New-York tribune., 1885-08-14
WOES OF A SOUTH-ST. SIGN-CARRIER.
PRACTICAL JOKE OF JOLLY MARKETMEN- N-TEREIBLE

WRATH OF A BoTEL-KEEPER.
For the last two weeks the jolly fsh-dealers
about Fulton Market have been LIVING
ffcal joke which their combined ingenuity
sprung upon the unsuspecling owner OF the
The hotel is owned by Alexander Taylor, stout
cd gentle with large nose ana passion tor
fast horses, who is well known TO all the ire
oueuters of Fulton Market. Some time ago he ex-
pended S. on a gorgeous sign-something between
n banner and a billboafd-which set forth at great
length aud in the usual horid style Of the hash
house signboard the manifold attractions Oh MS
~ e. aud TOR the last week or so any reference TO
Il wanderings aud trials of Taylors sign has been
snuicient 20 produce volcanic eruptiohs oi nlr'h
amonp the hardy narkctmen.
"'TSe way Of IL was this" SAID the stalwart
owner of q market stall TO TRIBUNE reporter
yesterday ayor had that sign stuck * IN ,h peer er
fonr days except when he brbed ssme tramp to
tote il round for hour OF so for The drinks lhen
he began to talk about hiring somebody
lot cwbats the matter with With putting an ad in
ths napers for the old mans beDefitT The boys
loving 1A appeared IN the Wanted columns of the
wntdes sS5Y t SS 9os rcns men 10
"Well, the way the Aen poured into that bar
room in the morning was astonishing There must
have been two hundred of thcm all the buns IN
the CITY. and it kept Taylor and two bar-tenders
busy ali the time firing them out By-and-by,
after tkat part of the joke had got little bit Old
and laylOf Dau gone out SolhcNh'io1
tramp came a-slouchDg along looking up at the
numbers Just as a weli-known hsh-dealer came out
of the bar-room where he had been taking his
morning smile and chatting the barkceper about
the heavy business he'd been doing.
You ge come to answer that advertisement. L
suppose, says he.
~ Yezzer' answered the tramp.
"'All right says the dealer, you just take
that sign that's sticking up in that beer keg and
carry it through the market couple of times and
down South-st. The paw is q dollar a day.
1.-THE tramp grabbed the sign and started through
the market, but he hadn't gone two steps befo re a
rain of fish began that beat any you read about III
the papers. The way that sign and the poor cuss
under il were pelted with ancient mackerel, chunks
of ice dccrepit eggs and dyspeptc vegeta bles was
cruel. Meanwhile, Taylor turned up again, missed
the sign and began giving the bartender the beneht
Of his whole collection of strong words. What are
you here for, any. wayf., Whatd you let ,em
steal that sign fort You'll lind cut who runs this
shcbang il you don't tend 70 business better. says
he with lot moro that you wouldn't print II l
told IL to you. Just when he was a-giving 1t to
HIM hardest the poor tramp burst out OF side
door of the market yelling like wild Indian and
followed by all the old stock that had accumulated
In the last week. He tore up the street, dumped
the sign in front of the hotel and asked to be paid
M TO date and discharged. He got the last half OF
his request In such way that he didn't wait for
the first.
the next with hose and scraper 10 get the dirt OF
his fve-dollar sign, and now 1t isn't safe for Q
small man to say anything about binboards OF
sandwich men In that bar-room."