The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1904-09-23
DUTCH CHEESE MART
QUAINT ALkMAAR AND ITS ANc,Enr
WEIGH HOUSE SCALES.

! Sheese made I'm the Realm,
Though Eidam, on the Z,,rder 10.
gives Its name to those rose red spbere
we know as Dutch cheeses." wbicI
are instinctively associated with In
usestion' yet 1T Is Alkmaar, In north
ern Holland, that conduces to the weel,
~ Importance of this edible of com
Lherce, as any one who has ever stoo,
IN the quaint old market place upon ,
: Friday, and about the hour of noon
VIII have speedily come to understand
! For the Dutch cheese producer. I'm.
! deed, "ali roads, may be said TO lend
10 Alkmaar, likewise all WATERWAYS
anu there are many of them. Thither
come the cheeses by rail, by cart md
NY poat; you stumble over them. inside
tne station as you alight from the
train; they dispute the right of way be.
tween the rows Of narrow, MANY col.
, ored and curiously gabled houses: thev
/ e.'hu III solo stacks upon the landing
stages-heaped up like cannon balls in
readiness for an immediate lombard
ment and, If 'twere not libelous to
breathe aught savoring Of disrespect to
friendly country's national comesti-
Die, as deadly, possibly, also to an un-
accustomed stomach rs their leaden
prototypes.
but, be that Us it may, the cheese
market Is rare good sight I'm ouoint
Aikmaar when the peasant proprietor
ana his vrouw come in to drive their
bargain at the weigh hoouse with the
wholesale agents from far and near
and every hostelry does it's own brisk
trade with both parties. Across those
rounded bridges peculiar to Holland
come shoals Of peasant folk in pic
turesque attire. Who does not know
Dy now the dress with it's glorious can
ana golden "corkscrew" ornaments. the
pride OF many a generation, making
pretty faces doubly bewitching and
the Hardest featured tdama %etn ,Ayen
years? On they come-clatter, clatter,
clatter, voluble with their cultural flu
ency we somehow feel we ought to un-
derstand because Of It's confusingly
familiar sound, but it's very kinship to
German sends us astray. and we listen
and listen till the jargon about the
weigh hoouse becomes a more hone
less tumble of sounds than ever to our
ears, and we content ourselves with
turning our attention to the building
Itself. 1t stands where it's richly paint |
ed facade can be seen clearly reflected |
IN the cool, smooth waters of the neigh |
boring canal, dfgnified old pile, built |
In 1851, with an especial eye to the |
Importance Of Dutch cheeses, |
Alkmaar having in that year received |
Its fright to weigh" from William Of |
a-ts -,>-"--.."-l -thna -nrar.r ohaasa chano |
dealer across the Alkmaar scales. The
present ones, by the way, which tu~o
hung In their place since 1892, were
made in Amsterdam at cost Of $50
guilders and, having conscientiously
performed their duties without a hitch |
ever since. certainly speak volumes for
the workmanship Of 200 and odd years |
ago.
Though the little town is thronged |
from earliest morn with orderly |
crowds Of heavy Hollanders, it is not |
until the musical chimes within the |
all important weigh hoouse turret have
the hour of noon by breaking
forth in melody, generally from some
well known comic opera, that the ac-
tual business Of the day begins, al |
the the, coming ON tranassaactionsN tasationsN have pr5oaDts
already taken time by the forelock
over q glass Of hollands in some inn
on the maarkt Now, however, the
cumbersome ware is carried within
doors. the time honored ceremony Is
gone through and the ticket stating
the correct weight of each given, after
which act the money changes hands.
1t is q study in temperament, this
weigh hoouse scene in the little Dutch
town. No hurry skurry" mars the
calm of the place or disturbs the phleg-
matte, pipe sucking individuals pri-
marily interested In the TRANSACTIONS
here going forward. The cheese alone
seems riotous and inclined to wholesale
insubordination, with q mind to roll
hither and thither, possibly resulting
from some "subconscious" memory or
COWS, green meadows and buttercups
and disinclination to coming bondage
upon the prosaic shelves of some pro-
vision dealer.
If so, we honor the "last kicks" fu-
tile though they be, for accustomed
hands soon pounce upon and gather
up the stock, Of which each single
cheese weighs from two to six kilos,
and they are swiftly carried out to
make way for the next lot And so on,
all through the day, does the trade pro-
, ceed until the last "Eidamer" has been
disposed Of, but the extent Of the bust,
ness done In so quiet and orderly q
fashion on cheese market days" may
! to some extent be gagged from the
! fact that no less than 100000 pounds
weight Of Eidam cheeses are computed
to pass through the Alkmaar weigh
hnouse annually before proceeding Il