The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-09-13

Getting Commissions from E10r1sts, Gigs
and Wine Dealers. ard Cabmen.


Getting Communications nom Hqor4sts, Cigar
and Wine Dealers. ard Cabmen.
New York Times
How muehF The speaker was we'll knawn
lawyer, who sat with two friends in the cafe at
Deimenic0s the other evening.
Twenty cents, and you know it Just as well
as do" answered the district messengers.
Amt you overeharginep asked one Of the
mo; we never overcharee regular customers.
They know the rates, and IL we did they'd re-
port It to the company and we'd get bounced
Strangers and ceuntrymen and newly married
couples we always size up and charge double and
tfeDde rates And then, besides, regulars al
ways gives us something One Of them gives
me ten cents extra every time; another one, he's
. gambler on Twenty eighth street, gives me ac-
ccEdTng to his luck; sometimes it's as high as a
4rhsn you make money outside of your
wages"
Well, some Of the boys do. And there's lots
Of ways OF doing it One way is commissions.
Were sent out regular for cigars, bouquets,
cabs, carriags, and liquor. If we're sent to a
certain place we don't get commission usually;
but Il they just hand us dollar bill and say,
Get me I'VE cigars, or Get me a cab then We
have show. Theirs loads Of business people
who give percentage. On cigars we get from
~ cents up; on flowers good deal more A
swell gets mashed on girl or an actress and
sends her bouquet Ifhe gives up V. we
get dollar from the florist.
Wines are very good, too. There's dealer
on sixth avenue who has wine III pfain bottles
on ice all the time, and it costs 81 bottle, and
he's got all kinds Of labels. get an order for q
bottle OF Pommery and 81 run around there
and ne puts on sPommery label and I make
~ II am tsafe though. TRIED it once on young
Fellow, and the next time came there he kicked
me down stairs and swore I'd poisoned him.
with corpses
hat is corpsegt
why, it's a swell that's drunk He'll pay
the cabby almost anything he's asked. The
cabby gives us quarter for an ortler, and some
times whaeRs up the next day. But the best
biokes are mashes. Married women and married
men who get mashed never use the postoffice,
but only as boys. We know EN- the moment
We see EN-. They'll pay almost anything and
give us an extra beside Then we make some4
thing on doubling up"
Whats that41
II got a call, and find it will take twenty
| minutes. go back to the office and report and
pay For shorter l get second call in a
short while, and on nv way back attend to the
first When come back to the first customer
| charge for the whole time, and also get paid
afterward by the second. That way make the
difference between what I paid for the shorter
and what 1 get for the whole thing Then
there's another kind of double. / get a shorter
here in Delmonco's, and then run across into the
Brunswick and the Hoffman Between the two
gether Then, you see, can charge full time
to BOTH and don't have to put up at the Office. y
"A telegraph boy hasn't a very bad time,
Eyes, he docs Sometimes he's kept on q
longer for hours One time 1 kept going for
thirty hours without stopping. Another time
and lots Of times I've had to 90 through rain and
snow where there was no horse car lines until /
thought was almost dead And then you get
licked now and Them got licked last week. I
had cali from young Dude, who gave me two
letters to young ladies. The envelopes had the
names on, but no residence. These he gave me
separate got to number one and found I'd
lost the address of number two So asked the
lady the address, and showed her the letter The
next day met the dude in FRONT Of his place,
and he said he'd teach me lesson to show his
letters to different people and he gave mo an
awful licking with his cane That's sort Of
rough on q boy, but now and then he has q good
time. Once jealous woman hired me to spot
her husband for three days. He used to ride up
and down from his office in cab, and the eabh5f
was a commission friend of mine So used to
get on the box with him and rideboth ways. The
old dame paid me my time, my cab hire for
three days, and gave nae a dollar besides
guess their row is all over. because / saw EN-
walking together last Sunday just as lowing as
two spoons
1T isn't very moral lifs,r observed the law
yer.
The boy smiled, flushed il may be httle, and
said: "How can we help i'll III we're late, or
lose time, or take bad money, or break rHle, or
do anything al all, we've got TO pay for it. And
then there are people in the company who make
you divy with EN- or treat 'em. And the watt
eRs in the restaurants and the clerks and Porters
in the hotels want rake. had to pay waiter
in this place 81 last week for q bleke who
wanted . bouquet for a gal And then you Gus
! temers always tell me I'm lyin and stealth.
And 60 to gambling hells, and gin mills, and
opium dens. and worse places. and ladies and
gentlemen send messages to their families. and
give nae . half to say left 'en in club. or q
church, or meeting. # chap gives me big
bill to change or cheek to cash, and it's bad,
the cop pinches me and I'm locked up IN jaiL If
| Us boys are bad, you customers make us 50, and
that's all there IS TO it. Bat I've got to skip.
Much obliged, gents, for the note