176 MEMOIR. 



other, there is war. They are perhaps fifteen feet apart. 

 One starts the bidding this way : 'Dree hunterd dollar !' 

 The other looks fierce at him, takes a step nearer, and, 

 without so much as a glance at the auctioneer, shouts : 

 'Four hunterd dollar!" Xow they glare at each other, 

 seeing nothing, each advancing one step nearer to the 

 other at every bid. 'Fife hunterd dollar !' shouts the first, 

 with another step. 'Seven hunterd und feefty dollar!' 

 'A tousand dollar!' 'Fifteen hunterd dollar!' 'Dree tou- 

 sand dollar!' and so the game goes on. They become so 

 much excited and glare so fiercely at each other, you think 

 murder is about to be done, as their noses fairly rub. 

 Bombs, knives, guns, and hatred of the most murderous 

 type, are in their bosom's then. An hour after they are 

 having zwei lager together. 



''Every one knows the genial Henry Fleishmann, the 

 pioneer foreign buyer of the American trotter. He's a 

 dream in a sale ring. The foreign contingent used to 

 think that whatever he bid on must be good, and some of 

 them would therefore bid against him. That almost set 

 him crazy. He resorted to this and that subterfuge to 

 throw them off. On one occasion we were selling a gray 

 mare with a fast record that Fleishmann wanted. He 

 got Gil Curry to do the bidding for him, so that other 

 buyers for the foreign market would not know he was 

 after her. The signal arranged between them was that 

 Fleishmann should hold a catalogue against his breast, 

 and every time he wanted to raise the bid he was to push 

 the catalogue against his chin. He took his position right 

 in front of the box, folding his arms across his breast, 

 crossing his legs in a dignified and ostensibly disinterested 

 manner. The bidding was spirited, and, with each raise 

 made by Fleishmann, he pushed the catalogue higher and 



