyers.
There is a number for each buy-
er.
* 5 5
The buyers• are seated be•
hind narrow cloaks or tables, di-
rectly across this sales ring from
t h e mechanical auctioneer
There is an individual seat for
each buyer with a desk on
which is a button connected
with the mechanical auctioneer.
There are facilities for 48 sepa-
rate buyers,
* 4, *
The starter of the clock sit; at
one ' side of the ring and is
equipped with a public address
system, In front of him are the
buttons that stop and start the
mechanical auctioneer, control
the starting price, and allows
the Commission Agent to de-
clare. "no sale."
u: e
The consignment is driven in•
to the ring, The Commission
man instructs the clerk at what
figure to show on the upper part
of the machine (probably ,1$24,00
if he thinks the actual value is
about $22,00). The Clerk starts
the'dial (center part of the ,me-
chanical auctioneer). It gbes
from 0 to .95 to .90 and so on
dropping down in units of 5
cents. It takes 6 seconds for the
hand to make one complete
revolution.
>s 41
When the hand has made one
complete turn the number on
the upper third of the machine
automatically changes from $24
to $23:00 and the hand on the
center section continues its
downward circle,
* 4, 4,
When the hand reaches the
figure at which the buyer
wishes to purchase (his estima-
tion of market value) he presses,
a button that automatically
stops the machine, This could
be at $22.55, that is; the figure
22 on the top section would rep-
resent $22.00 and the hand
pointing at 55 represents the
cents. Thus the calf would sell
at $22.55.
* a :a
The buyer's number would
show up in the lower section,
For example, if a buyer gperat-
ing froth a seat number 10
presses the button the figure 10
would light up in the lower
section,
:k 4 +5
The mechanical auctioneer is
so wired that- it -is impossible
for 2 buyers to register the
same bid, Immediately any buy-
er presses the button in front
of him the 'current to all other
buyer's buttons is automatical-
ly, cut off.
4, ,1 61
The Commission Agent in the
ring assumes the same respon-
sibility for accepting or reject-
ing the final price as he would
under the Private Treaty meth-
od or under the ordinary Auc-
tion Method of Selling. If he
believes the bid is below the •
value of the calf the Commis -
slob man .can press a button.
available to him at the ringside
which registers the number 49
on the lower section. This is his
means of declaring "no sale."
r• * *
The Commission Agent may
c4`o$swoRo
PUZZLE -
hC1:0.:.. DOWN
1. Rear of 5
rennet
4. Icelandic tale
1. 1'' Pt of9.
bri dive
22, Old en fid a'unr
12. bawl( cia;ln
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(prefix I
16. 01Up1 piled
1s7, un
14. Minute
Partlo14
79. Malleio.u.
purnln;t
20- "ot rresn
72. Sea renis,
2:-, . Sea bird
28. Hebrew
11011(31
27. Ken mstlt'n
10. Gaudy
ornament
2'.(trean4d
74'.' lrrenetl coin
55. infant '
11. Noienger
operatl7e
13. T,x%
10, Arrovis
1, The fion;. in
Hinduism
43 tall indrupe
ilt. I?re rya
46 ()Dural adby
f'ur resits
6o. A,nitnal's neck
hair
67 Fixed 0l7am'e
'42 14.0000
gra trims
learnin
04.lav Cin 7:we
86. Trrellio
1. Bi9.b
mountain
2. In ()lace of
2. Arse
4. 2'Ite feu,.
hundred
4, Queen of
<inrrl,at' r
6, Com idereu
7, tionjnnctlan
5, Atmospheric
dieLtll'ballee
9. A dependent
10. Singing volt e
11 4' ire gas
16. 1%1,1174.s
19. Mr (comb.
I'nrm 1
20. wardens
21. Set or three
32,lnvalidal ion
24, Crippled
dh,A '3711
28. Warmth
29 iner.un1117
31. 11, .....
43 Lie Ltd sr
suitable
38. Scene o1
eon f11n10n
2J b'ertile 09018
45, Cubes
41. 4051114113e
name
4-2. Lacerate
4!.Nerve
network
48. Historical
period
4.7, Deserter
43 Afountatn Is
Crete
49 Fond fish
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Answer elsewhere on thls mage.
e Fashion Hints
AFTER -SKI ENSEMBLE consists of a hooded blouse and "Slim
Jima" fastened with tiny gold' hooks pnd worn with a full split
skirt, The navy blue fabric is 50 per cent terylehe and 50 per
cent viscose and the skirt is lined in lime green jersey and ap-
pliqued with felt.
step in any time and stop the
clock. For example, if dee be-
lieves a calf is worth 23 cents
and the clock has gone below
that level he can immediately
press number 49 'thereby ad-
vising that there is "no sale."
The calf is then run out of the
ring and 'may be returned later.
Ancient Forgerss
Mint Found?
Archaeologists in Prague have
stumbled upon a 500 -year-old
secret underground mint be-
lieved to have been used in a
form of "economic warfare"
during the Middle -Ages.
Their theory is that the mint,
found in a large cavern about
65 feet below ground, belonged
to a group of Czeck nobles who
were trying -to overthrow the
ruler of Bohemia.
It is believed that they em-
ployed a band of forgers., work-
ing by lanternlight in this dingy
den, to flood the country with
valueless coins in a bid to de-
base the currency and cense
economic chaos and unrest.
The cave is one of a network
in a hill called the "golden
horse" at Koneprusy. 22 miles
from Prague. Its name dates
back before the Christian era
when Celts inhabited the area
and used to make sacrifices to
a horse 'god on the hill.
The archaeologists found prim-
itive equipment and heaps of
glittering coins, just as the .for-
-' gers had left them. The coins
were made ofcopper, but coated
with silver to make them look
like the 'silver coins, . called
parvis. which 'were at that time
the official currency, of Bohemia.
Like the genuine coins, the
forgeries bore the imprint of a
Lion in a circle. The archaeolo.
gists Sound the statnn which the
forgers used for this
There was also .a wooden
minting block covered with
copper cuttings, an oven for
melting silver, strips of copper,
and piles of half -finished coins
and rejects, Eight small balls of
different sizes, 'made of talc. are
believed to have been used as
measuring weights.
The archaeologists b e l i e v e
that the forgers got the copper
for the coins from kettles. They
cut the kettles into strips,
melted these into sheets, and
then cut out the coins. Next,
they hammered the shapes flat,
stamped them with the lion im-
print, andcoated them evith
molten silver. Then the coins
were circulated in nearby towns
and villages, •
The entrance to the cave was
a verticie shaft 33 feet deep;
sunk from an easily camou-
flaged circular 'hole at the sur-
face, The forgers are believed to
have used a ladder to coma
and go.
At first,, the cave was thought
to be the hide-out of a bandit
gang which turned to forging as
a lucrative sideline. This theory
probably had its origin in a Local
legend dating
back to the 15th
century but never considered to
have any foundation in fact un-
til the discovery of the cave,'
The I''0'fid tell9 of shepherds
in the area being frightened by
smoke coming from holes in the
ground. One day, a shepherd
peered into a hole and saw a
man sitting on a heap of silver,
According to the legend, the
man gave the shepherd a hand-
ful of silver coins and he became
very rich.
Because of the size of the
mint, its apparent efficiency, and
other :factors, however, the
archaeologists reject the bandit
gang theory.
It is a matter of history that
about the middle of the 15th
century, ' a group of Roman
Catholic nobles were waging a
political struggle against: the
Protestant ruler of the kingdom
of Bohemia, George of Pode-
brady.
The Hussite wails between
Roman Catholics and Protes-
tants .earlier in the century had
ravaged the kingdom and left it
short of goods and money. The
archaeologists believe that by .
circulating spurious currency
the nobles probably hoped to
add to George's economic diffi-
culties and bring about his
downfall.
The mint was ideally situated
for such a purpose, near the
border of the territory con-
trolled by George and that over
which the nobles held sway.
According to the archaeolo-
gists: theory, when George fin-
ally overcame the nobles' efforts
to unseat him, the mint was
abandoned and lay undiscovered
until three years ago.
The first clue to its existence
came in 19.50, when blasting
operations in a nearby chalk
quarry uneovered a horizontal
shaft iu the hillside leading to
another cave, about 160 feet
under the ground. Archaeolo-
gists. headed by Dr, Frantipek
Prosek, found in this the skull
of a Neanderthal man and skele-
tons of bears, a tortoise, a tiger
and other ice -age animals,
Later, they followed a shaft
leading to an upper cave and
found the mint there. The ate
chaeologiste believe that the
forgers knew nothing of the
cave below them. A third cave,
about 230 feet down, also' was
discovered but nothing of ar-
chaeological value was found
i17 it,
BEE -HAVE
It's rather a ticklish guestion,
but did you ever wonder how
a bee' got his back scratched?
Professor 'V..G. Milani, of the
University of Illinois, did. He
decided to find out. After long
study of worker bees which
were encased in glass -sided
hives, the professor said that a
bee is able to cleanse most of
the pollen from '•its body .by
brushing it .off with his legs,
antennae and pollen combs. But
there are still parts of his body
he can't reach. So the ,bee goes
into a 'grooming, dance" —.the
equivalent of asking someone to.
' scratchof r
.y, l beck,
If the dance is 'convincine
enough, the barber" bee will
lend a hand by brushin, cif 1,nT-
len from the .inaccessible sprat,
Grave Robberies
Something rare in the annals
of crime in Britain occurred re-
cently --it was discovered that
the coffin of a Shropshire noble-
man's ancestor who died in the
seventeenth century .had been
stollen 'from the family vault in
a village churchyard.
Lead thieves are believed to
have been responsible for the
theft. The leaden coffin they took
was the oldest in the vault.
Graveyard robberies are rare
because many thieves_ are super-
stitious. They believe that to
rifle a tomb inevitably brings
bad luck, but the lure of gold
and jewels has sometimes caused
thieves to defy this superstition.
When an eccentric and im-
mensely rich Irishman died at
the age of ninety-four in 1860,
the story ran that all his, wealth
in gold was, by his order, buried
in the coffin with him.
A thief, who heard of the
story sixty-three years later,
forced an entry at dead of night
through the stone walls of the
tomb and rifled the coffin. Local
belief was that the raider got
away with a fortune in gold.
Gravediggers opening an old
family. tomb near Geneva in
preparation for a new burial in
1923 found that thieves had
stripped the body of a woman
of the precious jewels with
which she had been buried.
These included a collar of price-
less pearls and some rings.
In an old vault in a Surrey
churchyard a strange rite is
performed every August—a rite
that goes back to the grim times
of the body -snatchers in Britain.
This family vault, built by a
rich London merchant in 1777,
has been formally opened every
year since 1793, in accordance
with the will of two women
members of the family.
Fearful that after death their
corpses might be carried off by
body -snatchers, they arranged
for the tomb to be opened regu-
larly to make sure they were
still there 1
Operation Stork
The legendary baby -carrying
- stork found a new means of
transport recently when some 30
baby storks were flown from
North Africa to Switzerland to
replenish empty nests.
For the past 20 years storks
:. have been becoming more and
more rare in Switzerland, where
the original figure of 240 nests
bas gradually dwindled away to
practically nothing.
Worried by the exodus, orni-
thologists in recent years at-
tempted to replace them by some,
from Alsace, in France, but when
they migrated in the autumn
they never returned.
This year it was decided to
fly baby storks from Algeria,
hoping that they would return
to Switzerland after their annual
migration to warmer countries.
So a group of stork experts,
including Mr. ,M ex Bloesch,
known in Switzerland as the
"Father of Storks," set off by air
from Basle, and in co-operation
w ith French ornithologists
caught 30 newly -born storks.
POOR EXCUSE
Erskine lounged into the of-
fice an hour late for the third
time in one week and found the
boss awaiting hien, arms akim-
bo. "What's the story this time,
"Erskine?" he asked sarcastically.
"Let's hear a good excuse for a
change," Erskine' sighed, "Every-
thing went wrong this morning,
boss. 'The wife decided to drive
me to the station. She got ready
in ten minutes, but then the
draw -bridge got stuck. Rather
than let you down, 1 swam
across the river (look, my suit's
still damp), ran out to the air-
port, got a hitch in Mr. I3arri-
man's helicopter., landed on top
of Radio City Music Hall, and
Was carried here piggy -back by
one of the Rockettes." "You'll :
have to do better than that. Ers-
kine," said the boss, obviously
disappointed. "No woman cap
get rcaely in ten minutes."t
DAA SCHOOL
LESSON
It tlsrs'lay Warren tS.A. *6.0
Jesus Meets Human Needs
Luke 5:12-15, 21-33
Memory Selection: They that
are whole need not a physi-
cian; but they that are sick.
I came not to Bali the right-
eous, but sinners to repen-
tance. Luke 5:31-32,
Jesus was concerned with all
of man's need. He was moved
with compassion when he saw
men smitten with disease. When
the leper approached his saying,
"Lord, if thou wilt, thou cant
make me clean," Jesus put forth
his hand and touched him and
said, "I will: be thou clean." He
touched the untouchable and
healed him.
Wherever the gospel goes se,
does the ministry of heating.
Missionaries without medical
training can do something to al-
leviate suffering. Doctors and
nurses follow. There are still us -
stances of what is called mh'aeu-
lous healing. Who can limit
God's power? But hospitals all
,over the land bear testimony to
the efforts of man to care for
the sick and assist nature in its
processes of healing. Many things
are accomplished here which but
a generation ago would have
been termed miraculous. As
man's knowledge and skill ed- •
vance, his dornininn neer
ness and disease is increasing.
With regard to leprosy i7 -vs
drugs that have been discovered
have proved effective. and there
are reports of discharges of cured
patients from leper colonies on
an unprecedented scale. There
are increasingly successful op-
erations which help to overcome
some of the handicaps and de-
formities that lepers have ac-
quired. The taking away of ba-
bies born to loners from their
parents until the parents are
cured or can no longer transmit
the disease has prevented many
new cases from developing
among .the young.
In the second half of our les-
son Jesus meets Levi's sniritual
need, Levi becomes a disciple.
He invites Jesus to meet his
friends at dinner, a thine which
Jesus is pleased to do. He went
where there was need and min-
istered to it. John Wesley and a
friend were meeting a man who
was drunk and unpleasant in
appearance. The friend said,
"Let's turn aside: that man's a
sinner."! Wesley replied, "Let's
talk to him. That sinner is a
man." If we have Jesus we will
share his compassion for all the
needs of man. We will minister
to those needs as we can.
MINIATURE 1
During Mark Twain's report-
ing days 'in Virginia City, fame
and fortune were still very much
in the future. The wife of the
owner of a' big silver mine 'Piet
him- on -C. Street one day with
a cigar box held tightly under
his arm. "Mi'. Twain," she re-
proached him, "you promised me
you were going to give up
smoking cigars." "Madam," re-
plied Twain with great dignity,
"this box does' not contain ci-
gars. I ,am moving my posses-
sions from one abode to an-
other."
Upsidedown ro Preven' Peeking
CAMEL MINE—Sgt. Herman H. Lee, right, takes time from duties.
with the Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit station at
Heidelberg, Germany, tocheck an ailing circus camel with a
mind da, -tor for bits of stray metal which the animal' might
have swallowed along with his food. No metal was indicated,
and the an mot's in oosi lion was put down" as plain," old
:lulnl,ly-a.:l