The Elegant Art of Dining: Bohemian San Francisco, Its ... - iMedia

who came in the darkness of early morning to supply hucksters, small traders
and a few thrifty people who knew of the cheapness, and in Columbo market
they drove their great wagons and discharged their day’s gathering of vegetables
of all kinds.
But a few steps away is the great fruit market of the early morning and here tons
of the finest fruits are distributed to the hundreds of wagons that crowd the
street to such an extent that it takes all the ingenuity of experienced policemen
to keep clearway for traffic. Threading their way in and out between the wheels
and the heels of horses, were men and women, all looking for bargains in food.
Amid a din almost deafening business was transacted with such celerity that
in three hours the streets were cleared, fruits and vegetables sold and on their
way to distant stands, and the tired policemen leaning against friendly walls,
recuperating after the strenuous work of keeping order in chaos.
It is when one goes to these places in the morning and sees the cheapness of
these foods that he can understand in a small way why it is that so many Italian
restaurants can give such good meals for so little money. One wonders at a table
d’hote dinner of six or seven courses for twenty-five cents, or even for half a
dollar, and one accustomed to buying meats, fish, vegetables and fruits at the
exorbitant prices charged at most of the markets and fruit and vegetable stands
now sees why the thrifty foreigner can make and save money while the average
American can hardly keep more than two jumps ahead of the sheriff.
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