24 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. 



from a cannon, stopping now and then to ring a bell, 

 and bawl in a stentorian voice that "Ther'll be a 

 meat ox at half — a — past ten o'clock in front of Bur- 

 gesses market. Corn beef ! mut'n! 'n' lam'! half — a 

 — past ten o'clock, meat ox ! " 



About ten minutes before the sale commences, a 

 crowd of men gather around the tables, and it is 

 always the same crowd, with their hands in their 

 pockets, and they gaze with longing eyes upon the 

 tempting (?) display. The auctioneer (or crier), seem- 

 ingly not satisfied with the crowd, or wishing to ex- 

 hibit himself to the admiring gaze of the people, takes 

 a bell and struts back and forth in the middle of the 

 street, and rings so long and loudly that one wonders 

 if he is trying to dislocate his shoulder. After appar- 

 ently convincing himself of the strength of his arm, 

 the auctioneer mounts a chair or box and the sale com- 

 mences. (By the way, the Kantucketers seem to have 

 a mania for bell-ringing.) The bidding is sometimes 

 quite spirited, and men frequently pay quite as much 

 as at private sale. There are regular frequenters of 

 these auctions, who seem to prefer to stand shivering 

 in the cold for half an hour rather than go inside the 

 market, where, for a few cents more, selections could 

 be made from the finest cuts. No person, if he has 

 anything at all to do, can afford to attend an auction. 



Banks. 



Pacific National Bank, Main Street. — Capital, $100,000; surplus 

 fund, $35,000; par value, $100; market value, $153. F. C. Sanford, 

 President; T. W. Calder, Vice-President; Wm. H. Chadwick, Cashier; 

 A. G. Brock, Clerk. 



Nantucket Institution for Savings. — Deposits, $364,000. Thomas G. 

 Folger, President; Stephen Bailey, Vice-President. 



