TRANSFER FROM EUROPE TO AMERICA 9 



for the world. Others are London, Leipzic, Nijni Novgorod for Eng- 

 land, Germany and Russia. To these great marts come all the best 

 furs of the whole world, the sea otter of the Aleutian, the beaver 

 and marten and mink of Hudson Bay, the ermine and sable of 

 Russia, the lamb skins of Persia, the nutria and chinchilla of South 

 America. Here congregated all the buyers of the fur world and the 

 sellers, though the actual purchasing was done by expert fur brokers. 



In London the furs were sold by auction at such well-known 

 sales as Lampson's, Nesbitt's and the Hudson's Bay Company. 

 After thorough examination of the pelts as classified, the buyers 

 assembled before the auctioneer — sometimes in a huge glass- 

 lighted room at the top of the warehouses, or away from the furs 

 altogether in some regular sales room. At the fur sales, a silent nod 

 of the head knocked down a bid. 



Formerly, these sales were more picturesque. They were 

 held at some well-known coffee-house, with the classified pelts 

 stacked up at one side. Buyers were regaled with sumptuous 

 dinners by the sellers. Then, a lighted candle with pins stuck in 

 at intervals was put up. This is what is meant by the announce- 

 ment "sales by inch of candle." Bids were received as the candle 

 burned from pin to pin — quick work, for the candle was a pencil- 

 like thing. The last bid was the one before the flame went out; 

 and to that bidder went the furs. March, January and November 

 seem always to have been the favorite months for the fur sales in 

 London. The furs sold were not necessarily those recently come to 

 market. It was a trick, almost a clairvoyant sixth sense, to scent the 

 coming vagaries of fashion, and when a rare fur was down in price 

 to buy it up and store it in warehouses till fashion's pendulum swung 

 round again, when out would come the same raw fur to be auctioned 

 at a higher price. 



The Leipzic fur sales took the form of a great Fur Fair at Easter. 

 Warehouses that had been closed as dungeons for the year, hiding 

 secrets of famous dyeing processes from rivals and which no one 

 could enter or leave without being searched, not even trusted 



