The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1903-02-28
SUNDAY MORNING FISH SALE.
scenes and Incidents of the negrIar
Performances nj CatherIne..M Mars =
ket, New York. q

III 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 predominant. Russians, Slavs.
Hungarians, Frenchmen and Germans
jostle 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. Bag
kets OF all shapes and sizes ace q.
tocarry away the purchases, and wi
families, comprising father, moth
and children OF assorted sizes, stagerre
home under load that a self-respect-
ing horse would balk at.
Fish peddlers buy their supplies here
for the week and trundle them away
on barrows, 20 be resold at leisure.
Many OF the private families who re-
side in the Ghetto and adjacent quar-
tiers 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 cells 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 eXcSable are the pa
irons of the market that 10 the un-
initiated il would seem as though "A
race war was in full swing. The
strident voices OF the fish sellers cry
ing their wares minfle with the shrill
tones of women, who haggle over half
a cent, and above them all rises the
howl Of the peddlers, who dart here
and there seeking bargains.
The fish is perfectly fresh, as il Is
supplied by the dealers i'm Fulton
market, who keep large quantities
sales every day in the week, and are
we'll content To give the Catharine
market habitues chance 10 buy
cheap food on the Sabbath morning.
All the sea food is sold at a sur
prisingly low price. Nice cod can be
had for six cents pound, and few
pennies will buy big basketful Of
smelts. ELS, some of which are
big as the muscular arms of the ped
llers, go for Is cents, and n job lot
Of fish may be had for half a dol
lar.
The market men manage to extract
great deal of fun from the sales.
They continually crack jokes, ancient
and brand Isw. When one of them
was asked why the foreign element
was so fond OF fish he responded
with n grin: THE divil reason can
give except maybe that it's good
brain food, and Lord knows them
folllses want that" Another mau
held up tan enormops eel and told
wonderful yarn about its capture be-
fore he offered ii at 35 cents. His
competitor at the next stall shouted;
That's n big fish story, and you
can't weigh il because the scales are
wanting
At nire o'clock bell rings, and
the market is supposed to he cleared
within Is minutes. BY that time al
most every stall and table is bare,
and If il occasionally happens that
there is any residue it is thrown to
the small boys who wait al the curb
stone for the spells. 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.