Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-12-19
BlLllNGSGATE.
How Fresh Fish Are Sold at the Cele-
bTated London Market.

I HOW fresh ilsh Are Sold ht the Cele-
brated London Market.
/ The great gong striking the hour Of 5 in
/ the morning announces that the statesmen OF
/ the market are to begin business, SAYS the
! bulletin Of the United States fish commits
| sion, and with a hurry-scurrying rush they
/ reach their desks, surrounding which are a
number of low benches or tables upon which
/ are placed the fish that are put upat auction,
sold, and sp.e eddy cleared away to give place
for new stock, this process being repeated
over and over again until the sale closes
As fast the fish arrive In Billingsgate
after the days sales begin, they are rapidly
! disposed Of at auction, the statesmen using
their long account books instead of hammer
to knock down the goods One cannot i'm
agine more novel sight than can he wit
messed here in the early morning when bust
ness Is at IL full swing, the porters rushing
hither and ihither with packages Of fish on
their heads, quite regardless OF whom they
may Jostle o. bedaub, for no one stands on
ceremony, aud pOliteness cannot he observed
in the midsi of pushing, surging crowd,
every indiv dual OF which seems to think
only of the business that he Is intent upon.
The only comparison, ;" says Sala, II can
| find for the aspect, the sights and sounds OF
] the place is--a rush-a rush hither and thither
!
! apparently without motive but really with
a business Ike and engroSsing preoccupation
| for fish and all things fshy. Baskets borne
ON the shoul iers Of the facchini OF the place
skim through the air with such rapidity that
/ you might AXE them to be flying fish Out Of
the WY! Here is an animated salmon leap
Stand ON one sidel shoal of fresh herring
| will swallow you up else
! On all sides may he heard above the gen.
/ eral DIN tbs stentorian tones of the loud
| voiced statesmen, who, perched on their stands
| aud raised sImewhat above the heads of the
| hurrying crowd around, shout their calls to
/ attract buyers. From one we hear the cry:
| Here, We 5, le buyers, sole buyers, sole buy
| ers, who'll have this fine trunk OF solesin
shile rival calls out: This way, ye had
dock buyer, come on, paddock buyers, give
us an offer for this lot of fine haddocks.n
| Others cell out for ''cod buyers" ''plaice
buyers" &C, through the whole list,
perhaps, OF edible fishes, until the con-
fusion Of sounds is so great that a stran-
ger can scarcely comprehend how business
can be cond Icted under such circumstances,
and IL would be impossible for one who has
not seen 1t 20 form any conception Of such a
scene as may he witnessed ON any weekday
morning at BiliIngsgate.
One thing is more remarkable perhhp-
than anything else, namely, the method Of
| bidding, Which seems peculiar to the place,
| Tor, though we tried hard to catch the sound
| OF a buyers voice or to detect a sound by
which he IL dictated his bid, we ingloriously
failed IN e-ery instance, which was rather
| notifying when we were made aware that
the sharp eyed or keen cared salesman had
received dozens of offers from persons in the
crowd almost at our elbow
As fast "a the fish are sold they are removed
by porters, and the vacant places filed by
new material until the sales end for the iay
While fish pre- sold at auction in Billingsgate
the system II selling 10y Dutch auctions gen
orally previ lis in the markets of the smaller
| ports where there are no licensed auctioneers
Chicago Times