The sun., 1898-09-25
WARRINGTON MARKETS DECLINE
Things That Have Taken Awny It's Custom
erS, According to n Butcher.

Things That Have Taken Awny It's Custom
erS, According to n Butcher.
THE day OF the hlg retail market has passed."
said Washington Market butcher to Sun
reporter. Five or six years ago Washington
Market was known by evory housewife within
twenty miles. and every stall had as many Gus
toners rs 1t could accommodate Look around
now. Every third stall is without tenant, and
there are not enough customers in the build
ing to keep half the dealers awake. Hardly
q week passes that some dealer does not close
up shop and open place Of business on one Of
the avenues uptown. Just now we are making
an effort to save the market from complete col
lapse. and we have applied to Comptroller
Coler for cheaper rents. but Washington Mar
ket is doomed.
To-day every butcher. grocer and butter
dealer who has n store In the city delivers goods
to customers and charges nothing for the ser
vice. Our customers are scattered over a large
territory. and it would be impossible to deliver
goods. That is one OF the reasons for the poor
business being done here. Another Is that peo
pie are filed with pride that revolts against
carrying basket. Women used to come over
here from Jersey City and Hoboken with big
baskets and buy enough food to last week.
Now they order from the nearest dealer An
other thing that helped the market to go down
but only in small way-is the fact that
some OF the dealers here used to think that
they could not succeed without exhibiting their
wit They made fun Of customers, and 80 some
OF the customers never came back. l remember
one woman who came back once with some
beef, which she said was so tough that she
could not eat 1t. What kind OF O FIRE did you
cook II on2' asked the salesman who had served
her. Why, coal FIRE. OF course she said.
That accounts for It, replied the salesman.
You should have used charcoal The woman
started away with her roast Of beef. and as she
did 50 the dealers standing around who had
heard the conversation gave her laugh. She
saw she was being guyed. and she never came
back. The market was notorious for that sort
OF thing years ago. but there has been com.
plete reform in that direction. Customers are
now treated with all respect.
We have tried different schemes to revive
interest in the market. but they all failed. We
thought advertising would help us. and couple
of years ago we started an association. Each
member was assessed 81 a week. and the
money was used to advertise the market in
some OF the daily papers. We tried that scheme
three or four times. but 1t didn't stem the tide.
What's true OF Washington Mark ct is also true
Of the other public markets. jefferson Market
isn't what 1t used to be, and Central Market has
seen its best days. There are few dealers
here who supply the restaurant trade and have
no transient customers. They are anxious for
the market to remain in existence. but the
small fry like me. who have to depend on the
common people for business. don't care how
soon the end comes-the sooner the better.
Still. II will be sad. In a way to have old Wash
ington Market pass out OF existence. but all the
old landmarks are disappearing"