The times., 1899-04-09
DISPLAYS IN THE
CITY MARKET HOUSES
Enough Provender in Stalls
to Feed an Army.
Summer Produces Kept in Cold
Storage for Winter Use.
Stroll of Reporter Through nn
Arctic Tunnel Loaded With
Delightful Esculents.

The market houses of the city are un-
doubtedly the busiest places in Washing
ton on Saturdays between the hours of
9 O'Clock and noon. These great build
ings, which hold within their walls food
enough to feed the people in the District
for several days without renewal of the
supply, begin their work in the early dawn
Of the morning. The hucksters and dealers
who dispense produce to the local multi
tudes go to the place of their days la
bors before many thousands of the popu-
lation have awakened to the fact that they
are hungry and by 6 o'clock have arranged
their stands in tempting array. Meat
enough is stored there to feed thousands of
soldiers, unless exception is made of the
lads who ate embafmed beef canned roast
beef and other equally unpalatable varie-
ties of beef, while with the army in Cuba.
There is much doubt as to the capacity of
the market to hold enough of any kind of
food to satisfy the hunger of an ordinary
sized army of these starved beings. There
is butter galore and bread by the hundred
weight; fresh vegetables of every descrip-
ton; fruits of the tropics and the tenn
perate north; cakes OF every known va
riety in the bakers art, and fish from the
muddy depths of the Potomac and from
the clearer waters OF the sea and inland
lakes. To hungry man who visits the
market without the means of Immediately
partaking of the delicacies there displayed
the sight is maddening and enough to
give one an inclination to commit petty
larceny
The Washington markets are without
doubt among the very best in
the world. Their cold storage fa-
cilities are excellent and proba-
bly, no city in the country can boast of
establishments of this character better
equipped than the buildings here To be
sure, there are larger ones in the great
cities of the country. but those in Wash
ington are said to outstrip all others in
point of perfect equipment
On busy day the receiving rooms Of
the cold storage plants are a veritable bed
lam of motion and sound The truck farm
ers from the surrounding country bring
| their products to be stored for better
| prices. The unloading Of their vehicles is
accompanied with much confusion. Black
porters are to be seem rushing here and
there pushing trucks loaded with fresh,
| crisp produce. The continual cry of Heads
| up. boss!" to the bewildered outsider. to-
! gether with the shouts of the drivers to
their horses and the loud-toned orders of
those directing the displacement of goods
all contribute to paralyze the senses OF
wanderer in the bosterous throng.
| The marketmaster OF the Centre Market,
upon request of reporter to be allowed
to see the cold-storage department, COM
| piled very courteously, After giving some
| necessary directions to the men who were
| rushing hither and thither with trucks, he
beckOned the reporter to follow. The way
| lead through a dark chamber full OF Tn
| canny sounds to a deep pit which. to a
superstitous person, might have presented
| some dread. but it seemed from further
developments that the yawning chasm was
not bottomless for presently large plat
form came slowly creeping from the depths
| below. When il had reached the level of
the floor the marketmaster and the re-
porter stepped aboard and were borne 10
| the next floor above, which was much
! lighter and brighter than the mysterious
chambers below. labyrinth OF eorri-
| dors walled on one side by ponderous doors
] and on the other by the walls of the build
! ing which abut the inside court extend
along the entire length of the building.
! With warning to enter quickly the mar
ketman opened the nearest door. Obey
| ing the injunction the reporter found him.
self in large compartment around the
! walls of which extended coils of pipes
| glittering with frost. The silence of the
| place was oppressive and the voice OF
the guide vibrated through the air with
startling distinctness.
| Although the air outside was cod and
| raw and the reporter was well Clothed in
his winter garments. still the frigtdity OF
| the room was keenly felt and reminded him
OF the blizzard weather in February.
Around the walls were piled like cord wool
in woodward quantities of dark-looking
objects which. upon examination, proved
! to be shad. They were frozen solid and
/ looked like scuptured stone. Before the
days of cold storage" the marketmaster
| explained, game. fruits, meats, and veg
etables could only be secured in szason,
and the stock left unsoId on the markt
| stands spoiled or had to be given away.
This process has done away with the
stupendous loss to hucksters by the freez-
ing of goods of all sorts so that they may
be kept fresh and wholesome until sold. -
Toward the close of the shad season. y
he said. when some few who have not
cared for the delicacies during the season
come to the realization that they want
shad, the dealer who has had foresight
enough to keep supply in cold storage
| will make big money as there are many
who do not know until the proper time
has past that they want something OBJ
tainable only during limited periods" A
number Of buckets were piled on the floor
| the reporter what they contained. the
marketmaster made the startling reply
that they were filled with bakers eggs.
] Formerly, he said, bakers were in
the habit of buying eggs by the gross and
very often before being used they would
get broken or spoil. Now all that is nec-
essary is to break the shell, separate the
| yolk from the white and place them here
to be used whenever wanted. The shrewd
1 ha
are cheap, as they will keep for any
length of time when placed in cold storage
There are many rooms of similar char
acter to this. In them are miles of coiled
pipe which glitters the year round with
| snow-white frost. The outside light is shut
| out and the rooms are Illuminated with
electric lamps, the power for which Is sup
piled from motors in the basement. Three
| large refrigerating machines furnish the
cold. Each is of sufficient capacity to sup
ply the entire plant, but three are consid-
cred necessary to guard against a rising
temperature, which might be caused by
the arrangement of one or two of the ma
chimes. In the engine, room beneath tbs
ground are huge hydraulic pumps, whicl
force the ammonia-charged brine through
the piping TO each apartment where tht
temperature can be gauged at will.
In these frigid apartments butter is
changed to bricks as hard as iron; fish t
shining masses of onyx and silver, lard &c
substance of the consistency of alabaster
and meats to huge masses resembling ivo-
ry The change which takes place in articles
placed under the influence of the polal
stiffness of the numerous chambers is il
no way derogatory to the quality of th'
food, and can be kept for any length o
time, provided the cold is maintained be
low the freezing point.