Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-11-17

\ Being Pecuuar TO England anu hioSt
Peculiar to London-Selling Ea.ables on
the Streets-Tolk Lore and Tradition.
Queen of the Costers.
The costermonger is a being peculiar to
England and most peculiar to London. He
is neither more nor less than seller of eata-
bles about the streets. Strictly in accord
ance with his name, he should traffic only in
apples, for ''costard" is a sort Of apple, and |
"mongern a trader, for the Saxon 'mangian,"
to trade. Thus we have ironmonger, cheese
monger, flshmonger, etc, words used here to |
designate those pursuits.
THE cosTERMoNGER's VOCATION.
Tho costermonger sells all scrts and con-
ditiors of things-fruits, vegetables, fish, |
poultry, flowers and green meat as water
crosses, chicken seed, groundsel and turf are
called There are In London, roughly COM
puted, something like 40 goo street sellers, or
hawkers of market produce. These are men,
women and children. OF these large pro
portion are sellers of fruits, vegetables and
flowers. Old Covent Garden market is
crowded with them on market davs, fire.
ouently as many as 5000 being assembled at
once in the gray morning hours, when the
market practically extends clear around into
the busy Strand, past the world of newspaper
Offices and down to Charing Cross railway
station. Here the traveller, embarking on an
early train 10 Paris, may pause to purchase
a pottle Of fruit or a nOsegay from some mar
ket wagon, whose proprietor never hesitates
to turn the honest English penny.
From O'Clock in the morning the market
wagons have been toiling slowly into town
from the adjoining rural counties. A later
hour has seen others emptying their verdant
! freight into the market vans of the early
| trains into London. And again. even as the
/ surplv has been put out into the market on
sale tie people TO be supplied have gathered
! their clans. For in nothing is that old saw
so completely e1emplified, namely, "The
early bird catches the worm" us in the eager
ness with which buyers, high and low, take
| up their places in order to compass an advan-
tageous barter. There are unwritten laws of
''place courtesy" here, as well as elsewhere in
| the worlds hive of human bees Certain
stands. selected by the coster, with his quaint
donkey barrow, he acquires a right to retain
This right is never disputed if he is "on time
at his post, But five minutes lsggard dis
covers a rival on his vantage ground. The
| uttllUSl 6'ttl III IitNilios tIdll - utdltl
and the coster would not hesitate to banter
the Prince of Wales were he to pay an early
market visit Nor would such banter signify
any want Of re-pect to his royal highness.
No, the only reason for the banter is that the
market per Sc is the street mart for trader
and buyer, and he thus is monarch on his
own chosen ground, nor will he consent tc
be any respecter of persons there.
QUEEN OF THE CosTERs.
He has, by the way, certain folk lore and
: traditions. These are variouslv poetic One
is that he elects a queen of the costers. 4
wear or two ago the recognized queen died
and as vet no one has been found worthy
successor to her She was a woman with
romantic history Very handsome of fact
and figure in her early youth, in her age stil
strong and roughly grand of visage, and he
wisdom was Minerva like. She was calle,
the virgin queen Of the oosters,' In he
massive grasp Of subjects in general, sh
proved herself the Anna Dickinson of tn
sums Her advice was sought by all hersel
elected subjects. Her charities were enor
nous, comparatively speaking. She died a
the age of so By her will, which long betor
she had placed in charge of well know
| London solicitor, all her mOurners wor
| white They received the funeral dres'
| and provision was made for a bount
| ful feast after the hurying. Tw
hundred were thus provided for Th
few hundreds of pounds she left were d,
voted. after the outlay mentioned, I
dividing up into small sums toward
- Christmas dinner to each of IL
mourners 1t was a strange, fantastic fl
O. ~, q.
look on al HiGhgate cemetery shat the polio
were kept within cali to prevent any possib
| disorder or rows But no disturbance o.
CURED. Some of her sayings are very quain
1t is said they are being collected into Doc
form bv an eccentric enthusiast. The co
tiers, by her wish, attended her funeral c
their donkey carts. She was not an ign
rant woman and in her character resemble
- some Greek oracle. Like another some tin
English queen, her name was Ann" ar
as ''Queen Ann" she was followed by h
tribe. Whether she will ever have a succe
sor is doubtful; and perhaps the increase
education among the masses would in a.
case cripple such self assumed despotism.
Costers are not amazingly ignorant. Tht
learn to read and write somehow. Th,
have a slang dialect, as thieves have. Sor
of these words are utterly unintelligible
educated ears. If they desire to mask the
conversation they drop into their slang
stantly. They are not dishonest peop
They are no great care to the police, Tn
have horror of ending their days in t
workhouse, as also of pauper burial
casionally they turn up at the police cour
! but not as often as do other neither side 70
y They patronize form of entertainne
known as the Penny Gaf," and unknov
outside of London. This is sort of amate
variety show of strangely mixed charact
of amusement
Do they always remain costersf you as
No; but, on the other hand, the departul
- from their calling are rare If a coster j
-,r bit perky or above bis neiShbors, he s
II up small green grocers shop, After ii
he may go still higher in the scale But, a
rule, he has only the ambition to keep
head above water, die in his bed, and les
enough, as he says, ito plant him dec
- liken-London Cor. San Francisco Chronic