Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-04-24
LONDON MARKETS.

The Enormous Quantity of Food Required
to Supply the Wants of L%ondoners.
Last year in Billingsgate alone and
its neighboring streets over LAG, OOc
tons of fish were la6ded. In much less
time than it would take a lady to fly
herself for an afternoon call I have
een the contents of fields and fields OF
potatoes and cabbages unloaded in
Covent Garden. The Monday before
Christmas 2, 139 tons of beef, represent
ing a herd of about 6,519 bullocks, were
hooked in the Smithield market, and
on the following day, a Tuesday, I had
acapital luncheon on board the Elder.
slie, a steamship just arrived from New
Zealand with %, 900 carcasses of prim.
mutton. The day before Christmas ]
was loafing in the Leadenhall market
an ungrudging bazaar, where, accord
ing to your fancy. you can get as LITTLE
as a dead lark or as much as a living
tiger. The place was SO encountered
with poultry, meat, game and other
provisions that the difficulty Of the
buyers to get t the sellers was only
equalled by the.impossibility of the lat
ter to sally on the former. A Sparks
Ambassador once told Charles II. that
provisions were sold in that mart
than in all Spain. l bet that if the
Queen would kindly take the present
Spanish representative round the same
place her Majesty would probably hear
the same speech.
The Englishman lives very wellwhen
he can, and always wastes. I specu.
late that twice the actual population Of
London, if it were Dutch, would live
here luxuriously on what is hardly sufi-
Gent for it's present inhabitants.
Long has England ceased to produce
enough food for her children. In an
average year, say 1888, the London
central markets sold 181,O29 tons Of
English meat and as much as AZ, 1884
ions of foreign meat, 26,798 tons OF
which were from the United States.
Each year the proportion of foreign
meat landed here increases. The full
official report for the year 1884 has not
been published. but 1 know tha6 Aus
tralia and NewZealand have, during that
year. sent over here no less than $780,
1856 carcasses of mutton. The Ameri-
can trade, which has been dull for a
little while, is looking up again. and
those interested will no doubt hearwith
pleasure that the private company,
principally composed of statesmen hav-
ing their stores at Smithfield Market,
which had built hard by some cold-air
stores for the keeping Of all p~erishable
provisions, are considerably extending
them. These stores can already take
in from 800 to 900 tons of meat, and
will soon be capable of sheltering
double that quantity. Statesmen will,
therefore, be able to keep the meat as
long as theycan get a remunerative price
for it, instead of having to throw it
away after a certain time regardless Of
loss. have visited these stores. Their
temperature, kept down by splendid.
Hazlam engines, was almost Siberian.
The charges for renting them is two
and one-half pence per week for eight
pounds, which is cheap, and lower
rates are granted for larger quantities
In one week only, the week ending
January %. 1885, the United States
and Canada had landed 5 1920 sacks Of
flour in London. In the week ending
January 25, 1885, 800 cwts. of Ameri.
can cheese were unshipped in the port
of London. exclusive of consignments
by rail. The American cheese ia IN
great favor in this country. No cam
tankerous gourmet is able now to point
to the least difference between the for
eign article and the best English Ched.
dar, and it is just three pence cheaper
per pound. Many London houses take
nothing but american cheese. The
national product is losing much ground.
In one week alone in July last, Mr..
Lowell, of the great firm of Lowell,
4 Christmas, West Smithfield, tells mo
that he has sold 1000 American
cheeses. He kindly takes me into his
enormous cellars, which '.an e;sily no,
commodate 5000 boxes OF the article.
and explains that he never procnras aay
cther,. London Cor. AZ j. Swn.