The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-03-19
Mark Lane.

Home Journal.
Mark Lane.
WHAT Is TO BE SEEN IN THE WORLDS
GREATEST GRAIN MARKET.
From tie London City Press
Let us 20 along Lombard street and
plunge into Fenchurch street, what a
world Of commercial enterprise opens on
us, Let US explore the mysteries Of Mark
Lane. Not a farmer in the land but has
heard of Mark Lane. Far away under the
Atlantic and across continents, where men
speak not in our tongue nor believe in
our crceds. nor worship our heroes, men
are sad or joyful, feel themselves rich or
poor. as the telegraph brings to them the
latest quotations from Mark Lane. There
are tradesmen's shops i'll Mark Lane, wine
merchants and printers and statiOnerS do
business there, but to the farmers and mil
lers and corn merchants and maltsters
Mark Lane only represents one idea, and
that is the trade in grain. The history OF
Mark Lane may soon be told. Originally
the corn dealers of the metropolis assem-
bled at place called Bear Quay, where
now the custOm-hOuse stands. There
they met in a coffee-hOuse {the Ship, | be-
| lieve). Thence they moved TO the Corn
Exchange in Mark Lane, which was erect
cd in 1919. The building is private prop
erty and the money was raised in eighty
el00 shares, each share in time being
worth as much as $4,000. a year or two
since an act of Parliament was obtained,
and the market is now held by 500 owners
of goo shares. 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
guneas each. For the stands a rental is !
paid of from thirty to sixty pounds year.
At one time the place was close borough
there were more factors than there was
room for, and when a stand was vacant it
was given to some proprietor. The eX-
cluded were of course indignant; they
planted themselves in Mark Lane; they
did business in the street outside the EX-
change they Wed in responsibility with the
privileged, and determined not TO be left
out in the cold. Accordingly they went
to Parliament, and got leave to erect a
second Exchange, side by side with the old
one. This second erection was completed
in 1926. In the partition are couple OF
arches, in order that if at any time the eX-
changes were amalgamated, the whole may
be formed into one capaciOus market. The !
new Exchange has a central Grecim DOric |
agricultural emblemS. Now the great |
merchants stick to the old market, the !
smaller buyers patronize the new. At the |
further end Of this Building is seed mar |
ket. Attached to the new Exchange is a
hotel, and in an upper room of which there |
are auctions of damaged cargOes. In the |
old Exchange, or rather abOyeit, is sub |
scriptiOn retreShment room, known as
Jacks, where all the flour is sold. At |
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. especially Greeks, who all |
do business together in the neighbOrhOOd |
of FinsbuTy square, and seem to be getting |
all the foreign trade of the country into |
their hands. | suppose they make a'great |
deal of money, these pale-taced foreigners. |
If YOU 90 into their church in London !
Wall on Sunday morning you will see
their women folks all dressed like duch-
esscs. and as decorously and gently 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 sea-faring 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 the ships may !
be Lcith, or Glasgow, or Liverpool, or Dub |
lin. or Belfast. In London itself there is a |
pretty fair demand for breadstuffS all the |
year round. and most of it is brought to |
London by water, and if the LOndOner eats |
he drinks as much and it is at Mark Lane |
that the malt of which his beer and porter |
are made is chiefly Sold London is also |
renowned for its hOrsemen, and it is at |
Mark Lane that the large dealer gets his |
oats. Monday, Wednesday and Friday |
1t IL =
DAYS that Mark Lane is in all its glory, and |
that you rub shoulders with distinguished |
representatives of the agricultural districts |
i'm general and of East Anglia IN particu- |
lar. As you enter you find each factor at |
his stand, and before him are specimens OF |
his wares, such as wheat, malt, barley, |
oats. Indian corn. oil-cake, etc. The buy |
er comes up, selects a few seeds, shakes them |
in his hand, puts few in his mouth, and |
asks the price. If he declines, he passes on |
to repeat the operation elsewhere. Most |
". few words are wasted but observed |
no one. whether buyer or seller. can pass a |
stand, without helping himself to a 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 is literally covered with |
grain. and the sweepings bring in very |
handsome sum Ill lIlt COuTsC Ol Il year. /
which sum is devoted to the Corn EX-
change Benevolent Society. \ good deal |
of chatf goes on, and people dart hither |
and thither. in and out the crowd, as they |
may see friend, or some one with whom /
they may wish to do business. There is |
peculiar physiognOmy about all the Lon
don markets. I'm Mark Lane you may |
fancy yourself almost in Arcadia. 1t is the |
Suffolk drawl that is chiefly conspicuous. |
Many Of the men are fat and rcd-faced, as /
if they had plenty of good air and food and |
exercise; they always complain, of course,
but nevertheless they don't seem to take |
much harm. The London factors are of |
the town towny, bat they are but drop |
in the bucket of humanity tOiling around, |
black swans. rGrG ares. or what you will. |
The men of Essex and Kent have peculiar |
privileges. 1t is said they continued to |
supply the city when il was rayaged by the |
plague, and London people are grateful. |
and are rich in their manifestations of it, |
\ farthing is paid by the city to the cap
tain Of every Kent or Essex barge that
brings up flour.
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