Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-06-03
A CITY AT MARKET.
BY Frederic J. Haskin.

BALTIMORE. June s-Baltimore has
the marketing habit. There is no city
in America that puts a big basket on
its arm more regularly or more enthu-
siastically, to go forth and purchase
its food in the public square. Few cit
les. II any. on the other hand. have
such markets to visit. Baltimore S
markets are an institution-an insu-
tuition picturesque and venerable ana
Of size and solidity that commands
respectful attention. Lexington Mar
ket. for instance. is three squares long,
with 1900 stalls. and $4,000 people visit
it on many Saturdays.
The markets are one of the sights or
the town, like St. Peters in Rome or
the White House in Washington. Inc
visitor is taken forth to see them as
he is taken to see the falls at Mag
ara. The streets for blocks around take
on market-day atmosphere. Tenn
porary stalls are set up on either SIDE,
until there is only narrow lane ielt
in the middle of the highway. where
the big cars nose their way foot at
a time Countrymen and farmers draw
I'D their wagonlosdS of produce along
the curb and wait philosophically Tor
purchasers, scorning the practice OF the
recent immigrant. who is wont to cry
his wares. Candy stands and flower
stands and peanut stands appeal to the
esthetic and the gastronomic functions
Of the olfactory nerve. The street
faker is in his glory. Perched on 81.
coffee box he extols the merits or "a
miraculous invention. ladies and gen
tlemen-a combination of the South
American sapopa tree. the East lndlah
senega root and the Mexican ammo
mia plant-a combination shaving soap,
shoe polish and complexion beautif1er
The market itself IS housed under
long, high roof. like the ROOF OF
railroad terminal. subdivided into nun
dreds of little stalls. Everything when
the human race is in the habit of chew
ing and swallowing finds It's place
somewhere. Beef and mutton. pork
and veal and sausage and pacon
string of fruits that would read IKE
the invoice of a South American
freighter, all the vegetables you have
ever seen and a few new ones, hsh,
nuts. bread and pastry. live poultry,
candy-consult the supply lists or herr
Tortolowitz Won Batocki, the new Ger
man food dictator. for a partial list
Of what you can buy.
All this space under the roof between
the stalls Is damned with humanity,
chiefly feminine.
cnooa t. Yo~~ol 1t takes an hour
With Humanity. through the three
blocks of Lexington market. The
makeup of the crowd is surprisingly
heterogeneous. 1t may be a mistake.
but the visitor gets the impression
that milady of Baltimore dons her sill
yer. fox set. steps into the Limousine,
shifts the orchids in the holder, says
The market. James" and sallies forth
to buy a quarters worth of wiener
wurst. AS least, you see plenty of big
cars discharging their inmates at the
curb, and have your toes stepped on
by ladies who resemble the illustra-
lions in an r. w. Chambers novel.
AS one Baltimore official puts it. The
market problem is one of educating
the municipal consciousness up to the
marketing conception or. in other
words. of teaching society to carry a
basket These big markets are really
a kind of fruit and vegetable depart
ment store, and the department store
of course. is firmly established as a
all ranks of feminintv. Baltimore
women make appointments to meet at
a. certain stall at a certain hour and
go to lunch together. 1t is not mat
ter of record but it seems. proba BILE
that they occa sionally stop to buy a
dozen eggs on the way to the opera
The question of public markets is
coming in for a great deal of serious
attention all over the country today,
as possible means of solving certain
phases of the distribution problem
Busy markets have been established
in a score of cities. but Baltimore is
by way OF being a pioneer in the field
and her experience should be valuabl
In the hundred and fifty years that
markets have been a feature of the
landscape the city has encountered
| most of the problems that can arise
in connection with markets. Back In
the year 1851. when there We're only
two dozen houses in the town. the
citizens decided to start a market. and
conducted lottery as a means of rails
ing the necessary cash. Lotteries were
highly respectable institution in
those days The private ledger of
George Washington occasionally
charges the price of a few lottery
tickets to profit and loss.
The age of the system in Baltimore
has had the effect of obviating certain