The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-12-11
TIE LONDON COSTER.
some o. THE LIGHTS AND SHADES
OF HIS LIFE.

A Bs.ny Peculiar ~ Erslaui and Most
PfcIlInr 10 iordon selling E..'able. gu
The s,rs.is-F.is Lone and Tradition.
o1ern of the Golfers.
The cos-cruour,r - being peculiar ~
England and most peculiar % London lie
is neither moro nor les than seller Of eata-
Llcs atout the streets Strictly ia accord
ancc with bis name. lie should traffic only IA
apnlcs for ''cotlrI' Is sort OK apple ana
"mongcrn a trader. ior the Saxon "Tansian,'
to;.ade Thus see have ironmonger, che Sc
mouges, h,hmonger. etc, woI'is usei here 10
designate those pursuits
TIE co-IERAoNGlR's VOCATION
The c0,.. rm0nccr soils al s,rts and con.
dition, OF tlin~s-frut., vegetables, lsh,
poultry. Covers ani green meat, as water
crosses. chicken s'ci, grounded and turf als
called There arc h. London, roughly com
rnirI something li1t 1900 ,ttcct '.l'e's. Or
LlUi.I, ID mAgiel pr.du-e i h''' are iIch,
women uud chi!il-n. u these IA large pro
portion are sellers of fruits, vegetables and
flowers OH CorCnI Garden market i
crowded with them Oh market days, ire
Gue.tiT cs many Us 900 being assembled AZ
oace 10 the gray morning nous, when tue
n,arfet practically extends clear around into
the tusy strand pass tie world VI nc" -paper
Offices and down o. Cnar.pg Cross railway
station ileie the traveller. subarking on al
early traiu t0 rafls may pause 10 purcha 90
A potrl. of fruit or "a no--gay from some mar
krt wagon. whose proprietor never nesita'ei
D..
From O'c'o,E ia the morning the market
wagons have been toIng slowly into town
from the adi)hng rural count s. later
hour has seen others emptyiug their verdant
ffsirht into the market vans of the early
rrains into London And az ain, even as the
supply has been pat cut into the market on
sale. tie people o. be supplied have gathered
tLeir clans Tor IN nothing IS that old saT
Ed completely cTcmp.hed. namely, The
eaelv Lrd catches be worm. as in the eager
moss with e licn buyers. LIgh ani low, take
10 their places IN order go compass en- advan
tsrcors barter There arc unwritten Law; q
.srlacc courtesy here IS Vol as elsewhere III
tie worlds hiye Of human bees CeTtaIt
stands. selected uy the coster, with his quaint
ionhgs basrcv he acquires light u retain
This right is never disputed II he IS On time
al his post Ilt Eve minutes laggard di'
covers a rival GOA bis vantage ground Tie
utmost good nature prevails. tnan IS neari
and the c0ster would not hesitate 10 banter
the Prince Of Wales were he 10 pay an early
market visit Nor would such barter s.gnily
any want vi repeet % hi, royal nighness
30. the only reason for The banter IS that the
market per sc Is the street mart Tor trader
and buyer, and he thus Is monarch On his
own chosen ground, nor will he consent %
be any re,pecier OF pelSons there.
A QUEEN or tHE cosrERs
r. has. by the way. cer.aln folk lore and
tradition, These are varously poetic. One
i. that be elect, a queen 81 the coster-. 4
year Or two ago the recognized queen died.
anias vet no one has been found "a worthy
successor 70 her She was a'woman with d
romantic history Very handsome OF face
and figure ia her early youth, Ia her age still
stron- and roughly grand cf yisage and bel
wisdom vas Minerva like She vas called
tie "sirg.n queen of the cQ,ters." In her
massive grasp OF subjects in general, she
proved herself the Anna Dickinson Of the
Sums Her advice was sought by all herself
elected sub ects Her charitle, were enor
nous. comparatively speaking. She died a.
the age OF So By her will which long before
she had placed in charge Of a well known
London solicitor, oil her mourners wore
white. They received the funeral dress,
and provision was made for a bounti-
ful feast after the hurying. Two
hundred were thus provided for. The
few hundreds OF pounds she left were de
voted. after the outlay mentioned, u
dividing up into small sums toward q
Christmas dinner 10 each " the
mouners. Il was a strange, fantastic tu-
neral 50 great was the crowd gathered to
look On at Highgate cemetery that the police
were kept within call to prevent any possible
disorder or rows. But no disturbance oc-
CURED Some Of Ler sayings are very quaint
Il Is said they are bcing collected into book
form by an eccentric enthusiast. Tie cos
ters. rs her wish, attended her funeral On
them donkey carts Sue was no5 an IgllO-
rant woman and in her character resembled
some Greek oracle Like another some time
English queen, her name was Ann and
rs Queen Ann she rGs followed by LeI
tribe. Whether she viii ever have success
sor is doubtful, and perhaps the increase ot
ttuN4kl1A aiming NA- AleA7'NP nSH+N 40 Nft'
case cripple such self assumed deip0tism
Costers are not amazingly ignorant They
learn TO read aud write somehow They
have q slang dialect, as thieves have. Soms
4 these words are utterly unintelligiOls u
educated ears Ii they desire TO mask their
CONVEX sation they drop into tnsir slang in
stantly. They are not dishonest people
They are no great care 10 the police. They
have a horror Of ending their days in the
workhousc, as also Of pauper burial &c.
caslonaily they turn up ct the police courts.
but not as often as do other netlor aide fox.
They patrc2i1c form Of entertainment.
known as tho Penny CAT sHd unknown
outside Of London. Thisis & sort Of au1tc -
variety show Of q strangely mixed character
Of amusement
Do they always remain ccs-crs' you as1
30. bat. on tic other land the dsgartu
from their calling arc GlTc. Ii coster - =
Bit perky, % above Bis IsigLtOgs IL sets
up d small green grocers shop. After tnat
lie may 20 still higher IN the scale Dlt, - d
rule, lie has only the ambition to keep his
head above water, Gle in bis Ted, and leave
enough, - he says, ito plant him decent
like.n-LondoE Cor San Francisco Chro1icls
Tho Good wife's Power.
Few realize the vast power when 4 scrzi-
lila r,-ifa ran cyalt over her husband first Of