The Worthington advance., 1882-06-08
The Southern Drummer.

AAc CIaVcIln6 salesman, or ufumfnef
is one Of the chief features of the
mercantile business of the South
at present. do not think
travelled an hour by railway,
while in the Southern States, without the
company of at least one of these men,
nor stopped at any railroad hotel with
out meeting one; and usually there were
several Of them present at such places at
the same time. 1t must be said that
most of these young men are kind and
obliging to their lellewtravelers,-to
everybody, indeed; and the euncomplain-
ing indifference with which they accept
the: miserable fare of Southe n
eating- houses and hotels may
claim degree of respect, though they
are, commonly treated better than any
body else ON the read, (fhe clerk
of the pretehtiolis raj iltoad hotel at Mont
goncry, Alabama, added fifty pet cent.
to my bill when he learned that l was
not adrummer) l was interested in Oh
serving and studying this class of young
men, and in learning how they regard
ed their own life and occupation. There
are few elderly men, of excellent char
acter, on the road, but most of them are
young, and arc somewhat peculiar.
Many of them regard themselves as the
real merchants and principal business
men Of the country, and speak of the
houses Which employ tl,ein as II theyQlle
merchants in the cities) were mere sub
Ordinatcs, or agents employed by the
drumners. to put up and forward the
goods sold ON the road. l heard many
discussions among these travelling sales
men of the various methods Dy which
they could SO conduct business as to
bring the principal profit to their own
pockets. They speak of the trade as
theirs, and not that of the houses they
represent, and often talk of the amount
Of business which they control, frequent
ly threatening to "carry the trade over
the best rooms, and the best of every
thing at the hotels, and when several OF
them meet at the same house they are
apt to have little suppers'' together.
They are usually extremely hospitable
OH such occasions, and often invited ne
to join them, but always begged to bo
excused. A good deal of wine is con-
sumed at these suppers. It is part of
the necessary travelling expenses"
as they explained to me. At jackson,
Mississippi, arriving late at night at the
hotel, l found myself in q merry COM
pany of .drummers, who greeted me
with effusive cordially and offers of un-
limited hoipitality. The leaders ex planned
that they were "all as drunk as the
devil, but g-g-goo-GooD-natured. An
we're JUS as glad to see you's if YOU
were soberw The traveling-salesnan
method of doing business seemed to me
clumsy and costly, and the older men on
the road in the South say they do not be-
lieve the system will be maintained for
many years in its present proportions.
The Tidal Wave of Immigrants.
New York City Cor Philadelphia Led
ger: "Put it down thirty thousand at
the very least" said Superintendent
jackson, at Castle Garden, recently, in
response to question as to how many
of our foreign relations would be regis
tered this week. THUS far" he went
on to say, twenty thousand have arrived
since Sunday night, and that is the big
gest four days contribution in the his
tory of the port. Between now and Sat
ers, including the mammoth City of
NOIilc3 dlu taC SCsooCA "SCHto 1oA. 1o IiAfst
these will bring at least ten thousand
steerage passengers" The arrivals to-
day were from Hamburg, Bremen, Glas-
gov, Havre and the Mediterranean ports,
and among the trades represented are
tailors, shirt-makers, hatters, carpen-
ters, cabinet-makers, wheelwrights,
blacksmiths, farmers, masons, plaster
ers and laborers. The shirtmakers, who
come from Havre, say that they have
been earning at home less than five
francs q week. The wheelwrights and
blacksmiths are from Bremen. They
report business in their line very slack
there, aud one of their number tells me
there are at least twenty thousand work
| men idle in and around Bremen who
| would gladly emigrate to this country il
they could only obtain the means; the
best wheelright can not earn more than
$l.25 a day, while the wages of black
smiths, foundrymen and horseshocrs dc
not average more than 81. Many farm
hands and laborers come from Glasgow
| and all OF. them are bound west, having
prepaid tickets to Illinois, Iowa, Mime
sofa, &c. The present pay of the Scotch
farm laborer at home is SO year anC
found. The Alexandria, from Gibraltar
brings several hundred Italians, who
are said to be railroad builders; the,
are said to be very poor, with no money
or any worldly goods, save the clothes
!, they have on their hacks.
| The poorhonsc in the town Of Gesthanl
mer, Sweden, burned. Twenty persons per
| isheJ