The Brookhaven leader., 1884-07-17
LeInsie Markets.


day and Saturday, the country people
living in the country round about
Leipsic have the privilege of coming
into town an displaying whatever wares
they have for sale. On such days the
hans has its basslt pavement covered
with n motley crowd of old women
sellers, haggling buyers, dogs. boxes,
umbrellas, vegetables, fish, wooden
ware, flowers, cake, bread and the
thousand and one things edible, useful
and ornamental which go to make mp
the everyday Germanlife. And though
the market place covers a large amount
of ground, it is not extensive enough to
accommodate all those who come into
town on market days, so that some oil
them are forced to take their places
along the curbstones in the surround
ing streets and obstruct both the side
walks and the driveways with their
long lines of stands on both sides of the
street. And the Saxon peasants who
depend upon this tri-weekly meeting OF
buyers and sellers for their support and
reap q harvest of copper and silver
large enough from one days trade to
keep them and their families until the
next market day comes around, are
keenly alive to the old proverb about
the early bird.
They begin to set up their stands
early in the evening of the preceding
day. and get things ready for the proper
display of their goods along in the
gray Of early morning, when the Leip-
sic housewives, determined 10 get the
pick of everything, start out, basket in
hand. 10 lay in their supplies of edfbles
for the next two or three days. There
is something amusing in standing
around in the market place on the
evening before a market day and see-
ing the peasants make their prepare
tons for the next days business. About
ten O'Clock the advance guard of those
who live in the near vicinity of the
town come gathering down the side
streets, the little wagon, drawn by a
dog and a woman. loaded with boards,
carpenters horses and shelving, and
with a man pushing behind, rafting
over the stones and keeping rude
sort of accompaniment to the sharp
clatter of the wooden-soled shoes worn
by the owners of the establishment.
Each peasant has his appointed spot
given to him by that most august and
powerful body, the City Council. and
for the use of which he pays a certain
rental into the privy Golfers of the mu-
nicipality.
The earlier arrivals 60 straight to the
spots belonging to them and begin tc
unload their wagons, varying the
monotony of this work by stopping now
and then to heap reproaches upon the
uneasy dog or to indulge in little
family jar. But as the half-hours are
successfully struck by the Changing bell
up there in the low tower of the old
Rathhaus, the stream of corners grows
steadily larger, so that at midnight the
market place is pretty thickly populated
by gruff-voiced men, gosSiping women
and snarling, quarreling dogs. Those
who came earliest have already gotten
their stands in order and now have q
| little time to spare in talking with those
about them or in patronizing the woman
who sells hot soup and hot sausages.
And all this hubbub, this mingling OF
| laughs, shouts, snarls, barks, this
banging of boards and Earring of shrill,
voiced, limber-tongued women, this
rapping of wooden soles against the
stones, this swearing of Understanding
but in reality most innocent German
oaths-all these sounds echo about il
the hooks and corners of the old build.
ings surrounding the market place an6
set the spectator from the New World
to imagining how this same market
place used to look three or four hun.
dred years ago, before it was paved
with stone and lighted with gas.
But an hour or so after midnight
most of the stands are up and the pro
prietors have either gone back home tc
help along the loads of goods, or, over.
powered by the drowsy god, are nod.
ding and snoring in the center of the
fragile Enclosures they have erected for
the day's Aasiness, so that for an hour
or two comparative quiet takes the
place of the previous turmoil.
Now end then, to be sure, there
arises dispute between couple
of CANNES tethered within srarling dis
lance of each other, and which IS the
signal for volley of innocent curses
from those who happen to be in the
near vicinity; now and then some be-
lated peasant comes fastening into the
square with his rafting wagon and
| clattei ing shoes, and causes a momen-
tary disturbance as he picks his cautious
way around dogs, wagons, stands and
sleeping peasants to his own proper
place. But beyond these few disturb.
ances the market place is comparatively
quiet until after three o'clock. Then
! the large wagons come rumbling along,
loaded with the goods to be sold thai
/ day. At first they come singly and the
noise caused by the arrival of one has
/ ample time to subside before another
one turns the corner. But it is not long
before there is a constant stream o.
them pouring in from all sides and 9
new hubbub arises as the unloading
begins.
The air is then full of cabbages, pc
tatoes, barrels of salt fish, bundles OF
brooms, stacks Of wooden-ware, bundles
of door-mats, piles of baskets, loaves OF
bread, cages of live pigeons, crates Of
eggs, pots of butter, live fowls and dead
ones all being unloaded from the
wagons and placed upon the stands
And all this work of unloading and
placing is, of course. accompanied by a
regular babel of tongues. Words OF
command, shouts of laughter, the
sounds of shrill- tongued disputes be.
tween belligerent fish and vegetable
wives, the objections poured forth by
some voluble peasant who finds his
rights and his toes being trampled upon
both at the same time by some incon-
siderate neighbor, the shouting al
! knr he a 10