The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-21

RTISER.
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 The visitor to Pensacola, if he be Southern born and Southern bred. awakes in the early morning hours with the hazy idea that the whole town is going fox hunting. His sleep Is broken by the not unmusical "honth- honth-hont-hont," of the old familiar fox horn, the old COW horn scraped thin and translucent with its raised mouth piece. The sound is too plain to be mistaken. It is the old bugle call to the fox hounds. It recalls the old time fox hunt with the ruddy dawn in the east, the big yards filled with barking and leaping dogs in au costa cy of delight, a half dozen negroes with shining teeth no less delignted and the horses champing and inpatient to be off. It recalls the thrill of pleasure in a gallop over the hills and valleys and the inspiration of a wild dasn over the meadow in the wake with Blanche, Sweetheart and Tray yelpins a hundred yards to the fore.
 But the old fox horn signifies naught of this in Pensacola. No yelping pack wakes to noisy delight at i.s first note. No saddle horse throws his head in the air and scents from afar the pleas ure of the chase. No hunter t!ghtens his saddle girth and smiles in antici- patton.
 The horn signifies only that the fish monger is at the front gate to sell ths housewife fish so fresh that they are yet dripping with the water from tho bay. The family house dog may be sleeping on the front walk. The sound of the horn does not disturb him. It is to common for that, an ordinary sound that is heard as regularly as the sun rises. The fish merchant Is the herald of his own wares. He has ap- propriated to his own use. the sign of the chase and the emblem of the ro- nance that clusters about the hunt.
 The Fish Merchant.
 The fish merchant is in truth n part nership. There are two of them. both of them black and shiny as to face and muddy and baggy as to clothing. They carry between them sort of sedan chair arrangement, strung on long pole. The big pole is run between the half of barrel in which they carry their damp and odorous wares even as the Chairman of old carried My Lady to a dance. Their wares are as fresh as fish can be. however. The call of the horn is the signal to the Pensacola housekeeper that she can get the freshest of mullet and red snapper.
 The black horn blowers, through years of familiarity, gain a complete understanding, a complete mastery of his simple instrument. If 1t will help in the sale of his fish he will give the various army calls from reveille to taps or in his own words he kin tear off , little rag time" And to show you how easily 1t Is done he reels off Back, Back to Baltimore" or any other popu- lar piece of rag time that happens to be uppermost in his memory.
 This ancient old sea port town is full of quaint, interesting and peculiar things. A man may begin his day with a five minutes conversation with the musical fish seller and from then until bed time find his hous filled with that which Is unusual and that which is interesting. The inland man finds the old sea port which is today as Spanish as an American town could we'll be, an unfailing mine of interest. It Is not n DaraGaarxy fnr hiyYa fa IalUA ato ptnh