Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1879-11-05
NO. 10.
Partisan Fish Market.

I over the paving-stOnes thunder the heavy
railway vans that bring the eide
sole that YOU shall eat ar rH biaRc at
your deje,mcl, the turbot which shall fig
ure q fhOlidHdaisC on the club carte al
dinner this evening. The eide is pune
tual this morning To day. at all events.
no modern Natcl will be dishonored or
need to run himself through, like the Prince
de Condos celebrated cook, when, rs Nine.
De Sevigne tells us in one Of her most
spriehtly letters. the 'Hide" was not forth
coming during the Grand MOnarque's's stay
at Chantilly. But observe the crammed
railway vans drawn up in front Of the pa
yiliOn See how hundred are stretched
out To- asst st in removing the heavy basket
fuls of fish. The grated gates are thrown
widely open by a score Of suhaltern func-
tionaries. In the twinkling of an eve the
fish is transferred into the market, and
soon will I've unpacked and laid out on
large flat baskets, in winch il will be offered
for public auction. The noisy, animated
scene offers a striking contrast TO the aspect
presented 10y the IIalles in the days when
Paris was blGckadcd, and when three little
goldfish or Il solitary gudseon from the
Seinc-thc only specimens Of the piscine
species offered for auction-ofIered the Oc-
casion of lively competition. The sale
does not ordinarily begin till or : in the
morning, but we may now step down into
The Halle cellars, where all the UnsOld edi-
blcS are stored; where all the fresh water
fish, coming not merely from the home
rivers and lakes, bur also from those of
Holland, Prussia, Switzerland and Italy,
is preserved i'm grated tanks provided with
running water; where poultry is killed and
live rabbits and ducks are KEPT till wanted
in large wire cages; where butter, cheese
and eggs are piled up in so-called '.pigeon
holes that hold their tons, and placed as
far as possible out of the reach of the giant
rats who stalk abroad at dead of night
Each fish basket bears the name Of its SEN
der and of the tuctCjfJ, or salesman. who
Is to dispose Of it. And here he it men
toned that the Belgian aud English waters
supply by far the largest proportion of the
salt water fish which comes 10 the Paris
llallCS; half the mUSScls, too. are sent by
Belgium while, as for oysters, now that
those of Essex and OStend are bought up
for Vienna, 1t. Petersburg and Berlin,
Paris mainly relies on Courseullcs and 81.
Waast for her supply-the Marennes beds
sending nowadays hut few of their
small, green bivalvcs, and the ''Portuso"
and the "Americap,' though plentiful,
being at a discount. You have heard much
of the Paris fishwivcs, no doub.-insOlent
women Of the ARg0t type, as their reputa-
tion gocs-and, in truth, they arc not at
all refined females. In the old days, as
now, their language was distinguished by
rather too much force of expression, and
special cdicl was enacted hundred and
forty years ago, making all ladies Of the
Halle convicted Of insulting purchasers or
paSscrs-by liable to fine of five hundred
livrcs. Here. where the fish mart stands,
once stood the Kings piilOTy, sign Of his
jurisdiction over the market folks. Often
dcrs sentenced to public exposure were
shown To the crowd ON a platform revolving
round Il conical-capped tower. nigh to which
was the residence Of M. De Paris, the
Red handed Man OF the Axe, who, more
over, derived his maintenance from a tax
levied on the good people OF the Ilalles.
When jacques D'Armaguac was heheaGed
on the market place IN l4I1. before mount
ing The scailOld he prayed iOr the last time
in the fish, which, out of honor for his
rank, was washed and pcrfUned with vine
gar. Still, The aspcrsi0ns, however liberal,
failed to rob the spot of its piscatOry OdOr,
inhaling which. the noble miscreant passed
out Of the world There is an old, but er-
rOneOus legend TO the effect tl.at his children
were stationed underneath the scalTuld
during The execution, So that, by a refine
ment of cruelty, they might be baptized
with his blood.