The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-27

got down town much quicker than before. A trip to the French Market no longer coupled too much of their time, Besides that. servant, dispatched with a basket. could bes counted upon to get home w'tn the purchase m time for break Iast It is doubtful if the founders of the French Market, which. by the yvay is under city control, ever conceived tbat its future usefulness to the community az large would be dependent upon mod ern methods In street raiiroading: but sucn IS the fact. Its location on the levee makes the transportation of its pro- oucts easy. All sorts of craft loaded with tne vegetables, fruits, fish, meats and game of wide area land almost at lis doors. ''s
 The market as a whole Is divided ;nto Tour parts. the first being devoted to meats and the other three respectively 10 fruits, vegetables and fish. The meat staiis are occupied mainly by Gascons, otherwise known as the Yankees of France. The ,sascons have a monopoly or the retail meat business in New Or leans Concerning them one sometimes hears an interesting observation. What IS the use of setting up early in the morning if one is to meet Gascon?" is question asked with Creole naiyete.
 One division of the market is the squat ting ground of the Choctaw Indians. who seh medicinal plants, as we'll as various herbs used in concocting ''gumbo'' soup. which Is famous Creole dish. Obliyi- ous Of the pushing crowd, they sit silent ana deJected, forming a strange contrast to the hustle about them. On nearly any pleasant day one may see little pap ooses strapped to boards and propped against nearby stall just as Indian babies were tended hundreds of years ago. This tribe. which regularly invades the market, lives on the further shore of Lake Pontchartrain, under the benefi- cent rule of Chief Mahor-Aby.
 The average visitor to this quaint old market place seldom finds it in his power to repress smile when he sees a fash tonabiy gowned young lady. bent on making a good purchase. step up to a cnicken tethered to a coop and judicious- ly feel it's breast for evidence of plump ness. The fowl may sQuawk and flap Its wings as much as 1t plelses; the young woman generally makes a thor ough inspection of the chickens vaoir- dupois. If it is up to weight the usual haggiing takes place; and, after the
 money Is paid, the chicken is thrust head downward into a capacious basket and la demoiselie passes on to other stalls.
 Rich ond poor alike patronize this old market ;the one for the delicacies 1t offers, the other for low prices charged for necessities. For surprisingly little money the toiler on the levee may buy a Sunday dinner that. for variety at least, is truly prtncely. Many of the rich do not visit the market in person. preferring to send servant, usually an old colored nanny: and one of the most amusing sights the place affords is to see one Of these .0f n t.~1@ dickering and haggiing with the shrewd vendors of to-day. It can safely be said to ''mammy's" credit that sine rarely gets the worst of the bargain,
 The French Quarter has been very lit- tie invaded by the spirit of modern pro- gross. Round about the market place one sees things to-day practically as they were 150 years ago--the same eongIomer- alton of languages. the same old build ings, the same quaint customs. Uptown. a great city is swiftly Ieaping into world prominence by virtue of it's marvellous expansion of commerce and its growth in manufactures. Nearby ehyscrapers raise their lofty heads. trolley cars pour through the broad streets in endless pro- cession. new and modern buildings are being erected and on every hand one sees in the tireless energy and hustle of the people evidences of the splendid business enthusiasm that is fast converting the old South into the New.
 But of all this the old French Market knows nothing. and evidently cares less. Its ways are the ways of century gone. Its army of small ''marehands' still cry, ''Bon Marche. Madame. Bon Marche!'' Beneath it's wide-spreading roof the Ba- bel of strange tongues still goes on. and above the din of human voices the shuf- fie of human feet there still rises the shrill protest of countless tetehered fowl. just as sin the days so long since gone. A visit to the French Market Is really not unlike taking stroll into the Eigh- teenth Century.