Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-17

A VISITOR who went to the market, back
in the early 8O's, to take in the sights said:
1.-THE market is ever a source of attraction to
me, it Is ever so full Of color-I was somewhat
astonished to find elegantly equipped vehicles
worthy OF Rotton Row, or the Bots de Boulogne,
or the Prater, or Unter den Linden, dashing up
to the principal entrances, the coachman in
the orthodox hah-moon collars and pickle jars,
while ladies attired in the ripest fashion de-
scended to be assailed by another regiment Of
small boys Of various colors, who clamored for
the happy and pecuniary privilege of bearing
home the choice little cuts to be selected by
the fair and fashionable housewife on market
ing bent. All me! It was refreshing to see
this all womanly and wifely and motherly
practice and stood enjoying the sight despite
the rude basket-buffetings administered to me
by the eager and excited market boys.
"Venturing close to the market was at
tracted to a group of open-air restaurants set
upon the sidewalk, where 'delicacies'-at least
the habitues of the place consider them So
were administered to hungry applicants with
a dexterity and rapidSy bewildering to behold.
These restaurants are but indifferenty shell
tered, and the Accommodations of the
poorest; when saw them under a pouring
rain, the proprietors stood in puddles of water,
slender streams trickling down upon them from
the canvas tops which were meant to protect
the viands. But all were doing lively trade,
wholly unaffected by the aqueous interference
of Jupiter Pluvius. The surroundings were in
unlJely picturesque, Out the menu-Well, IL was
suited to those for whom it was provided"
An artist for out-of-town newspaper,
visiting the city many years ago, had this to
say of our markets, particularly of the Center
Market at Ninth and the Avenue. Indeed,
these pen pictures are worth repeating, in view
of the determination to place a Government
building on this site:
THE markets of the National Capital sup
piled from the fertile country surrounding it,
and from the waters of the Potomac River and
Chesapeake Bay, present ever-varying scenes
of animation and plenty. The principal ones,
such the Northern Liberty, Center, Eastern
and Western, have commodious accommodations
in structures reared expressly for them. The
open-air markets, however, more pic
tureSque. The artist has depicted an early
morning scene on the portion of the Potomac
fats adjoining the Smithsonian Institution,
and almost under the shadow of the mighty
Washington Monument. Here the farmers and
negroes come before daybreak with their quaint
covered wagons filed with produce and vege-
tables of all kinds. The wagons ranged in
the marketmen prepare their breakfast in the
open air, instead of patronizing the restaurants,
they do in New York. There Is, no doubt,
hearty enjoyment as well as economy in this
al fresco meal partaken of as the morning
mistS rise from the Potomac, half yelling the
stupendous white shaft that pierces the sky
just beyond"
NATURALLY the market has produced tts
odd and peculiar characters, but one Of
the most unusual because Of his mOdeSty We
find spoken of by Mrs. JEANNE Tree RiveS In
her "Old-Time Places and People of WASH
mgton." This is her story:
ION the east side q Ninth and streets,