St. Tammany farmer., 1903-04-04
SUNDAY MORNING FISH SALE.
Scenes and Incdd ents of the Regular
Performance Mt Catherine Mar
ket, New York.

If there are people who doubt that
New York is the most cosmopolitan
city in the world. their views must be
changed by visit to the great fish
sale which is held in Catherine Market
on Sunday morning, says the Times, OF
that city. Every nationality under the
sun is represented in the crowd that
besieges the market, but Greeks and
Hebrews predominate. Russians, slavs,
Hungarians, Frenchmen and Germans
iostle the Irish contingent, and China
men bargain for their "blit of fish
with the others. The collection OF
swarthy faces, piercing dark eyes,
patriarchal boards and crisp hair, and
the variety of costumes that are seen,
would delight the heart of seeker
after the curious.
In summer the sales begin at sun
rise and in winter at $3.50 o'clock. Bas-
kets of all shapes and sizes are used
to carry away the purchases, and whole
families, comprising father, mother,
and children of assorted sizes, stagger
home under a load that a self-respect-
ing morse would Dalk at.
Fish peddlers buy their supplies here
for the week and trundle them away
on barrows, to be resold at leisure.
Many of the private families who re-
side in the Ghetto and asjacent quar-
ters carry off enough sea food to last
them until the following Sunday, thus
defeating the ambition of the peddlers
to turn an honest penny. Oysters are
sold by the barrel, and eels are picked
up alive from the big tanks of water
and delivered to the customers in
squirming masses.
The din attendant on the sale is
frightful, and so excitable arc the pa
irons of the market that to the un-
initiated it would seem as though a
race war was in full swing. The
strident voices Of the fish sellers cry
ing their wares mingle with the shrill
tones Of women, who haggle over half
cent, and above them all rises the
howl of the peddlers. who dart here
and there seeking bargains.
The fish is perfectly fresh, as it is
supplied by the dealers in Fulton
market, who keep large quantities
alive in tanks. These dealers have
sales every day in the week, and are
well content to give the Catharine
market habitues chance to buy
cheap food on the Sabbath morning.
All the sea food is sold at sur
prisingly low price. Nice cod can be
had for six cents a pound. and few
pennies will buy big basketful of
smelts. Eels, some of which are
big as the muscular arms of the ped
dlers, go for Is cents, and job lot
of fish may be had for, half dol.
lar.
The market men manage to extract
a great deal of fun. from the sales.
They continually crack jokes, ancient
and brand new. When one of them
was asked why the foreign element
was so fond of fish he responded
with grin: ''The divil a reason can
l give except maybe that it's good
brain food, and Lord knows them
folkses want that" Another man
held up an enormous eel and told a
wonderful yarn about it's capture be-
fore he offered it at 35 cents. His
competitor at the next stall shouted:
''That's big fish story, and you
can't weigh it because the scales are
wanting
At nine o'clock a bell rings, and
the market is supposed to be cleared
within Is minutes. By that time al
most every stall and table is bare,
and if it occasionally happens that
there is any residue it is thrown to
the small boys who wait at the curb
stone for the spoils. Then the mar
ket is shut tight, the motley throng
disappears, and the curtain falls on
one of the most original scenes to
be found anywhere on Manhattan
Island.
His Engaging Remark.
Mr.. Dumhead-Nelson was coming
to call, but l told him you would be
engaged this evening
Miss Olemade (rapturousiy)-O, O,
William!-Princeton Tiger.