Omaha daily bee., 1919-05-04
Market Day Returned
to France
A. r. in the Marian, Publication of the A
E. F. Nars-Sur- Allier, France

Market day. the trSt general one since the
beginning of the war, brought back to Nevers,
France, long lost pride and importance as the
ruling city of the countryside. 1t was merely
a day for dsposing of cattle and other animals,
but nevertheless it was the busiest, the most
colorful and most thoroughly native day since
the olive drab hosts of Americans descended
upon the city. Along the Loire where the long
lines of idly Tapping laundry usually dispute
the. tree lined promenade with the pedestrians
was babel of voices and everywhere orderly
confusion. Rope enclosures held anmals-pink
and white cows, pink and white pigs horses
with tails and names ornately braided with
straw, Squawking geese, and-alarIned hens. The
excited chatter of men and women struggled
for audience with the profound bass of the cat
tie and the staccato baritone of lusty porkers.
There no place for the inquisitve Ameri-
cans in these mazes; it was too businesske in the
French fashion. In fact, after the long inter
Jude, even the natives were unable to continue
the pace without frequent resort to the bu-
vettes or more pretentious hotels in search of
endurance. 1t is not thing to be taken lightly
this market day. Long days of preparation pre-
cede it; the animals must be carefully groomed;
the barterlng essential to transaction must
be carefully considered; the family council must
decide what price is to be asked. Neither is it
haphazard venture The ten or fifteen miles
which must be traversed before the market place
on the river bank is reached serious mat
ter and not to be embarked on without the full
est consideration.
Early in the morning the journev
All along the main reads are elderly peasants
and their wives, and often younger women
whose husbands are still under arms driving
cattle, or calves or droves of protesting but tame
pigs. There are horses, too, scarcely Of the
Percheron strain that Rosa Bonheur delighted
to paint, but since horse is an extremely val
liable possession, it is only with the full con-
.eord and benefit OF masculine mental powers
that such sale is attempted.
The cattle are remarkably handsome animals.
Pure white with soft pink muzzles and we'll
shaped horns, there is no breed we have at
home to excel them in appearance They are
of the Charlero-Nvernais stock and are quite
as famous in their way as our Guernseys or
Durhams. The war has sadly depleted the herds
of French cattle, but the high prices are temp
tation to sell and the thrifty farmer is never
so happy as when driving bargain. The grown
animals must furnish their own transportation,
tied usually to the back of the funny little wag-
| ons that are in use here. Calves receive a little
| more consideration and are carried in deep, low
bottomed carts, and it is no infrequent sight to
| find the mother of the calf an1bng compla-
Gently and united, behind Over the long Loire
Bridge this procession streams marketward dur
ing the early hours for the late corners secure
unfavorable places on the quay.
| Pigs, too, come afoot, veritable fortune on
foot for live pigs bring at least five francs
! (about SD pound, making them aristocrats of
the animal world i'll spite of their pebian and
unsanitary habits
Chickens and geese arrive ANONYMOUSLY in
crates And, strange to behold, fishermen bring
! live carp, huge ugly fellows, and deposit them
in concrete tanks where they enjoy brief, bliss
full respite from the pot and pan.
And, soon after the negotiations begin. To
describe them otherwise would be libelous
Every purchase has its fine points; every buyer
his scrupes. There are torrents of explanations
and arguments and no less forcefu doubts
! The purchasers usually farmers or butchers
but no matter which it would be lost opportu-
nifty to forego the delights of the dickering and
| repartee.
Markets Like Railroad Stations.
Aside from the animal market on the banks
of the Loire and in the many little streets that
run up the hill from the Quai at the most Devil
derng angles, the day found more than the
usual market activity in other parts of the city
Nevers already boasts number of indoor mar
kets-huge buildings, glass rooted and with am
pie floor space for the exhibition of wares, and
which remind one of old railroad stations, long
since deserted for the more pressing demands
of population and industry. But the old man
on the corner who picks up a precarious liv-
ing from the sale of she'll paper weights, tawdry
jewelry and shoe String, tells us the big edfces
were originally built for markets and have re-
manned as such through all the changing years