Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1867-03-02
SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH 2, 1867.

partment. To hear an auctloneer in the
Great Markets is a pleasure one ought to
enjoy at least once in a lifetime To under
stand what he says is n feat beyond the
reach of mortal man. The astutest people
guess at it. 1t is an abrupt continuous hum,
amid which numerals burst like the explo-
sion of artillery or the rattle of musketry.-
When there is an auction going on at each
of the eight stands at the same time, the
spectator at distance thinks he hears i'm
mense watchmen's rattles, agitated by con-
vuisive hands. While this uproar is taking
place at each stand, a descanter puts both
hands to his mouth to form speaking
trumpet, and bawls the new fishes he spreads
on the bench Besides the eight stands for
sea fishes, where the sales annually amount
to S2,000,000, there is one reserved for fresh
water fishes, which sells about 100000
worth of fishes year. We may regard as
portion of this market the retail sale of small
Seine fishes, driven by fishermen's wives on
one of the outside sidewalks.
1t is not far from the fish market to the
butter-market. We meet, at its entrance,
the egg-deaers. 1t is not often farmer
| raises SD many chickens as to warrant him
sending them directly to market The greater
part of the eggs brought to Paris, consequen-
! tly, come through the egg-dealers. They go
from farm to farm, and from rural market to
Market picking up dozen here and doz-
en- there, and sending them up to Paris iE
large quantities. Eggs are sold at private
sale. When buyer and seller come to terms
| they send for the viewer, who is the only
judge who can officially attest the quality of
| the eggs. There are sixty egg-viewers in the
Great Markets. Their business is divided
into three successive operations: counting,
running through the ring, and viewing
| Counting consists in verifying the alleged
nomber of egg, from which the broken eggs
are subtracted; ring running detects the
eggs which are under size, and consequently
of less value viewing proper eliminates
spotted, bad, frozen and lined eggs BY an
odd custom of trade, if the alleged number
of eggs prove ten less than the real number,
the seller pays the counting; if there be
above forty spotted eggs, he pays the view
ing. Otherwise both these charges fall on
the purchaser. A viewer earns S1.40 on what
he calls his good days. His business is ir-
regular and fatiguiDg He is sometimes
obliged to remain forty eight hours bent
over baskets, and this commonly in cellars,
for eggs cannot he viewed except in place
removed from daylight He views eggs with
candle before him; he takes them two by
two Zone in each hand) aud holds them to-
gether before the light, giving them slight
rotatory notion with his fingers to enable
him to inspect all around the she'll To dis.
cover from the slightest indication the con
di;ion of the egg concealed in the she'll is a
much more complicated science than may be
believed, and it requires long, special studies
A viewer recently said to me ~ have been
in this business these fifteen years, and every
day learn something new" Paris annually
consumes 240,000,000 eggs. Statistician:
have discovered that each inhabitant OF
Paris consumes on an average 200 eggs, 24(
pounds of fruit, 90 pounds of butter, ant
q pounds of cheese annually. Dry cheese:
alone are included in this last figure; cheese
like Gruyere, Roquefort, ETC., are called dr.,
cheeses. New cheeses (Brie, Neufchatel anC
Montlhery, ,)are sold to much larger amount
The latter are almost the only cheeses sole
| wholesale in the Great Markets. Dry cheese
are chiefly sold wholesale in the shops o
the Rue DIES Lombards and Rue de la Yer
rerie. The sale at the Great Markets take
place only twice a week, and it is not large
as the greater part even of the new cheese
, are sent directly to the retail dealers.
J Wholesale butter consequently throne
pre- eminently in this portion of the Grea
Markets. 1t comes there daily in innumer
able Jumps and pounds, whose quality varie
e with its origin. Paris annually makes wa
e with 2S,000,000 lbs. of butter, and of thi
e quantity 1S,000,00 lbs. are sold at tn
Great Markets. If we edge our way througl
l enormous baskets of eggs and Jumps of but
S ter placed in order ON the ground in thei
p white cotton envelopes, we shall reach tn
5 centre of the butter. market. Here we com
c upon an odd-lookipg thing. Imagine
C wooden tower, from which fall four draw
e bridges in the form of a cross. They al
y narrow and they are long. When the fou
l. persons who gesticulate and scream III
n articulate sounds at the entrance of each o
c these drawbridges are seen from some dii
e tance,-while crowd of people in violen
C excitement seethe and surge around then
e one would think that he witnesses a rio
y or saw insurgent peasents besieging the fol
G tress in which their lord had taken refuge
" and whose entrance was defended by fou
r valorous champions. But when one raise
S his eyes towards the summit of the towe
I one is surprised to see--instead of archer
armed from head to fo0t-yery quiet clerk
= peacefully writing in immense blank books
e with linen sleeves drawn over their coats
l. One at last sees the tower is nothing but a
j. accounting desk, the valorous champion
n mere auctioDeers, the four draw bridges sale
J. benches, and the mob of insurgents mer
;; buyers and sellers AS for the dagger whic
r, most of them hold in their hands, it is
e mere probe, which they call 'lance," an
e use to taste the butter offered on sale. A
d it is necessary to distrust the externi
g layers of butter, each buyer thrust his prob
S as deep as he can, gives it twist, at
o brings out with it small portion of th
o butter. You are all attention, hope, goo
B. readerl Well, said the buyer puts b
o of butter into his mouth. AS he tast,
&. about 100 Jumps one after the other, wei
o he to swallow the sample tasted he woul
h be sure of nausea long before he had taste
if the 99th lump. Consequently, after turnin
L. it with his tongue two or three times
D. give his palate tull opportunity to make i
o. acquaintance he spits it out. beg pardo
,e for entering into this detail, but it is indi
ir pensably necessary in order that may r
err veal to you one of the strargest trades
K know. The space where the buyers stan
ID and the edges of the sales benches a
rs covered with straw, destined to catch the
ID bits of butter. After the sales are ende
ut the porters collect this straw, saturated vii
ID butter, and sell it to people whose nam
1e we consent to leave in the shade. The