Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1867-03-02


escape him that he actually died of broken
heart. can vouch for tho truth of all
| these statements, because l have obtained
them from the son of the broken. hearted
man, who is now the keeper of the butter
market. Is not this incrediblei
| Let us now visit tradesmen who pompous-
| ly call themselves dealers in cooked meats,
but whom the people call by their true
name, which is arle9uins dealers. The arle-
guin (harlequin) explains ITSELF 1t indicates
dish composed of every sort of bit, like
the motley -colored habit of the hero of the
Italian pantomime 1t is an indescribable
medley, an odious mixture. Fragments of
fishes bob-nob in plates with vestiges of dry
meats, and bones Of all species of poultry,
together with spinach and potatoes,-all
saturated with liquid containing more or
! less grease, as it pleased the sauces of yester-
day or day before yesterday to deposit there.
Some peoples appetite is sharpened by the
sight of this dish. Hunger is good thing
in its wayl Twelve or fifteen people as
sembled ia one of the corners of Division
No. 12 drive the sale of this terrible mer-
cbandize. They draw their supplies from
the dishwashers of wealthy houses, or from
the more important restaurants, who sell
them for an insignificant sum of money the
unappetizing 0mnium o. all the tablecloths.
Some of them sell stale pastry too. On
their crowded stall are to be seen all the
varieties of stale dessert from wine tarts to
those granite-like set.cakes, which resist all
efforts of the teeth. These dealers have
fewer customers than the others, for if the
robust viscera of the customers wish solid
food, It's not of this sort. Pastry is good
for girls. No, no, no it's your real arle-
quins dealers who drive the prosperous
trade. They sell some $4,000 or $4,000
worth of arlequins annually. One of them
married his daughter the other day, and
gave her $4,000 in dowry. At breakfast
time you may every morning see poor fam
ishing devils waiting in front of their shops
each Tor his turn to come. You ought 10
see that sight, if only to know the worth of
a piece of dry bread.
If you are bold, and your gorge does not
rise beforehand at very thought on it, elbow
your way through the crowd around the
stall. 1t is the hour when the supply is
delivered. The dealer is on her legs, fresh,
fat, smiling, with mountain of broken
bread on one side of her, and q pyramid of
dark grease, the sombre production of mys-
terious MEETINGS on the other side of her.
Behind her is shelf groaning beneath
many packet covered with bit of news
paper. She opens them one after the other,
indicating the contents more or less pom.
pously, and then she empties them on a
plate. AS she does this the customers in
the second rank push those of the front
} rank, while all Around are eager eyes staring
through the wired fence.
She wheezes: "Here is bone of baked
leg of mutton, for only 8 sous here is rice
7 and omelette, 4 sous baked caulihowers,
) sous who wants the caulifowersl This
aldo oh 2N fSha fn1lo ~, ho ,,oca Of
paper, and hands it to the applicant.) "A
blanquette of veal, 3 sous; who wants the
JlanQuette?" Five or six hands are extend.
ed; one seizes the paper, and throws down
his sous, while the lucky fellow retires
l with beamng face, murmurs of disap.
:. pointment are heard all around him. "Mame
l Henri if you've aEy chickory 2" asks q
S regular customer. She replies: "Wait q Bit
t wait bit, and we'll see." Then she goes on
: Wheeling "Three artichokes with DIT OF
S sole," (she dips her finger in the sauce, and
, carries it to her MOUTH "a tip-top article
$ 4 sous" (She opens paper dropping oil.
Here is salad. Who wants salad2 2 sous
S Here is charming piece of beef, streaket
t fat and lean, 12 sous. (Murmurs of admira
: tion.) A voice ventures to bid sous for it
S She replies You are pretty fellow Roas
y beef for sous Well, well, take it afte
s all, and be off with ye!"
C She continues wheeling as she open:
h packet after packet, and the plates covered
: with broken victuals crowd the marble
r counter more and more, and the crowd o
e her customers becomes larger and larger
c until all passage in her neighborhood is in
a tercepted. Now and then, to the annoy
= ance of customers whose mouths water a
c the glance she gives, she folds up again
II paper she opens, and puts it aside. 1t is
: tit-bit which some neighborng cheap eating
f house keeper will serve up that same even
s. ing to his patrons under some most appeti
1t zing name. Somebody comes up,nods slip:
J, in her hand a sou and receives in exchange
t, a large packet, strongly tie9. This take
r place again and again. | ask an old woman
=, busily engaged in filling her basket, wh'
II stands by my side, to unravel this riddle t.
IS me. She replies: "'Tis minced meat a
n one sou packet" found it hard to re
IS press wry face. She exclaimed: 80, sir
g you can buy here with confidence; all i.
y good meat here" Had I uttered anothe
). word the old woman would have insisted
n upon my tasting it-just to see. So tool
is to my heels.