Mr. McGuire, 64, a retired science teacher and two-term incumbent on the Town Council, selected a card, the six of hearts, drawing approving oos and aws from his supporters.

"A number of regions have certainly shown interest, and everybody is keen to be kept in the loop with developmnts.

Some customers could now be relied upon to send in their orders regularly and, apart from having to chivy those who had fallen behind with their payments, this allowed travellers to concentrate their energies on securing new customers and on recovering those who had been lost to competitors.

A mysterious phone bidder was grabbing the pieces that no one else wanted—Mensun suspected this was the auction house bidding against the chandelier, protecting itself against selling too low.