The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-05-23
ODD OCCUPATIONS.
SOME UNCOMMON BUT LUCRA.
TIVE CALLINGS IN CHICAGO.

Making Living at Winding Clocks
Buying CASTOR Garments
"A Private Barber's
Handsome Income.
A professional winder of clocks seems
very foreign to US Americans, don't it 7
But what do you say to Nicola Boraska
having made his living at that calling
for seventeen years-at least at that and
little tinkering and clock repairing,
too2 He is Bohemian, but speaks
German and all the various Austrian
dialects. He lives in a little brick cot
tage in the Bohemian district on North
Robey street. Thousands of foreigners
in Chicago brought with them from the
old country their family clocks. Many
of these are quaint old affairs, standing
the full height of the rooms, while Others
arc minute time keepers screwed to the
walls and provided with loose pendulums
four feet long. These are regard.
ed with great veneration by the
owners, who would not think of
parting with them for any con-
sideration. They always had their clocks
wound by professional clock-winder in
the old country and they like to keep up
the good, old custom. At home, as
they call across tho sea, the clock-winder
is quite a privileged person. and his
periodical visit is often looked forward
to by the housewife with genuine
pleasure. He takes the place of the
newspaper. He is natural gossip
monger, and each new tib he receives
winds him up tighter than ever. He
winds up the housewives clock and tells
her the latest scandal in the neighboring
town. She gives him mite of money and
a few points on her neighbors. OF
course, Mr.. Boraska is much more dis
Greet than this. He keeps on good terms
with his customers, but he never carries
scandal. So Mr.. Baraska has his hands
full of clock-winding and repairing, and
the ancient European clocks in their
quaint frames all tick in unison. He
has followed this business ever since the
great fire and has taken care of large
family upon the income thus derived.
"What do you do with your old
clothes2" asked sharp-eyed little
woman, who obtained an audience with
q lady on Calumet avenue. 49,.
"Why, I don't know" replied the
lady somewhat taken aback. 81 give
some of them to the housemaid and
cook"
twill make you cash offer for ell
the cast.off clothes you have at any time, +"
said the other in business-ike tone.
"Have you any now2" The lady of the
house led the way to her closets and pro-
duced number of dresses which had
either seen their best days in their orig
inal shape, or which had been made over
and were again slightly passe. She had
often heard of cast-otf clothing shops,
but had always regarded them with aver
sion. But this seemed very different.
Here woman came into the boudoir and
purchased the garments for cash. There
was nothing repulsivc about that, espe-
cially the cash, and it was not long be-
fore three party dresses that otherwise
would have gone to Bette the maid or
Johanna the cook, had passed into the
possession of the sharp eyed stranger.
Following them went two pairs of satin
slippers, two pairs of shoes, a fan, some
underclothing, and several hats. In ex-
change the lady received $3.50. 1t came
very opportunely, for the lady was, as
many ladies besides her are, very short
of pocket.money. And what did the
little woman do with her purchasesa They
were bundled up by the reluctant house
maid and taken to the cab
waiting outside. Into this stepped
the little woman to be driven to q neat
shop on street crossing Archer avenue
not far from State. Once there an assist
ant took the goods and separated them.
The shoes and slippers were given to q
went to the millinery room, the dresses
to the dressmaking department, etc.
The dresses were taken apart, the pieces
sorted out, and head dressmaker de-
cided on their disposition. There were
some excellent breadths of silk and satin
and several yards of embroidery as good
as new. Out of the three gowns two
new dresses were constructed. One of
them was a garment that the original
owner might have been proud to wear.
The other was a palmer dress, but still
exceedingly neat. It had to have some
new stuff interpolated into it, These
dresses were then exposed for sale in the
front windows. The better one was
marked "$15," and it was we'll worth it,
and the second was labeled "$S," and was
a bargain at that figure. In less than
two weeks both costumes were bought at
those prices, and the shoes, slippers,
fans, and hats had undergone similar
transformations that equally improved
them. The footwear was sold privately,
but the hats, with the frames newly warm
ished and the trimming and flowers
frightened up, were disposed of almost
as fast as they were displayed. 1t will
be seen that the little woman had margin
enough to pay fair wages to her en-
ployes and have considerable left for
cab hire after that.
! What do you say to a barber with an
income of $500 month"; And without
a shop at that. Yet that is what Will
lam Whelan, an expert barber in this
city, gets for his work. He began several
years ago to carve out private trade for
himself. He was an excellent workman
in down town shop, and had very
nice line of customers who were per-
fectly willing to wait from fifteen min
utes to an hour for the privilege of hav-
ing Billy shave them. He was an in
telligent man, splendid barber, and a
rapid workman, and had the discretion
to allow his customers to do all the
talking themselves. Gradually he per-
fected his scheme, and before anyone
else knew what he was about he had