"The island is for sale, cash, plus fees, to the last highest bidder!" said the auction appraiser, Ding Felbach, repeatedly, without a break, presiding over this peculiar " Auction" bidding conditions. "Island for sale, island for sale," repeated Gingras the auctioneer, even louder, pacing up and down among a truly excited crowd. Indeed, the spacious lobby of the auction house at 10 Sacramento Street was packed.There were not only Americans from California, Oregon, and Utah, but also a few Frenchmen who made up one-sixth of the population, some Mexicans wearing sala Chinese in long robes, pointed shoes, and melon caps, some Ganaks from Oceania, and even a few Frenchmen living in Algeria with potbellies or flat heads who came from the banks of the Three Gods River.

Let us hasten to add that the scene takes place in San Francisco, the state capital of California, but not in the period 1849-1852, when the mining of new placer gold deposits attracted gold prospectors from both the old and the new world.When they came to San Francisco, they no longer used it as a desert safari hotel, a wharf, an inn, and slept there overnight, then hurried to the golden place on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada.No, for about 20 years the formerly unknown Yuba-Buena has given way to a unique city of its kind, rich with ten thousand inhabitants, built on the back of two hills, which makes it less The beaches along the coast, but stretching all the way to the highest point of its background - in short, this is a city that replaced Lima, Santiago, Valparaiso, etc., all its rivals on the west coast, and the Americans made it the Pacific Ocean. The queen of "West Coast Glory"!

That day—May 15th—was still cold.In that place, the first weeks of the month are more reminiscent of the last weeks of March in Central Europe, being directly affected by the action of polar currents.But in this hall where public auctions are held, people don't notice it.The constantly swinging clock gathered a large number of people here, and the summer-like temperature made everyone sweat on their foreheads, which could be frozen quickly by the cold outside. Don't think that all the eager people who come to this auction house want to buy.I'd even say there are just a few curious ones out there.Who would be mad enough, even if he had enough money, to buy an island in the Pacific that the government wanted to sell on a whim?People thus tell each other that auction bids will not be given, and that no one interested will ever involve himself in a battle for a high bid.But this is not the fault of the public auctioneer, who is trying to incite the patrons with his shouts, his gestures and the most seductive metaphors and skill with flattery.

People laugh, but don't bid. "An island! Sell an island!" Gingeras repeatedly called. "But not for purchase," replied an Irishman, who did not have enough money in his pocket to buy a pebble. "On an island, the auction asking price is less than $6 an acre!" exclaimed the auction appraiser Ding Felbach. "And the profit is not one-eighth!" retorted a fat farmer who was very familiar with farming. "An island with a perimeter not less than an area not less than!" "Isn't its foundation at least solid?" asked a Mexican, an elderly barman whose personal reliability at this moment seemed highly debatable.

"An island has an undeveloped forest," the auctioneer said repeatedly, "it has grasslands, hills, and flowing water..." "Guaranteed?" cried a Frenchman, who seemed less than ready to let himself be baited. "Yes! Guaranteed!" replied the auction appraiser, Phil Pawke, a seasoned man who feigned excitement at the public jeers. "Two years?" "Until the end of the world." "Even longer than that!" "An island with all ownership rights!" continued the auctioneer, "an island without a single beast, no beasts, no snakes!  …"

"No birds?" a joker added. "No insects?" cried another. "An island goes to the highest bidder!" continued Ding Felbach, more vigorously. "Come on, citizens! Brave your wallets! Who wants an island in good condition, barely used, an island in the Pacific, this ocean in the middle of an ocean? Auction is asking for zero!! $1.1 million, is there any Buyer?...Who's talking?...Is that you, sir? Is it you there...You wagging your head like a china official?...I have an island!...Here is an island !... Who wants an island?" "Pass me the object, please!" said a voice, as if it were a painting or a large china vase.

The hall roared with laughter, but no bid was even made for the half-dollar auction. However, if the item cannot be passed by hand, the planning of the island was once at the mercy of the public.Those interested may know on what grounds this place on Earth is being auctioned.There's nothing to be surprised about, nothing to be upset about.The position, orientation, configuration of the soil, relief of the terrain, network of watercourses, climatology, traffic connections, all are easily checked in advance.People don't buy with their eyes closed and people will believe if my assertion that there is no scam in the nature of the item being sold is true.Moreover, the innumerable newspapers of the United States, and the newspapers of California, daily, twice-weekly, weekly, twice-monthly, monthly, periodicals, magazines, bulletins, etc., have been published for months. Never ceased to draw public attention to the island, whose auction was authorized by a vote of Congress.

This island, Spencer Island, is situated in the west-southwest direction of San Francisco Bay, approximately off the coast of California, at latitude 32°15′ north and longitude 42°18′ west of the Greenwich meridian. Furthermore, it is difficult to imagine a more isolated location away from maritime activity or commerce, despite the relatively short distance of Spencer Island, that is to say within US waters.But there, a regular northerly or southerly current sets a sort of lake on calm water, sometimes called a "Florey's Wheel." Spencer Island sat in the middle of this vast eddy of unpredictable directions.Therefore, ships are rarely seen passing by.The wide sea lanes connecting the old and new continents, or leading to Japan, or to the Pacific Ocean to China, all extend in a region more southward.Those sailing ships will find that the surface of the Florey's wheel is always calm, and the steamer taking the shortest way will not easily pass here.Neither the former nor the latter, therefore, could look at Spencer Island, where it stood like the solitary peak of a mountain among the sea-mountains of the Pacific.Indeed, what better place for a man seeking to escape the noise of the world and seek the peace of solitude than this remote island, a few hundred miles from the coast!What an ideal way to be a Robinson Crusoe volunteer!It's just that you have to pay a price.

And now, why did the United States want to sell this island?Is it a whim?No.It is impossible for a great nation to act willfully like an ordinary people.The truth is: Spencer Island was so situated that it seemed for a long time to be an absolutely useless site, colonization brought no real effect.From a military point of view, it cannot provide any advantages, because it can only command an absolutely deserted area in the Pacific Ocean.From a commercial point of view, it is also insufficient, because its products will not pay the price of water freight, whether it is the outbound or return journey.Set up a reformatory here, too close to the coast.In short, no matter what the interests of occupying the island are, the expenses required are too great.It had therefore been left unused for an indeterminate amount of time, and Congress, composed of "remarkable and practical" men, decided to put the island of Spencer up for auction—but on one condition, that the winning bidder be a free American a citizen of .

However, he did not want to give up the island for nothing, so the auction starting price was set at US$1.1 million.The price is a small sum for a financial company that bought the island and developed the ownership; however, it is too well known to offer anything; those who can afford it will not take it seriously This piece cut off from the United States will only regard it as a deserted island in the ice of the pole.However, personally speaking, this amount is not considerable.So one has to be rich to pay for this whimsy that doesn't get a single percent return in any case!Must even be extremely rich, because according to the American expression, the business has to be "cash", and the business is done in cash, and even in the United States, there must be very few people who have $1.1 million in their pockets that can be thrown into the water, Citizens who don't want to be in vain.

Congress, however, would never sell the island for less than that price. $1.1 million!No less, otherwise, the ownership of Spencer Island still belongs to the Commonwealth. It is not conceivable, therefore, that any buyer would be mad enough to invest such a sum in the transaction. Moreover, expressly reserved, in case of such a proprietor, he would not be king of Spencer Island, but only president of a republic, who would have absolutely no right to subjects, but only citizens. , they appointed him for a fixed period, even if endlessly re-electing him.In short, he will be forbidden to be the first ancestor of the emperor.The Commonwealth will never tolerate the creation of a kingdom, no matter how small, within the territorial waters of the United States. This reservation might keep away a few ambitious billionaires, a few disgraced governors, who would have liked to compete with the barbarian kings of St. Comparable. In short, for this reason or that reason, no one came out to compete.Time passed, the auctioneer panting to provoke the auction, the auction appraiser's voice straightened, but could not get the venerable brokers to nod so clearly, and the auction asking price had not even been discussed. But it must be said that if the gavel was not lifted from the table, neither was it expected.Continue to joke with each other, and keep taking turns saying mocking words.These guys are offering $2 for the island, fee included.Those people demand returns in order to be buyers. The auctioneer kept shouting: "Sell the island! Sell the island!" But no one bought it. "Can you guarantee it's there?" asked Stumpy, the grocer in Merchant Street. "No," answered the auction appraiser, "but it's not impossible, and the State cedes all its rights in those gold-bearing formations to the buyer." "At least one volcano?" asked Oakhurst, the proprietor of the Montgomery Street tavern. "No, no volcanoes," retorted Din Felbach, "it would be more expensive without it!" Following this answer, there was a burst of persistent laughter. "Island for sale! Island for sale!" Gingeras roared hoarsely. "A dollar, a half dollar, a penny," said the auction appraiser for the last time. "I'm going to auction! . . . for the first time! . . . for the second time! . . . " There was silence. "If no one speaks, the auction will be cancelled!...First time!...Second time!..." "$1.2 million!" Those four words sounded like four shots from a revolver in the center of the hall. All attendees, for a moment of silence, turned to the brave man who dared to throw the number... That was William W. Coedrup of San Francisco.

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