The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1848-04-04
Fort Crescent.
Sketches of the Sidewalks and Levee;
ItiM GkanpseS into the Mem Orleans Bar (ro0ns )

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TIMOTHY GOUJON, V.O.N.O.
U'ender Of Oysters in .Neag Orleans)
There is in all cities bordering nigh unto the sea-
a certain species of fish ycleped oysters very much
desired by the dweers in said cities, and very
much sold by certain individuals, of rare peculiar
tiles, called oystermen
In this goodly city of NewOrleans. albeit, not so
very good either) there abounds a class of worthy
citizens named above, and who exercise the office
and administration of fishes Of this nature, styled,
we have said, oysters. The daily duty of these
individuals-free citizens of remarkably free
city--s 10 vend by retail the interior hesFy and
somewhat savory substance of these shell-isl, as
above alluded TO. The outer crust or envelope of
these, being of tough, unyieding and indigestble
quality, is rejected and thrown aside as worthless.
nothing being eaten by the children of men but the
puffy contents thereof. To sell SUCH is the bust
ness and daily care of those called, in common
language, oyslermen-the French style them ecaiHt.
1t cannot have escaped the notice of the most
casual observer of and things, that tie streets
and well thronged thoroughfares abound in certain
brick tenements, prolessedly devoted-not the
buildings, but the occupants-to the preparing and
rendering fit for the masticaion of all and sundry
reputable cZens-at least those who possess the
wherewith to pay for them-these said shell-fish,
fshed up by pair of iron claws out of the briny
deep. These tenements, bearing aloft the outward
insignia of their rank and condition. are to be found
in the crowded walks of the city-and he :'who
runs may read, and he who is hungry may pass in
and be served, not only to his heart s content but
also to his stomach's which is the best end of the
bargain. We ourselves have refreshed and RECALLED
the inner man. many times and oft by those
luxuriating viands compounded by those disciples
of the illustrous kitchener, paying quota of
current coin meanwhile, and going ioyfuily on our
way. But of late we have ceased in our visitatons
to these temples-fnding that a repletion of the
stomach ana similar condition Of the brain-pan
always in inverse ratio the one to the
other. When the stomach was full of luxury and
good eating, the brain empty-barrenness and
desolation prevailing throughout &c the dome of
thought, the palace of the soul' In such an ex-
tremity, having ever been taught to respect mind
rather than matter, we have preferred to become
even as one of Pharaoh's lean kine,' in order to
have use and exercise of the said article of brain.
Everybody remembers the story of the old Dutch
man so happy and so contented who said that g he
chust eats and thinks till he's full and then he
slmokes and shmokes, and thinks about notin al
ALL
IT'S not, therefore, to these Epicurean dep6ts we
refer or to the propretors thereof-not by any man.
ner of means: they are well favored men, which.
as Dogbery says, g is the gift of nature - they
wear black coats and carry These, in the
strictness of speech, and the bounds of proprety,
come not under the Classification above alluded to.
We refer to certain graceless sans cutohes-no, not
sans culottes either, literally for that would be
most senseless and blu, in the political sense
Of tho tor who N the scale of fhp social
thermometer, do not reach boiling point by any
means. 1t was to this enterprising portion of the
body polite that Timothy Goujon belonged. Long
had he lived and labored i'll the cause of science,
for he was practical neutrality-suspicious. you may
say cOnchologist- his days and his nights
among she-fish--he was vender of oysters.
Gouon made his advent in " this breathing
world in the city of Bordeaux or in of the
faubourgs thereof His parents being grave and
close mouthed people-a national characteristic
very naturally placed Timothy, when he had come
to years. at the occupation which he has followed
through liie-namely , fisher and vender of oys-
ters Ofthe particulars Of his crossing the Atlantic
and finding himself erect, like other = feaheress
bipeds'' here upon the levee of NewOreans, we
are sorry we have well detailed account.
Neither he nor his parents before him able to
the deeds of his early life--how many times with
furious grasp upon the iron tongs he has dragged
these unoffending fishes from their natal bed, or
murderousy thrust the knife into their bosoms and
torn them from their comfortable little homes
of these things we are not informed, and must
therefore with provoking brevity, remain as mute
as this same commodity in which he so persever-
ngly deals.
We have heard that year or two ago he IN
volved himself in the rent of small box of cor
ner shop. where his beautiful triangular lantern,
covered with red worsted, and bearing the inviting
inscription of ''Alrays OYSTERS fryd, ToSt 3En the
Shzi ll11tng ny night point OF local attrac-
ton to the hungry and waytaring, both OF which
variety of worthless it is presumed every sizeable
city contains. This speculation did not succeed.
and Timothy sold ont his stock in trade, including
the beautiful red worsted emblem Of gastronomy,
10 II hctool himself independently to the Levre,
Ike gentleman. where he might breathe purer
air, and give exercise 10 his lungs, al the time
vending riCa the inanimate quadnpeds which
lay piled up with much sang roid in his boat be-
side HIM
Often, Of a Sunday morning we have heard the
meodlonS. cultural voice of Timothy GouIon. in