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THE WATERMELON TRADE
& THRIVING SUMMER INDUSTRY
IN NEW YORK.
How the Business is Carried On—
700,000 Melons on a Train—How
to Tell Good Melons.
There has been a great change in the
product of watermelons in a few years.
It has, in fact, progressed with the in¬
crease of facilities of travel. Not long
ago watermelons came from Norfolk as
the remotest point. Year by year the
watermelon fields have extended further
south, until the whole coast from Savan¬
nah to Gape May is in a great degree a
watermelon patch, and the season ex¬
tends over about five months.
Watermelons used to come in sailing
vessels, and a small fleet of coasters was
employed. Then the= steamships got into
the business, and the fields got more re¬
mote, so that a Georgia melon got to the
city in less time than was formerly re¬
quired to bring a Norfolk melon. Butin
the evolution of business the railroads
came in, and the trade has come largely
into their hands for the past two or three
years. The freight charges are heavier,
but it has been found that the fruit comes
to market in better condition.
It would appear ou casual thought that
the water voyage would bring the melons
to market in better condition. But such
is not the fact. The melons that get the
deck passage are all right, but those that
come in the hold, especially if the weather
is bad and the hatches are down, are
likely to become sweated. Besides, the
voyage is longer than by rail. On the
other hand, the fruit cars of the railroad
companies do not hold the melons in so
large a bulk and permit the air to get at
them. The through fast freight from
Georgia comes inside of four days, and
the fruit gets here in fine condition.
Good sound melons, not cracked, kept
in a shady place, will keep three or font
weeks. Many attempts have been made
to keep them all winter, but the fruit
preservers have not as yet made a suc¬
cess of it. Some proposed to do it by
varnishing the outside, so as to exclude
the air. George Blank, however, who is
a big dealer in watermelons, says that
the best way to keep a melon all winter
is to bury it in the ground where it will
not freeze. No attempt has been made
to keep watermelons all the year round
as a commercial speculation, except that
a few have occasionally been put in cold
storage, and once in a while a gardener
raises a few in a hot-house for the benefit
of those who do not like anything that
is got in the normal way.
The scene at the great freight piers
is a busy one when a cargo of water¬
melons comes in. News of the arrival is
soon spread among the dealers, and at
whatever hour in the day or night it may
be, the trucks of the commission mer¬
chants or dealers crowd the piers. Of
course, the truck that is to carry the last
load oil gets there first, and the block of
vehicles is exasperating.
No attempt is made to handle the
melons in bulk or in barrels. They must
be passed out from hand to hand, and
long lines of men are formed for this pur¬
pose. There is always a crowd of young¬
sters, Italians and negroes at the depots
to catch a stray melon that is dropped
and broken, and the dismembered parts
are soon gobbled and disappear in a gulp,
while the sweet juice drips down the
faces of the feasters even as the oil down
Aaron’s beard did flow. The dock
diners art mystery on melons and delight have not of yeOg^Kedthe
ons
with a spoon, whereby the lnp^twealth
is all preserved to delight the appetite.
Among melon dealers the belief is
widespread that the fruit is good for
kidney troubles. The effect upon the
kidneys is almost as quickly perceptible
as that of asparagus, while to the fevered
tongue the taste is as delicious as that of
an orange.
It is of the utmost importance that
melons should be kept free from cracks.
Very soon after a melon is cracked it be¬
gins to get sour.
There are various ways of telling a
good watermelon. Some people say
they can, by pressing the sides together,
hear in a good, sound, ripe melon a pecu¬
liar sound of crispness like that of celery.
George Blank gives these directions:
“Lay the melon on its back, belly up.
You can tell the belly, because it is
white, or of lighter color than the rest of
the melon. Scratch the skin of the belly
with your finger nail. If the skin is
tender and the melon is yet firm to the
pressure of the finger, so that you can
with difficulty pierce it with your nail, it
is probably a good melon.”
The watermelon market has for many
years centered on the North River side,
where the Southern steamers and sailing
boats come in. A fruit train sometimes
brings seventy cars of watermelons, with
about 1000 melons to a car, or 70,000
melons on a train. This is equivalent to
a good ship load. The ordinary train
carries thirty ~ or forty $70 cars of watermelons.
The freight is from to §100 a car,
which affords a handsome profit to the
railroads. In manv cases the melon is
taken directly from the field to the car,
and is not moved again before final de
livery. It is of the utmost importance
that the fruit should be carefullv handled
to get it to market in good condition to
~
keep.
New York is really a great centre of
distribution for watermelons. Most of
the great watering places are
from here, and they require the very
choicest fruit and pay the highest price,
New England is supplied from here,
Watermelons are sent from here to the
Bermudas and the W.;. • r >du-»,
this wide field that h,.J brought thr
roads into the busin- ss where i e
ment of time is so g- s'.'t factor.
verdict of the trade that '.lie r.v.i
watermelons “stand p” much oener
than the steamer n eleu. that have m.-s
had the good luck if a o eck passage.
There is a great uumbt; of grades o ;
melons. As a rule, xhe big melons con
mand the largest ) They are
necessarily the best ho’ i i- prlrdi re ¬
size that counts, other lii - ,. i ring : l.i
It often happens, the" . o .; 'm v hc-s: •’.! . .
est melons go for . r\ . -vs. wifi
the material may be tiS
est-priced melon, ft i - fly the smalI.
melons that get into the vt-.-ul v > is
wagons and are peddled i> io i .... ,
districts. There is iiv’; trade among
even very poor people ’ m
chiefly because there is an unfailing A
factory detective that is a uwr» eh<-. ‘
protector than the mo- t i;
inspector.
The watermelon business now J :-o,
a great deal of capital. Sh-.v-v. buyer
go about the country and p'.reYi.-.- • til •
of melon patches. The agg: -esi;
is that there are more people v i-klng i,
melon growing, the buyers
article at a cheaper price, anc . r --id
come to market from a wider field and
cheaper and better than ever. Thus far
steam transportation has been the princi¬
pal factor of the change. Who can tell
what will be done to the melon business
when electricity comes in and does its
share .—New York Sun.
SELECT SIFTINGS.
The walls of Jerusalem were built 445
B. C.
Savannah, Ga. has a flock of red
headed geese.
A Kansas editor says 60,000 cars will
be required to haul the wheat crop of
his state.
The elephant is being killed off so
fast that twelve more years will see the
last one wiped out.
A well in the South from which a strong
breeze rushed for years has suddenly
taken to spouting water.
Gibraltar was taken by the English
July 24, 1704, and ceded to England by
treaty of Utrecht April 11, 1713.
A Mussulman woman in India died re¬
cently at the age of 150 years. She was
blind, deaf, dumb and almost inanimate.
A Philadelphia wholesale druggist
pays $2 a gallon for dandelion wine,
which is made from the plant growing
wild on so many farms.
A large and mysterious fissure in the
earth in Princess George County, Va., is
exciting alarm. People are unable to ac¬
count for the phenomenon.
It is a curious fact that no complete
edition of Shakespeare’s works has ever
been printed and published in any of the
many dialects of Hindoostan.
In the course of seventy-five years, from
1783 to 1857, the kingdom of Naples
lost at least 111,000 by the effects of
earthquakes or more than 1500 per year.
William the Conqueror was wounded
in battle by his son Robert, who had
joined the French King Philip I., 1078.
The scene of the battle was Gerberoi,
Normandy.
In a St. Louis hospital a man had a
dream which covered 10,000 miles of
travel and six months’ time, yet he was
only a minute and a half covering the
whole business.
A Hindoo has reduced Laziness to a fine
art. He says: ‘ ‘It is better to walk than
to run, better to stand than to walk,
better to sit than to stand, and better‘to
lie down than to sit.”
A prize offered to stenographers for
the largest number of words written on a
postal card has been won by Sylvanus
Jones, of Richmond, Va., who wrote
upon a card 36,764 words.
Mrs. Phillips, of West Fallowfield,
Penn., has found a remedy for gapes in
chickens. She slits the windpipe length¬
wise with scissors, and with a horse hair
lifts the worm that causes the ailment.
Queen Victoria is said to own the
costliest china in the world. The china
in the Windsor and Buckingham palaces
is worth more than a million of dollars.
The Sevres dessert set is valued at §500,
000 .
Fresh roses are sent to five of the Lon¬
don hospitals every morning by a society
of little girls, not one of whom is more
than twelve years old. The funds to
procure the flowers are realized by work
of self-sacrifice.
A citizen of North East, Penn., made
actual measurement and found that liis
com grew between four or five inches in
twenty-four hours. He drove stakes in
the ground, stretched up the longest leaf,
and marked the stake. The next morn¬
ing showed the growth stated.
The huge organ for the town hall,
Sydney, New South Wales, has been
completed in London. Its mostremark
feature is a sixty-four foot stop,
The lowest note of the stop, expressed in
organ builders’ language as “CCCCCV’ is
octaves below the lowest C on the
pianoforte, and, as it gives only eight
vibrations in <a second, it cannot be per
ceived as a c ote at all. Its effect lies
wholly in the extraordinary richness and
power of its upper harmonies, by which
it re-enforces notes given by the higher
pipes.
.__ "
Yeijin . Ono, of Japanese
a son poor
parents, was one of the twelve studearti
ou t °i 1®® who took the highest honors
at tbe ^ Im Afbor University.
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B< st Material. dealer, Best Style, w?ite Best Bitting,
t not sold br DOUGLAS, -your BBOCKTON. MASS.
W. X..
For Sale By
C J. EDGE,
Ooiumfeua St.
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m I Bi
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Eu! do noS use she cangerotis alkailng
aad mercurial preparations which destroy
your nervous system and ruin the digestive
power of the stomach. The vegetable king¬
dom gives us the best and safest remedial
agents. Dr. Sherman devoted the greater
part of hfs life lo the discovery of this relia¬
ble and safe remedy, and a!! its ingredients
are vegetable. He gam it the name of
a name every one can remember, and to the
present day nothing has boon discovered that
is LIVER, so beneficial for KIDNEYS She BL000, and for for the the
for the
STOMACH. This remedy is now so well
and favorably known by all who have used
if that arguments as to its merits are use¬
less, and if others who require a correct¬
ive to the system would but give it a trial
the health of this country would be vastly
improved. Remember the name—PRICKLY
ASH BITTERS. Ask your druggist for it.
PRICKLY ASK BITTERS CO.,
ST. LOUIS, MO.
The S terling Qo.
Manufacturers of
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fllgjflllf
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^SSSSsSIISeI .’ V, -- > j.*’
THE STERLING PIANOS,
WHICH FOE
Quality of Tone, Beauty of Design,
FINISH and adaptabilityfor stand¬
ing in Tune have no equal.
Every Piano Warranted for Five Years
And satisfaction guaranteed to every purchaser.
Also Manufacture tin World-Pbkowkkd
STEIILm OT*QAN
Factories, Dt by Jonn.
Dobbins’ V r < OU j ■ l * t
THE BEST I mi / SOAP
IN T IE jRLD.
It is Strictly F - in Qualify.
HE origina' v' 'i v/e paid <50,000 :
twenty ye. been modified or 1
changed Identic’.* ir. J 'bis soap with is
to-day
that m s, ■*nr» ago.
TT I co- - that can io>
jure * 5 i jric. It bright
eos colors and bi - . ■
TT I washes f . ..!«.• as no other soap
in the wo -irinlctng—leaving
them soft and v
REAT ; i TWICE
VPIHERE J i ‘‘V V ‘>Sr of time, of labor,
of soap, ic ibric, where iJob
bins’ Electric orrilns to diree*
^ tr: ti r : ts great merit. It
will p:r
ir* V IK.E rdf . extensively ii;*i
laled a.
P'2W itions.
—MS i 1ST i trie. Don’t take
.Masnct ulclrdiia Electric,
“ zr it cheap. They
.ifin cist price. Ask far
. ^ , i-ijccr froii- U ft
I <urs haen’t it, hi
'"tjead! Ji < ■- oper grocer. around each
bar,* .v
on each outs .. ant aliitrii tr.
* tmly this old, rei.aUlt,
n d w
Dobbins <ec Soap.
NEW HOUSE! NEW GOODS!
NEW PRICES.
M. la. PARKER,
HILTON GEORGIA,
-meu.LK is——
General Merchandise, Dry-Goods,
Groceries, Boots, Shoes, Clothing:, &c.
Has just opened at the Hudson <€ Johnston corner a stock of fresh
goods which low prices and courteous treatment must sell.
Cash paid for Country Produce—Chickens, Butter, Eggs, &c.
C, SCHOMBGRG
WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER,
-DEALER III
DIAMONDS, FINE JEWELRY
WATCHES, CLOCKS and SILVERWARE,
CST’Repairing Watches, Clocks and Jewelry a Specialty.
No. 1115 Broad St, Columbus, Ga.
HARRISON’S SHOE STOKE,
1132 BROAD ST., COLUMBUS, GA
Everybody is invited to call and look at our stock of
ROOTS AND SHOES.
REGULAR “ALLIANCE” PRICES
ON EVERYTHING.
Hamilton Buggy Company,
• H.AJVEILTOZST, OHIO, u
Manufacturers of Hamilton Grades of Vehicles.
BUGGIES.
EDITORIAL SPECIAL BUGGY OF ANY BTYLB VEHICLE.
sraciAi. features:
Proportion, Durability, Perfection of* Fintnh.
This “ Mirror ” finish work is the best medium-priced work in the United States.
WRITE FOR CATALOGUE. HAMILTON BUGGY CO.
it Talbott” } 1 •
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BUY FROM MANUFACTUERS
DIRECT AND SAVE MIDDLE
MAN’S PROFIT.
Engines, Boilers, Saw Mills, Corn Mills, and
General Machinery
Eagle” Cotton Gins, “Boss” Cotton Press, Cotton Seed Eleraters, Etc Ft,
Write us for CircularsNaming Your Wants.
FACTORY I TALBOTT & SONS. MACON GA
RICHMOND, VA. ,
J C Weaver, Manager
PRICES YOU SHOULD NOT RESIST
CHANCELLOR & PEARCE
COLUMBUS, GA.
Continue to sell every thing in their store at close prices
preparatory to moving in their new quarters.
The stock must be reduced at once.
Clothing, Hats, Furnishing, and Evervtning.
Call or mail your orders direct to them.
. CHANCELLOR & PEARCE
COLUMBUS, GA.
ur Merchant and Tailoring depart¬
ment is full of the latest and most at¬
tractive Suitings in the south.
(fig/r5 X! WV“ :1 «215 \" "xv ,J
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CARRIAGES.
Esmblished I889