Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-04-20

our-oF-DooRs MISUNDERSTANDING
along Ontario street the other day, the wind
blowing violently and the dust driving in
clouds, q sudden gust of wind overturned a
light cash box on a butchers stall, and sew
eral dollars in scrip went flying on the
wings of the wind. While the owner and
two or three offeious by-standers were busy
recovering the fugitive "stamps," another
flow of wind disengaged his wrapping-psPer
from the weight that secured it, and that
went whirling through the cir in pursuit of
the lost treasure. Wishing to see how these
annoyances would effect the philosophy of
the honest trsdesman, we resolved to con-
dole with him a little in his misfortune.
On his return to his stand with a few Of his
recovered scrips in his hand, we remarked
to hiIn it was rather an unfavorable day for
out-of-doOr marketing. Said he, "If our
City Fathers had 10 stand out here all
weathers as we poor wretches do, l have an
opinion they would have some better ar
rangements for marketing than are afforded
u.s." As he spoke, the dust wal eddying in
clouds, the air was thick with the minute
particles. "LOok at my STALL" added he;
ct paid seventy-ive dollars for my stock
this morning now, how much would you
give for it,"
This query directed eur attention to the
articles he had before HIM exposed fer sale.
The morning was warm and spring like, and
his perishable commodity lay exposed to
the heat of the suns rays. This had soft
ered the fatty exterior of his meat, and
rendered it as adhesive to the floating dust
as birdlime. A prime sirloin which he
pointed out to US on his block was perfectly
b~lackened, and a quarter Of veal he had
hanging on a rail, which he assured US was
fresh this morning, was so discolored that it
was hardly saleable.
"Look here, continued he, placing a joint
of meat in his scale Ia Chatillon spring bal
ance,) are you scholar enough to tell me
what this w~eighs?" We cast our eyes upon
the dial to watch where the index hand
rested, and found it it in an oscillatOry
motion which deied all our scholarship to
determine exactly what the article did
weigh. The wind beating upon the dish or
platform OF the scale kept it in such con-
tinual motion, that the index hand did not
point to one spot upon the dial for q moment
together. We could not tell the weight of
the article.
"Mr. Stewart the scales of weights and
measures, was sound here a day or two ago."
the stall keeper continued, and charged
me fifteen cents to test the correctness OF
my balance. He tells me that complaints
are made to him that the public are cheat
ed in the weight. With such arrangements
as the city authorities provided for doing
business, can you tell me how a man is to
know whether he is cheating himself or the
public 2"
Not being able to furnish the information
called for, we left him to his troubles. But
the insight thus accidentally afforded US
into the nature of sidewalk marketing re-
vealed at one view, the gross injury to the
public, produced by our want of a commo-
dious market building. A community of
sixty thousand persons are largely supplied
with fresh meat by these out o'door mer-
chants. Probably there are fifty stalls
around the market house and along the
sidewalk on Ontario street. Each of those
on an average transact business to the
amount of forty dollars each market day /;
their gross annual operations foot up to
nearly half g million dollars. Now in this
considerable item of domestic interchange,
the waste is p~rodigious, arising from the
fact that the dealer has no way of his per
ishable property. A word may be said in
behalf Of these tradesmen, that the compe-
ton is so keen amongst them, that the re-
tail price of their staple commodity is gen.
orally lower than that charged in meat
shops, or than the prices that rule in ether
large cities. If buyers wish a tender sirloin
steak for dinner daring the coming hot
months, they have their choice of paying
the price charged by the meet shop keepers,
or of purchasing it OIL the sidewelk, washed
with the rain, peppered with the dust, or
blackened and half-ruined with the sun
according as the weather may prevail This
we say is great waste, the article is half ru-
ined through the want of proper provisions
for its preservation. As a desideratum
which stands before all others in public i'm
portance we beg to urge upon the attention
Of our newly elected common Council the
necessity of their taking immediate steps
towards the erection Of a commodious mar
ket house, fully commensurate with the re-
quirements of the city.