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Summer Auction Job Held
By Lynn Cheatum
A majority of the students at KU work in the summer for college expense money. But not many summer jobs are as interesting as the one held last summer by Bruce B. Cross, Muncie, Ind., freshman.
Cross worked as a set-up man for an Indiana auction firm. His job was helping the auctioneer at sales. Many people are suspicious of a fast-talking salesman, but this handicap can be overcome with a reputation for honesty, Cross said.
He told of some of the more interesting incidents that happened during the summer.
"In one sale we sold the property of a man who died leaving a collection of Indian relics. He had all kinds of stuff like arrowheads, tomahawk heads and Indian grinding stones for grain. My boss called up all the collectors he knew and told them of what was to be sold. We ran a notice in the newspaper and made all the other preparations.
"The SALE GOT STARTED and we did really well, getting high prices for everything. When we started running out of things to sell, my boss remembered there were some discarded arrowheads and other odds and ends lying out in the back yard of the house.
"I went out and gathered up all the arrowheads and quite a few rocks that were with the arrowheads. The rocks surely must have been just plain old garden variety rocks, but the bidders were still enthusiastic."
Cross mused:
"Some of those ordinary-looking rocks brought as much as $5 apiece."
ONE OF THE FEW ITEMS Cross ever bought for himself from a sale was one of these mole traps. Cross said he and a friend, who is nick-named "Mole," bought a mole trap and gave it to Mole's girl friend, but within a week Mole and his girl friend broke up.
Regarding coins, Cross said:
"One well-to-do collector heard about 40 twenty-dollar gold pieces and was determined to buy them all. He did, too, for $50 apiece. I think the collector's price on them is somewhere around $35."
Cross commented on the customs of auctioneers:
"It's not ethical to hire a 'stooge' to bid up the legitimate bidders. We never did use a stooge, but some auctioneers do."
WITH A DIGNIFIED LOOK of self-righteousness, Cross quipped, "That is not done in the finer circles."
"Some auctioneers, in the thick of the bidding, will nod to imaginary bidders to get higher bids from people who look as if they really want an item.
"In our county there are about 60 auctioneers who work at one time or other, but we have more sales in a year then all the other 59 put together. The main reason is the reputation my boss has built up. People know he is honest."
"Sometimes he will want something that is for sale, but he won't take advantage of his position and get the article before the sale. He tells me how much he is willing to pay for an item, and sends me out into the audience to bid on it. If the bidding goes higher then he is willing to pay, I quit bidding. Of course if Ibid only half of what he is willing to pay and nobody bids higher, it's a bargain."
IN TELLING OF SOME of the unusually high and low bids he had seen, Cross told of a certain auction of the entire inventory of a hardware store which had gone out of business.
"One type of Japanese drill bits was marked 79c, so my boss (the auctioneer) held it up and asked the crowd how much they would bid for this set of Japanese drill bits marked 79c.' Some of the sets sold for as much as $3. After my boss had once mentioned the price, he didn't press the issue.
He said:
"Sometimes a $40 set would go for the same price, $3. One time we auctioned off a warehouse full of damaged freight from a trucking firm. I spent about three weeks, assembling, cleaning and sorting it. There was about $30,000 worth of stuff. The sale brought $1,500."
"AN AUCTIONEER TALKS fast to keep the pace of the bidding fast. He creates a mood with his fast talk. The people will bid faster and they will bid higher, then. Some auctioneers tell jokes, and all auctioneers wisecrack now and then to keep people in a good mood."
Monday, April 10, 1961 University Daily Kansan
Cross told of the mysterious talents of auctioneers:
"Auctioneers can sometimes put people in a sort of hypnotic trance with their fast talk and motions. Under such conditions people will buy things they don't need or can't afford. They will bid higher, too."
"A good auctioneer can make a lot of money, but he has to work hard for it."
A-Zone Being Finished To Resemble X-Zone
The A-zone parking lot behind J. R. Pearson dormitory, which now looks much like the plains of Bull Run after the first battle, is actually in the final phase of a four-year paving plan which will end this summer.
ACCORDING TO Keith Lawton, administrative assistant to the chancellor for physical plant development and coordination, the first phase began before the dormitory was built and the lot has since been expanded by additional layers of dirt. But due to the heavy rains this winter, the dirt lot is now spotted with chuckholes and mudholes that are the curse of drivers who must park there.
Mr. Lawton said that the added layers of dirt have to harden and settle before a surface can be applied.
"THE LOT WILL be repaired with the usual post-winter repairs made
AWS Sends 10 to Wisconsin Meet
The Associated Women Students sent a group to the Inter-Collegiate Association of Women Students convention last week in Madison, Wis.
The women who attended are Marilyn J. Mueller, Kirkwood, Mo, sophomore; Lois Ann Ragsdale, Kansas City junior; Karlene Howell, Kansas City junior; Ann Leffler, Pittsburg freshman; Susan Callender, Bonner Springs sophomore.
Judy Anderson, Garden City junior; Sondra J. Hays, Norton freshman; Sharon L. Saylor, Morrill sophomore; Patricia G. Kendall, Holton freshman; and Ethel J. Maxwell, Mission freshman. The regional Inter-Collegiate Association of Women students will be held next year at KU.
Turnabout
INTERNATIONAL FALLS, Minn.
—(UPI)— A motorist whose car struck a cow near here recently had his hospital bills paid by the cow's insurance. The prize holstein had collision insurance to protect her owner against loss.
by the University," he said, "but no measures will be made that will waste money before the summer paving. The paving will be similar to that of X-zone."
The repairs will include grading and some gravel to fill the holes.
X-zone is the lot below the Union near the stadium. The paving is several layers of a crude oil base with a small crushed rock cover.
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Students Sleepy
Boredom Is Sport
By Jane Boyd
Look around, bored student. Enjoy the entertainment provided by your fellow bored students.
Many students are too disinterested or too tired to push a pencil for 50 minutes. These students can provide entertainment by the way they try to fill up the 50 minutes with something else (like sleep).
THERE IS the sneaky sleeper, who does not want the professor to know he is not listening. He puts his elbow on the desk with his hand on his forehead, slightly covering his eyes. His pencil is in place. Many sneaky sleepers even manage to keep the pencil moving.
Watch the sneaky sleeper. Lay bels on when deep sleep will set in, his hand drop and his head fall with a hang on the desk.
Or if you are close enough, look at his notes—one curvy line.
The audacious sleeper is not very entertaining, but you might enjoy the professor's reaction to this type of sleeper. This student simply folds his arms across the desk and puts his head down.
WHEN THE professor notices this sleeper he may chuckle, and then call on the sleeper for an answer. What bothers the professor is that these students sometimes come up with the correct answer.
The worst insult is for the professor to walk toward the audacious sleeper, stand in front of the sleeper and then shout the lecture as the student sleeps on.
The drooping sleeper is the one
whose head jerks regularly. When the head jerks, the eyes usually open and the student continues with the notes. Then suddenly the head jerks again—it's an enjoyable circle.
Fifteen minutes until the hour is the most popular arousing time. That leaves five minutes to fold up books, put on coats and be ready when the whistle blows.
SOME OF these sleepers will begin to drowse early in the period, but the most active period for lecture-sleepers is between 30 and 20 minutes until the hour.
Sleepers are not the only entertainers. There are also the artists, who are not the art majors, but students who will always believe they majored in the wrong subject.
Also, watch the vain feminine members of the class who straighten their hair during the period as though the whole class were watching them.
THERE ARE also those artists who admit their weaknesses. They draw circles and squares.
The most distressing scene for a professor must be the woman who files her fingernails during the lecture.
If you watch your fellow students you can avoid boredom, but you will be called the peering student. . The watch bird is watching you. Are you an entertainer or just an onlooker?...
A great outrage on the spirit of Justice breaks down all barriers of race and nationality—Hall Caine
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