The Portland daily press., 1870-11-24

"a Few MORE LEFT."-Hundreds of our
citizens will recollect Henry Smith the Razor
Strop Man" who visited Portland twice dur
ing period of fifteen years vending his
strops about our streets, telling stories and
reciting poetry in such cheerful manner
that most every one was induced to buy.
Smith told us on bis first visit here that his
best days work was made at Louisville,
whore he disposed of twenty-nine dozen of
his strops in single day, no one purchasing
more than single strop. His next bestdays
work was in Portland, where in one day he
disposed of twenty-eight and a half dozen by
the single one. While here on his first visit,
he spoke before the Washingtonian society one
Sunday evening in old City Hall, John T.
Walton, Esq. presiding. We venture to say
that large numbers of his strops (which were
an excellent as well as cheap article, for he
sold them at 25 cents each,) can still be found
in this city. To those who purchased of him
land who didn't?) the following article from
recent number of Scribners Monthly will
be read with interest as giving some account
of this famous peddler:
The most renowned street vender in New
York, or in the world, is Henry Smith, the
renowned "Razor Strop Man" of Nassau
street. Born in England, six months after
Waterloo, his youth was rowing and dissipat-
ed, and his devotion to drink gained him the
s0briquet of "Old Soaker' before he was
twenty-one. Signing the abstinence pledge
for month, then for life, he became good
husband, an industrious man, and an ardent
temperance advocate. In 1912 he sailed in
the Ontario for America. Landing in New
York, he soon began to sell razor strops, and
his street speeches were such droll, witty and
sensible mixtures of prose and poetry, that in
three months he made himself the prince of
peddlers. His sayings were chronicled in the
papers, his portrait was published in the Sun
day Atlas, and he appeared for seven nights
at the Olympic Theatre in Mitchell's play of
the 'Razor Strop Man" His fame rapidly
spread, and he made the tour of the Union,
teaching tempe1a rance and selling his strops,
.lutil bis characteristic saying "a fen more
left of the same Sort" became "househod
word"
He achieved fortune in few years; but
the spirit of speculation seized him, and the
With mistaken courage and fresh basket of
strops he began lie anew, visited his native
England, and won much reputa ton as gen.
uine Yankee peddler." Returning to Amer
lea, the war found him at Rochester, where
he enlisted in a volunteer regiment. In his
left leg he still carries {. Gettysburg musket-
ball. When told that it might be necessary
to amputate the limb, he replied, swell, I
suppose l can afford to lose it, as shall still
have one more lett of the same sort p The
wound disabled him and compelled his return
to Rochester, where he served till after the
close of THE war as recruiting sergeant and in
the soldiers hospital. With purse from the
city, letter of thanks from the Mayor, and
aZouave uniform from his regiment,the veter-
an vender returned again to New York and
became once more the "Razor-strop Man" of
Nassau street.
Age has iwhitened his close-cut hair and
mustache, and the short growth on his
bronzed cheek and chin; and bis witty old
time speeches no longer gather crowds of
laughing buyers. But his eye still wrinkles
with kindly shrewdness behind his gold-rim-
med spectacles, and his softly spoken, "Here
you are, Young manw is often the prelude to
a sensible and genial preachment of temper
ance and the many virtues of the strops, ra-
zors, knives. and other wares that overflow
his red, white and blue striped first national
basket"