Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-05-30

!
NAw YoRK, Nay 18th, 1873.
| To the Editor }. the Free Press and lines.
Mes York. ~ thu zeal center of the
national financial operations, hes lately
witnessed some extraordinary Transactions.
The enormous subscriptions to the new
four per cent loans made by cur bankers,
were eyeat4 as memorable as they were graft
| flying and the present rusa for the new
| ten dollar certificates Is no les noteworthy.
This loan is fllattd entirely without the
Intervention OF tho banks, and eyen under
restrictions intended TO retard its a5-0rp-
ton but the rush FOR them here Is trcmer
d5us. The Sub Treasury on Wall street and
the POstoflice are the points Of supply, and
every day, long before the Opening of the
doors for selling, the waiting crowd OF
applicants wond sivo stranger the idea
that each OF the great stone buildings was
some popular place Of ANA semen. az which
tn. supply ot tickets was limited. OF the
| two the p sli,a .tl,s % far the Larger
! proportion. Aite,!Vc o',i.ch l.. say there
were probably bout i;.r,s tuuiT,! "cmeu,
men, girls and boys in .ii:e 1T he PvstCiic,.
waiting their turn to buy. Perhaps one
hundred wore women. The line extended
from near the northeast corner of the build
ing way around past the cashiers window,
and thence to the Broadway side Ore
male and one female are alternately allowed
| to yi~i. the cashiers window. The sales DO
net begin until ten o'clock, and yet the line
begins to form At about seven o'clock, 50
eager is the rush ior good place. The
supply Of certificates is frequently exhaust
ed by enc '.l3ck, and then there il q long
line Of the disappointed caes.
E.ch applicant Is allowed only SlG0
worth In order to obtain larger quanti-
ties ~ peatins'' Is very frequent. Nearly
hundred people have been tGrnci on. of the
Po>tolli3e fer this fence in one day. Some
sharp boys are making qritc r5sp' ctebie
living 10y ,akin.. places in the line, and
| when they get near the wini0w SellinE cut
their positions to inpatient and bona tide
purchasers The clerks h!vs to work like
/
an average $3.50 worth Of certificates per
minute All sorts Of people are the Gus
toners Of tho Government in this
transaction, though tho lover and
middle CLASSES, Of course, pre-
ponderatc. Some of the investors are
professional bsgsars For several days the
number Of blind men III the lac was no.
ticcahlc, and Afterwards there seemed 10 be
a special visitation Of crip1les, 80 numerous
| were tho ODc-'cg.aj, oGe-armed and de-
formed persons in the waiting tbr0ng. Thus
far, the sales oi these certificates in New
York has amounted to nearly three millions
| OF dollars, of which amCut the POstyfh,e has
probably disposed OF threeiOurths, and tne
Sub-Treasury OF the remainder. 1t is re-
ported that tho printing facilities of tie
Goyernment are TO be increased ct Orce to
meet this unexpected demand Who says
We are poor people
The mayor of thus city has this week
been thc-recipiolt OF q petition the like OF
| which, | an firmly convinced, no mayor
ever received befJre-5eing nothing more or
less than the praye. IT twenty-six miiliners
to have their trade protected from the COM
petitiye violence Ct their neighb1rS. For
many years Division street, between Catha-
rine and Market, has been a centre Tor the
millinery trade Of the cheaper sort. On
| the west side of this street there were, not
| long ago, no fewer than hlty-Cnc mIilIners'
shops all in row. As may be imagined,
competition is the life of trade" il this
neighborhood. Firmly convinced that
the wcrld owed her a living, the propric-
tress OF each of the tfty-one establishments
racked her brains and her resources to keep
l L., ob, 4.,t ka boz ffr
| course, it was quite impossible for every one
of them to succeed in this laudable ambition.
| Natural selection and the survival Of the
| tittest did as usual their remOrseless work,
| and eventually formidable minority OF
| the tifty-one found themselves slowly but
surely approaching the wall. Up to this
| point, we may suppose, history being silent
| on the subject that the contestants c0nhaed
| themselves within the bound; Of tOlerable
| business fair play. That is, number for
instance would doubtless tell custo;Ier that
number to 81 Inclusive were artiul
| hussies who never paid their bills and kept
nothing but last years stock. but would
perhaps hesitate to 90 further than that.
| But at last ioIbeaTauce ceased to be
virtue with the aforesaid minority and
| heroic measures were resorted to. to prop
up their tottering fortunes. Each hired one
| or mere sta!wart damsels to stand in from.
| of her establishment and gather in unwary
| passers of the feminine denomination. Their
Instructions were positive 10 bring IN Gus
toners; peacca5ly it possible. but in any
cas-, to bring then in.
The practical working of this new system
may be inferred from brief but pathetic
| quotation from the petition TO which have
already referred: The millinery business
on Division street has been lately and u
| 4 st,,1
ner-so much 50 that a respectable lady l.
unable to walk through the street without
being insulted by some of the girls who arc
| hired for the purpose OF pulling ladies IN to
purchase hats against their will. Ii was but
lately that shawl was torn of i woman :
shoulder by trying to pail her into the
store. The other day lady passed through
the street with baby in her arms, and one
OF the gltls Ut the store, trying % pull her
in, almost dragged the baby out OF hor
arms, and hundreds OF similar cases NC
cannot describe to yen.
His honor has not got sufficiently rfeOy-
red from the shock prodCced upon hIn by
{ is startling dlcumert to decide whether
IL will appeal t. the President for troops or
;,u>t entirely in this emergency to the local
r.:litis. Surely something ought to be dUae.
a:i that quickly nIt - nuc5 on account
g, the fair cDIlplainau!s Is for the sake of
t-c iaplesS males resident IN the nelghb0r-
hood OF the rIUtpus mlllIners. Tho prone
ness Of feminine humanity To hJnne;s aud
their concOmitant ribbons. ha- bccl rcclg-
nized as a great problem to he dealt with
ever since the first tig leaf. Fathers, hu>
band and brothers have suffered and 'bled'
under it, while sisters and cousins
and aunts have thruu.out record
ed generations passed mJre ana
more hopelessly under it, thrAii. |. has
often been proposed to station seutrIes
about the mililner'- shops. 10 gently, but
firmly, d .-~uaGc women from entering there
in, and thus to niI them in resisting their
natural tcndeneics. and now. 20 have the
order Of thing reverStd-tu have physical
force called III to AID. instead Of REFRESHING
this already wcl!Dish rCsistless temptation,
IL something terrible to contemplate. The