Omaha daily bee., 1902-09-14

sold as the rare roast beef Of old Eng
land" Then there is the Leadenhall mar
ket. where poultry has been sold for 400
years, and the great markets of Covent
Garden. which sell fruits, vegetables and
flowers.
The Covent Garden market Is one Of the
largest of London. 1t is within a stones
throw of the Strand and right in the heart
CT the city. The houses consist Of vast
buildings of iron and glass, big enough for
a national exposition. They belong to the
duke of Bedford, who gets a rent Of so
much per week for every stall in them.
Convent Garden is the chief wholesale
market Of its kim for all London. The
best time to see it is shortly after day
break. l left my rooms about 4 o'clock
a. m. and walked down to them. All the
streets surrounding the market houses
proper were filled with carts and
wagons loaded with vegetables. I'm
agine the largest hay wagon you have
ever seen piled high with green cabbages,
so that the load is taller and broader than
any load of sheaves ever brought in from
the wheat fields. The cabbages are laid
in regular rows and there are thousands
Of heads Of cabbage to the load.
Then there were great loads Of pink
ldulShtbt tdN Iduloh ~ l6O II a
pigeons egg, piled up the same way, so
carefully that they formed mighty cubes
of pink balls. There were vast loads OF
spinach and carrots, onions and potatoes
and all sorts of green stuff from water
cress to asparagus.
There was a great display Of fruit in
baskets and in crates. There were oranges
from California and apples from Virginia
and also from New York and Oregon.
Many of the apple boxes were marked Tas-
mania and some South Australia, the latter
having been brought here on a forty days
trip In cold storage ships. There were
dollhouse grapes, peaches and strawberries.
The strawberries sold at Is cents a basket
and ! was offered peaches at So cents a
piece. The peaches were larger than any l
have ever seen in the United States. They
are raised under glass and are sold from
boxes Of soft white cotton, being handled
as carefully as new babies.
Among the curious things sold are green
gooseberries and rhubarb. This is the
only place | know where they call rhubarb
fruit. Rhubarb and gooseberry tarts are
served everywhere and my teeth are still
on edge from trying to masticate the So
called green gooseberry tart. The berries
are larger than ours, but so sour that they
turn the face Of a girl Of IS into that OF an
old maid OF 30 as she bites into them,
Leaving the vegetable market / went to
the building adjoining where flowers are
sold. I cannot describe the blaze Of color
and beauty which greeted me as | en-
tered. The great building. as large as one
OF our biggest depots. was filled with bios
SONS Of every description from the hot
houses Of England and the continent. There
we're carloads OF beautiful roses, vast
quantities. Of Gala lilies, coTnhowers as
blue NJ the blue OF our flag and masses of
flowers Of every tint. The English are
fond of flowers on their tables and at din
ner and luncheon every well-to-do family
has Us bouquet to loOk at. l regret to say
that many OF the hotels make a better dis
play Of flowers than OF food.
A little later In the day there is a great
retail market at Covent Garden. There are
also fruit auctions, where fruit OF all
kinds Is sold In large quantities and where
many OF the local dealers come to buy,
The business is enormous, the sales of a
single day running into tens OF thousands
Of pounds.
have talked with some Of the mer-
chants. They tell me that the London mar