Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-11-04
MONEY MADE ON RAILROADS.
Itinerant Merchants Who Sell Paper
and Frutt.-Homely Dawes Feat.

Itinerant Merchants Who Sell Papers
and Fruits-Homeiy Dawes Feat.
Very few of the travellers who have
been so often annoyed on railroad trains
by the persistent and not always refined
eloquence OF the youths who try TO sell
them stale peanuts, decayed fruit and
ancient literature, have any adequate idea
of the amount of business these itinerant
young merchants transact. In fact, 1t
has often occurred to many passenger
as an interesting problem how in the
world train news agent manages to
make enough to buy his salt. They see
him 60 through the car time after time
and sell nothing but perhaps a nickels
worth of apples, or a pint Of peanuts, and
they wonder if a hard-working young
man can pick up a quarter a day out OF
that business.
These miSgivings are natural enough,
but they are entirely needless. Smart
young men often make as much as $40 or
$50 a week as news agent on railroad
trains, and he is very novice who can
not make from $15 TO SEQ without work
ing very hard. Some idea of the extent
and value of the business may be learned
from the fact that from 8 to Sl5 are
often paid for the right to sell on the
trains Of a single line of railroad for
year. In some instances much higher
figures are reached. The right is usually
bought by some big news company,
which buys all its stock ut wholesale and
dictates absolutely just what shall be
sold on the trains. Each news agent
news butcher" is the technical term for
! him-has q big book in which all the
stock he takes out Of the office on each
run is carefully entered up against him.
When he comes back his stock is re-
counted down to the last apple and the
last pint of peanuts. Comparisons with
the news agents book and the tab in the
office are made, and then the butcher"
Is allowed 20 per cent. commission on
his sale at the established retail prices.
That doesn't seem like a very big margin,
but the boys increase 1t very substan-
tally by crowding up the prices beyond
| the limits set by the company, and by
| various other devices not always of ma
| ture that a Sunday school teacher would
approve. ..
Then, too, the sales which appear legitf-
mstsly on the book arc much greater in
the aggregate than any one not familiar
| with the business would imagine. On q
| day run from here to Syracuse, say, they
may average $40 That is not nearly SO
good q run as it was q few years ago. In
fact, the business in all this part OF the
country has greatly deprecated of late.
So slight a matter as an old banana skin
was responsible for a good deal Of this.
The late Mr.. w H. Vanderbilt was TAX
| ing one of his western trips over the Lake
Shore railroad, aud in going through a
day coach slipped and nearly fell on a
| banana skin that had been thrown on the
floor. The right to sell on the Lake
| Shore, New York Central, and nearly all
the eastern roads was controlled by the
Union News company, Of which Mr.. Van
derbilt was the principal stockholder. At
| the next station he telegraphed home an
explicit order that no more news agents
| should be allowed to carry fruit of any
| description to sell. Fruits are rather
| important feature OF the news agent
business, and trade on the eastern roads
has never quite recovered from Mr.. Van
derbilt's order.-New York Mail and Ex-
press