Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-07-02
PARTISAN FAIRS.
Grand Displays of Decrepit Household
Gods, Hams, Sausnges. Etc.

okNS IA
Gods, Hams, Sausages, Etc.
Every spring two curious fairs are
held on the Boulevard. Richard-Lenoir
at Paris. The one is the ham fair,
where Bayonne hams are sold; at the
other decrepit household gods are sold
to the highest bidder. Why these two
fairs are always coupled together is UNI
known, even to the Partisan chronicler;
but such as they are, they are interest
ing still. Here, for instance, is Il pict-
ure of the fair of household goods,
ordinarily known as the '.foire dc la
c%harcutcrei," probably on the same prin-
ciple on which in England a seller of al
most every thing under the sun is called
an 'oilman." The space assigned for
the fair on the boulevard is covered with
goods heaped pell-mell in large or
small lots or the ground. Here are
secondhand books, sold at four sous
apiece; next to them a heap
of ribbons of all %colors; church
candles, plaster saints, old hats,
a broken china vase, Dresden
%statucttcs short of a leg or an arm,
rusty padlocks, agricultural implements,
warmingg-pans and Il parrot-perch. There
again are saucepans without lids, Ian
terms, a medallion of the republic, a bust
of Napoleon l., another OF Beranger,
another of the lawyer Lachaud, hunting
gear, brass trumpets, a sword, arevolv-
er, rat-traps and sign-boards. Here a
colorcd saint is praying with joined
hands before a picture q Ia Vatican.
Again, a portrait of Garibaldi supports
the heart of Jesus. A wood-cut Of
Murillo's assumption" is the COM
panion of Rubens' "Dcscent from the
Cross" Further on there is a guitar, Il
harp, scissors, pincers, a box of razors,
the French tricolor, shoemakers' lasts,
a view of the Champ de Mars and the
Trocadero, stuffed birds, etc. In ever
new varieties this world of by-gone
splendor appears before the beholdet.
And the merchants shout themselves
hoarse, allure the benevolent passer-b7,
and compel him to buy by the me'ie
force of their %eloquencc.
Only a few steps aside toward the
Bastllc is the ham fair, filling the air
with the odor of bacon. A double row
of booths runs along the boulevard.
Between bouquets of laurel are s.ls-
pended cakes of dripping. sausagcs dry
as marble, and smoked hams F; large la
sins of lard stand about smoked glr-
lic-tlavored sausages and other similar
daintles are heapcd up mountain high.
Behind the exhibits are gathered whole
families Of country folk the wife wears
. large white apron, the husband walks
about with knife in hand, inviting
everybody to try his goods. Partisan
h~ousekeepers throng the passage
through the fair. Lyons and Aries
send the finest specimens of pork, and
Bavonnc Is represented by its famous
hams. Garlic sausages represent thu
town of Wire, and from the district Of
the Loire, from Italy and Switzerland
the products are excellent. The palm,
however. belongs to Alsace and Lor'
rainc, whose pork butchers have appro-
priated most of the booths on the bou-
ievards, and the II Of S%trasbourg,
Mulhausen, Schlcstadt, Welssenberg,
and those OF the departments OF the
Mouse. the Vosges, and the Meurthe-et-
Mo:elle are the most prominent-Cor.
Chicago Times.