The first Tuesday in each month may appropriately be termed a gala day at London, for it is then that the regular monthly public live stock sales, which have been held here, almost without exception on that day for about twenty-seven years, occur. Countrymen in general having business matters in town requiring attention, generally aim to make sales day the time for meeting for their adjustment; and so, from all sections may be seen Madison's farmers crowding into her capital on said day. Business houses of all kinds, and restaurants especially included, are thronged from morning until night, the streets swarm with people, the pavements are lined with horses and all sorts of vehicles wedged in among each other as tightly as sardines in a box; the middle portions of the streets are before noon a moving medley of men, horses, vehicles and cattle; while the cries of street fakirs and stock autioneers joined to the general hubbub and confusion make perfect pandemonium of the day. Buyers and noted stock men from all parts of the country here assemble, and the mingling together of the people, renewing old acquaintances and forming new ones, make the occasion one of festivity. The noise and confusion are at their height by 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and it is not until night draws near that anything like quiet re-visits the town. Droves of cattle standing in alternate herds for blocks, awaiting their turn to be driven to the public square by the court house, where thousands of dollars change hands almost in a twinkle. The public square is the center of the live-stock trade.
Frequently can be observed several auctioneers, each crying the sale of a separate drove of cattle, while other droves yet to be offered can be seen square after square in each of the four directions. These auctioneers seem to be sui generis, tramping around the circle which incloses the cattle which he is selling. Now he shouts at the top of his voice, and anon button-holes some substantial farmer, whispering confidentially in his ear the extent of the present opportunity for a great bargain.
The sales are not confined alone to cattle, but include stock in general; however, the cattle sales are the most numerous and important. The horse market, too, forms an important feature of the sales, and likewise extends over several squares.