34 



o£ fish selected, who wraps it up in old newspapers and hands the 

 jBsh over to the customer, taking pay for the same invariably in 

 silver. The whole transaction is free from wrangling, for the cus- 

 tomer selects his own fish and is to blame if it is not satisfactory. 



Many stands arc located on the curb along the street, where only 

 dead fish are sold. The side :jtreets in the neighV>orhood have also 

 their stands. The fish are usually bought from the West Side Fish 

 Company at a uniform price and sold for one price h)y all the dealers. 

 The small dealers mix up several kinds of fish in one lot and cry out 

 the price — three, four, or five cents a pound, as the case may be. 

 The dealer that has the strongest voice usually sells the most fish. 

 The stores handle the best quality, some of them selling live fish, the 

 quality being graded down to th(^ poorest as the small dealer is 

 reached, who only has a pushcart to sell from. . 



In the season some of the retail merchants handle cured herrings, 

 including Scotch and Holland. They display the fish in a barrel on 

 the sidewalk, as in fresh fish. They are also subject to examination. 

 Thousands of barrels are sold annually. 



There are more fresh water fish sold in this market than in any 

 other place in the United States. During the holidays it is not un- 

 usual to see ten thousand people buying fish. They always pay cash 

 and take their purchases with them. Every one interested in the 

 fishing industry should visit this market. It is one of the sights of 

 Chicago. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 



We desire to acknowledge the great assistance given us by the 

 United States Fish Commission in iise of their cars and crews in 

 making our distribution, also to uniform courtesy in rendering any 

 assistance possible in our work. The commission has cooperated 

 with us in every way. 



To the various railroad managements of the State we are deeply 

 indebted. We have had valuable aid and assistance in our distribu- 

 tion. The use of their baggage cars have been at our disposal. The 

 em^jloy^s have been uniformly courteous and obliging. 



The press of Illinois has treated us with consideration, and while 

 now and then criticism of our methods have been used, we have only 

 thanks for space given us in furtherance of our work. 



W^e are indebted to the C, B. & Q. R R. Co.. Wabash R. R.. Illi- 

 nois Central R. R. Co., Chicago, Peoria cV: St. Louis R. R. Co.. Chica- 

 go, Rock Island & Pacific R. R. Co., Chicago t\: Eastern Illinois Ry. 

 Co., Chicago, Elgin & Eastern R. R. Co.," Fulton County Narrow 

 Gauge Ry. Co., Mobile & Ohio R. R. Co., Toledo. Peoria cV: Western 

 R. R. Co., Wabash, Western & Chester Ry. Co., Peoria t"^- Eastern 

 (Big Four) R. R. Co., Iowa Central Ry. Co.', Wisconsin Central Ry. 

 Co., Illinois Traction System. Illinois Valley Ry. Co. 



We desire to acknowledgt^ our obligations to the Executive, Gov- 

 ernor Yates for repeated courtesies and for his assistance when needed 

 which has been often, and for the interest taken in oiir work. 



We acknowlcHlge again the debt we owe Prof. Forbes for the use of 

 his valuable list of the native fish of Illinois with keys by Prof. Thos. 

 Large, which we reproduce as an appendix to this report. 



