River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1874-04-14
MARK LANE.
What is to be seen in the Worlds Creates,
Grain Market.
From the London city Pro-

N4H 'hV LNuuuu 1itS ffeSf.
Let us go along Lombard street and
plunge into Frenchurch street, what a
world OF commercial enterprise opens
on us Let us explore the mysteries of
Mark lane. Not farmer in the land
but has heard of Mark lane. Far away
under the Atlantic and across the CONT
nents where men speak not in our
tongue, nor believe in our creeds. nor
worship our heroes, men are sad or Joy.
full, feel themselves rich or poor, us the
telegraph brings to them the latest quo
tations from Mark lane. There are
tradesmen's shops in Mark lane, wine
merchants and printers and stationers
do business there, but to the farmers
and millers and corn merchants and
masters, Mark lane represents only one
idea, and that is the trade in grain.
The history of Mark lane NAV soon be
told. Originally the corn dealers of
the metropolis assembled at place
called Bear Quay, where now the
Custom House stands. There they met
in a coffee-house (the Ship, / believe).
Thence they moved to the Corn Ex-
change in Mark lane, which was erect
ed in l740. The building is private
property, and the money was raised in
eighty flOO shares, each share in time
being worth as much as G., 900. A year
or two since an act of Parliament was
obtained, and the market is now held
by 800 owners of GOO. Old Mark lane
consists of an open doric colonnade
within which the factors have their
stands. AT this time there are about
seventy-two stands, and more than 200
subscribers of five guineas each. For
the stands rental is paid of from ESQ
to eco a year. AT one time the place
was close borough; there were more
factors than there was room for, and
when a stand was vacant il was given
to some proprietor The excluded
were of course indignant; they planted
themselves in Mark lane; they did
business in the street outside the Ex-
change; they We'd in responsibility
with the privileged, and determined
not to be left out in the cold. Accord
ingly, they went to Parliament, and
got leave to erect second Exchange,
side by side with the old one. This
second erection was completed in 1896.
In the partition are a couple of arches,
in order that if atany time the exchang-
es were amalgamated, the whole may
be formed into one capacious market.
The new Exchange has central
Grecian Doric portico, surmounted by
imperial arms and agricultural en-
blems. Now the great merchants stick
to the old market, the small buyers
patronize the new. At the further end
of this building is seed market. At
tached to the new Exchange is an hotel,
and in an upper room of which there
are auctions of damaged cargoes. In
the old Exchange, or rather above it, is
a subscription refreshment room, known
as Jacks, where all the flour is sold.
AT 4 o'clock on a Monday afternoon the
place is crammed with millers and
bakers. In these days of free trade
foreigners abound in the market, espec-
tally Greeks, who all do business in the
neighborhood of Finsbury square. and
seem to be getting all the foreig IN trade
of the country into their hands. / sup
pose they make great deal of money,
these pale-faced foreigners. II you go
into their church in London Wall on a
Sunday morning you will see their
woman-folks all dressedlike Duchesses,
and as decorously devout. 1t is the
Greeks, not the English, who buy up
the corn shipped from the ports Of the
Black Sea, and pour it into the English
markets. Many seafaring men are also
to be met with, waiting to hear if their
cargoes are sold, and where they are to
be landed. The destination of some Of
these ships may be Leith, or Glasgow,
or Liverpool, or Dublin, or Belfast. In
London itself there is pretty fair
demand for breadstuifs all the year
round, and most of 1t j. brought to
London by water, and if the Londoner
eats he drinks as much; and IL is at
Mark lane that the malt of which his
beer and porter is made is chiefly sold.
London is also renowned for its horse
men, and it is at Mark lane that the
large dealer gets his oats. Monday
Wednesday, and Friday are market
days. 1t is, however, on Mondays that
Mark lane is in all its glory, and tina
you rub your shoulders with distin
guished Representatives of the agricul
tural districts in general and of Eas
Anglia in particular. As You enter you
find each factor at his stand, and befor,
him are specimens of his wares, such a.
wheat, barley, malt, oats, Indian corn
oil-cake, etc. The buyer comes mp,
selects few seeds, shakes them in his
hand, puts a few in his mouth, and asks
the price. If he declines he passes on
to repeat the operation elsewhere.
Mostly, few words are wasted but ]
observed no one whether buyer orseller,
can pass a stand without helping him
self to few grains and putting them in
his mouth, while he scatters the rest ON
the floor; the result is, that by the time
the market is over the place il literally
covered with grain, and the sweepings
bring in a handsome sum in the course
or year, which sum is devoted TO the
Corn Exchange Benevolent Society, A
good deal of chat goes on, and people
dart hither and thither in and out the
crowd, az they may see friend or some
one with whom they may wish to do
business. There is a peculiar physiol-
ogy about all the London markets. In
Mark lane you may fancy yourself in
Arcadia. II is the Suffolk drawl that il
chiefly conspicuous. Many of the men
are fat and red-faced, as il thew had
plenty Of good air, and food, and exer.