Morning journal and courier., 1884-09-05

stNos. 1 to TO-" The men corresponding to
 these numbers come forward; each takes up
 his pair of boards; No. is made ''ganger' or
 the others, and is to report about them at
 night; and then they set off, distance or ten feet being left between every two. The regu- lar men and the regular jobs are thus worked off. Then come the odd jobs--some of them
 odd in more senses than one. There IS great scramble toward the end of the pro
 ceedings for any boards lighter then the otn-
 CTS An average pair of boards weighs SIX
 pounds. Four pound boards are quite lux ury Moulded boards-like those used for the Savoy theater-are to be avoided if pos sib1e; they are heavy. The contractor usually gives them to the younger men.
 After the mornings jobs are al1disposed ot about the yard, on the chance of late order
 coming in. If such an order does not come,
 the men selected for it, like the laborers in the parable, still receive full days wage;
 but they may be asked to stay out a little later. The regular hours of patrol are from
 a quarter past nine in the morning to half
 past five in the afternoon, with an hour for dinner. The pace adopted is mile and a half in the hour. Consequently the days march represents about ten miles.
 The days pay for this kind of work is one and threepence-seven and sixpence week.
 On this pay, as we have already remarked, many honest creatures have co11trived to get - they have wives, eking out their plttance with a little charring. Honesty IS the rule among them If in the hurry of pay time sixpence too much be handed to one of these sandwich men, he is nearly sure to come back with it. Drunkards among them are uncommon also. They have not funds enough to become drunkaris. Their expo sure in the open air and their exercise give them fairly healthy appetites for food. Their gangers, moreover, look after them, and com mon drunkenness, if reported at headquarters, promptly destroys mans chance of further employment.
 Nearly all of the boardmen live in lodging houses a6 a cost of two shilings week Ritchen fire included) The regular payment is fourpence a night, and Sunday night IS thrown in if they stay week Ill the same house. Their dinner is usually made up of stale bread and buns from the contect!oners
 or twopenny 'pieces" portlons ot broken victuals) from the restaurants Bread ana
 onions form favorite repast. We know ot
 one sandwich man who will eat as many as
 fourteen onions with his bread and butter in the course of the day. ''They warm ne up" says this peripatetic philosopher-one ot the most cheerful creatures in London. 1000,
 each single man dispenses about sevenpence per day. This will include rasher of bacon at night cooked by himself before the kitchen fire Out of his earnings he has still money for tobacco His clothes, indeed, appear to
 como to him as miraculously as the mamma
 did to the Israelites; but the old hands, al
 any rate, are supplied from a small but grow
 ing charity devoted to their creature com forts. The great life-trial of the sandwich
 man is boots. The gutters are cold, ana they are uneven too, and are rough on shoe leather
 A pair of boots bought for shilling VIII keep a man going for a considerable Per1oo;
 but at times the slush and snow make sao work of his toes Most of the sandwich
 and a1TnniAtlOn their blood is feeble It is rheumatism, with it's allied complaints, that generally ends their lives When they come to seventy they soon pop off.
 As might be naturally expected, certain ot these men are examples of fallen fortunes
 Some time ago a gentleman in the south or
 England made bad failure; and took reluge,
 uufriended. in London. Starvation made
 him boardman for week or two. Quite
 lately he stopped in the street the contractor who had employed him and said, Do you
 remember my face?' He was well-dressed city gentleman. The contractor dld not
 recognize his former employe, who had got his head quite above water agaln. Let us hope he exhibits some practical charity to his ouondam associates of the gutter. Inc philosopher who eats fourteen onions day is another Wxemplifcation of strange fortune. He was once a lieutenant in the navy, knows three languages, and is heir to the fortune oI 1 & female relative in advanced age, Wlth whom, however, he has quarrelled This I man sbonld write an account of his expe- riences in life That life has not been With out follies, of course, but the mans character has 6 whimsical, Diogenes-like humor about it that makes him quite an original Not few of his street comrades, though desClIuIe of his talent, have seen better times Ike HIS; Every now and again it happens tnaC one i oi a gang of boardmen will be recognized py all old friend of sunny days not too proud to speak to him. E'What, old man! You there?'' He is invited up some passage to quiet 'pub' and there ''treated," probaoly much too literally. The better class oi I s'broken-downs" in the service, while usually strictly sober, fall now and agaln ln thls way l cases forgiveness is the rule. The other s'9e of humanity's picture, however, must also De | looked At. It is one of the bitterest expe, l riences of such men that old associates VIII glance askance at them and hurry by. some of them have been thus treated by well 1 dressed fashionables to whom they haa II prosperity lent money that was never fepal1o One constant interest attaches to the perambulations of the boardman; like th' Scotchman, he is faye linden things" Gen eraIly the articles picked out of the gutter arr almost worthless trifes, but shillings, ant even sovereigns, are not unknown Ihey come there, as a rule, by falling unnoticeo from the hands of persons paying cab fares Some time ago boardmnn turned up at ms employers office in state ot great exclte ment. He had found splendid gold watcf and chain in his coat pocket The articles were taken to Scotland Yard and, after lylnf there three m onths unclaimed, were returned to him. His pocket had evidently been useC by some hard pressed thief, who probably m tended it to serve only as a temporary re aoptacle.