Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-05-05
LONDON.
Its Street Merchants and Other
Metropolitan Nuisances.

LONDON, April Is, 1S75.-The municipal
regulations ofLOndon are so"1OWn"on men
dicity, and so many arrangements are made
through the medium of work-hOuses, aims
houses, etc, to render an existence sup
ported BY begging so much more unendura-
bic than one maintained by honest labor
that a beggar, pure ct simple, is rarely on
the streets Of this great city. Almost eV-
cry q of the poorer classes seem engaged
in some employment, chiefly mercantile in
its nature, by means of which, be or she
ekes out a narrow subsistence. Indeed, beg
ging and the reception of unearned money
is so Objectionable TO the English mind,
that the fees, walls and perquisites showered
upon servants and waters here are not re-
garded by the recipients as gifts, but as
pay, and poor pay at that, for value re
cei7ed. It requires small capital TO set up
q of these street merchants, but immense
energy is required, as the competition is
enormous; for instance, in one branch OF
street traffic, that of cigar lighters, the
Jealous, p~eripatetic traders stumble over
each other in their desire to
supply unwilling customers and to effect
sales. 1t is a nuisance which l suppose
the native LOndoner does not mind, but it
is fr different with the stranger. flor one
cannot get used to il. 1 have been here a
half a year and still fear 4 match seller as
much as ever. flights, lights, 'ere's yer
gar lights" resOunds on all sides. /
counted t~wenty-seven of these peripatetic
merchants in a ten-minute's walk yester-
day. The little boy, the aged man, the
lame, the halt, the blind and the lazy, all
take to the trade with eager earnestnest-
ness. Then there is a tone and a manner
Of vending the two penny 'Orth Of fuses
which is both peculiar and veXatious.
From the old woman, who, ~shivering in
rags on the street corner, begs you for the
love Of God, please to take a box, to the
black-eyed little yOungster who will follow
you all over town with the hope of selling,
there is included every shade and variety Of
mendicity. You cannot get rid OF them.
They arise before you do in the morning,
and attend you patiently, even until the
theatre performance is over at midnight.
Their language is neither sweet nOr gram
matically correct. "Boy yer lights" and
agar fusees," with expressions strangeF
still, are the favOrites. l dodge when /
see them, but one cannot be always on the
lookout. One pushes his way through the
lDZs Will LIE ut14 EuEHCO d-dALloN Tic CDAAs
easterly wind, and feels miserably enough,
but before he is ware a gigantic figure
looms up in front and the racking cry is
shouted into his ear with the suddenness
of Gabriel's trumpet. Pen cannot picture
the misery Of such a moment. You insist
that you want NJ lights, OF you pretend
that you do EOt hear, and that all your an
cestOrs were afflicted with deafness, but it
is a bare-faced deception. You do hear
and you will never forget it. met a friend
on the street the other day with a box Of
lights hanging by a string from his button
hole. l asked him how it worked, and
was told that it was not much Of a success,
as he believed that the beggars did not care
so much for quick profits as for the pleasure
Of making a noise.
1t is the same as regards the b~oot-blacks.
Having your boots BACKED to distraction is
no safeguard. Each boy is convinced that
the thing is not well done until he does it
himself, so "shine yer boots" will be ad-
dressed to you at every corner. l find the
neWsbOys TO be milder in their ways than
the members of the two above nameI class
es. still even thsy have little compassion,
The climax is attained, however, when one
boy unites in his person the characteristics
of all these tTades-then it is vexatiOn Of
spirit in very truth. If you do not want a
paper (and in selling he will run over the
names of all be has at the top Of his voice.
be will black your boots. If that fails, he
sends after your etreating form the dreaded
words flights, sur?"
d. The crossing sweepeTs are another
nuisance. They constitute a numerous and
well organized body, with rules' regu.
lating their conduct amongthemselyes, and
with the right Of ejectment if any fellow,
sweep tTespasses upon their ''free hold
as they call ther particular crossing.
The genuine beggaTs are, as / have said
few. The policemen keep a sharp eye upon
them, and they have to "mOve on" Ifthey
fail to do so they are attended to, or, in
other words, transferred to the ~pOor-hOuse,
Speaking Of these things reminds me thai
there is no city so OveErun with cheap mu'
sic as London. The Italian seems 10 -four
ish here, and his organ is heard in every
street. | sometimes wonder how they al
live, but am told that the lower classes re
ioice in such harmOnies as la file d.
Madame AngOt,'' and literally reward the
wandering minstrel. These street must.
clans cannot be numbered, and they per-
form on every variety Of instrument. The
German brass band is about the best OF the
lot, while the Pandean performer, with his
pipes and his Uustrung drum, is decidedly
the worst. Those that murder "AulC
Lang Syne, my dear on the flute, inter
sDersing-ddrzlriScheR, as the German!
sav-av vocal rendition Of the same, are tn,
ones who make life a burden.
If we omit TO count the old women il
the ilightsn trade, we find that in only tht
newspaper department the female has takeI
ANYTHING like an active hand. These yOun!
girls possess as a general rule, shrille
voices and more ~insinuating manner thai
the boys, so l should not be surprised /
they gathered the better harvest.
Speaking Of this recalls M TO somethln!
that greatly surprised me when l first learn
It.. had always been under the impres
sion that my own country was the tayOrltt
abode Of projects for female emancipation
but England can easily defeat the claim. l
is an active and aggressive warfare here
and the standard is carried by those Of tn
highest ranks in society. All maiden la
dies seem to have their shoulders to tn
wheel and push vigorously, at the same tim.
exaGting Oaths and promises from theil
I ldLAElo aLA h4OAAANAo ~ ANAP vi AHS N1NS
Every day We read in the papers of mon
ster meetings held in favor Of tn
movement all over the kingdom, anC
/ petitions are daily being presented L
Parliament on that subject. They wan
to be admitted to everything, and are long
ingly DESTROYS Of being allowed to plead a
| the bar, 10 saw off leg, to make laws ant
to sail ships. There are eight of them .
this moment standing as candidates for tn
guardianship Of St. PancIess Parish. Now
a guardian is a sort Of conglOmeratiOn q
/ sheriff and beadle, so [ think these geHtl
! females viii make but sorry work of thei
duties if elected. There are now, accord
ing TO the latest reports, SOS peti
tiOns on this subject lying before the Pal
liamentary Committee, bearing a total o
| I9S,G23 LANES. l fOresee that they vii
| Get all they ask for before long. Patience
| concentration and determination never ye
failed to work s way through the BIRTHS
| Parliament. L. Z.