Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-11-08
TRIP WITH THE MILKMAN.
SCENES IN A GREAT CITY WHEN
 PEOPLE ARE ASLEEP

PEOPLE AXE ASCeEP At 1 O'Clock in the Morning-Excnanging
 Empty Milk Cans for Full Ones-How
 Customers Are Scrvod-IntelliGence of
 the NIilkman's Mare-DayliGht.
 "Tom" Mul,ay has been milknan for more than fifteen years, and for very long time has supplied the reporters family with | a regularity that has never been broken save by an occasional blockade and by the bliz- gard of last March. Murphy invited the re- porter to go with him on his rounds some night and see for himself how the work was done. This invitation recently ac- cepted.
 At little after 1 o'clock in the morning Murphy was met by appointment at a little uptown stable, where he found groom ing his horse \ lantern, whose flame sput- tered and flickered, was suspended from a nail in beam just behind the stall, and fur nshed all the light that was necessary for Murphy's accustomed eyes, but to the stranger in such surroundings the stable was filled with deep shadows which changed into fantastic shapes as the lantern swayed to and fro.
 ''The top O tn mornin' to ye' was Mur- phy greeting as his visitor appeared. Faith, 1 did't think ye'd come so chill q night" Ten minutes later Tom and his visitor were driv- ing toward the Weehawken ferry with n load of empty milk cans which were to be exchanged for full ones On the way it was possible to examine the interior of the wagon closely. The rows of cans on the bottom of i the wagon fitted ill snugly between narrow strips of iron so placed as to keep them in po- sition, and the ribs of the cover of the vehi- cle were filled with hooks upon which were hung half pint, pint, quart and two quart measures ill great numbers Space was economical in every way possible so as to give the vehicle the greatest carrying capac- ity of which 1t was nblc. At this hour the streets of the city e still occupied by numbers of people and vehicles of various sorts Restaurants were doing q thriving business, especially along Sixth avenue, and the bar rooms were in full blast, nOtwith- standing that it was beyond the hour when the law declares that the sale of liquor must cease. Along the streets the night hawks of the city, the hackmen, hurried and scurried here and there watching for fares. Of l drunken men and women there were many i on the streets, and these were the natural prey of the cabmen.
 DISTRIBUTION OF MILK
 Weehawken was duly reached and the work 1 of unloading and loading was quickly ac- complished. On the way back Tom explained | the manner in which the milk was distributed over the city, On all roads, he said, milk trains are run to the city from the surround ing country. This is consigned to contractors | who have the milk carted to their own depots i'll the city, whence it is distributed by their own men and teams, or, as in Toms case, the milkman, owning his own horse and wagon, | is supplied at the cars. Those who get their l milk ill the latter way purchase it more 1 cheaply because of the saving to the con i tractor in the matter of carriage than do those | who secure their supplies at the contractors 1 city depoUs. In ma jOrity of cases, how | ever, the contractors own the entire outfits of 1 the milkmen, who either get salary or Q commission. There are several, however, who. like Tom, have built up routes of their own, and who make speciality of furnishing tho best milk attainable to their customers Tho financial returns are not large, and hardly pay the men for the hardships they endure in pursuing their business. Most of 1 the individual owners of routes arc engaged to deliver supplies to restaurants and saloons in the early morning, and, in fact, up to noon, after their own work is done.
 It was after 3o'clock when Tom announced that he was approaching the upper end of his route, at Eighth avenue and Fifty-third street. That locality was perfectly quiet at that hour, the only noise being the rumble of the wagon and tho rattle of cans, save when an occasional elevated train, a street car or a cab went by. As the mare turned into | Fifty-third street sho pricked up her ears, whlSkcd her tail and started off on lively trot. Tom hitched tho reiSs to q hook in the top of the front of the cover, allowing them to hang limp over the animals back. The lantern was then hung on another hook and Tom ready for business. As the mare approached certain house Sho Swerved to- ward the sidewalk and slackened her pace l Tom, with three cans ill either hand, i leaped from the wagon whilo 1t was still ill motion, and, rushing into an area under the front steps of q house, exchanged full can for an empty one This he repeated in five other houses, tue mare in the meantime walking leisurely along. When Tom had returned with the six empty cans, and had placed his foot on the step to leap into the wagon, the marc was off again with a rush. A block farther on she slowed up on the opposite side of the street and Tom, with more full cans, leaped down again This was repeated time after time, the animal exhibiting as unerring knowledge of the places where tho milk was to be left as Tom did concerning the quan- tity desired at eack.
 SERVING THE CUSTOMERS
 In every case the man brought back empty cans corresponding precisely in dimensions with the full ones he had taken from the
 
 ing notes attached to tho empty cans request ing an additional quantity of milk for that day only. These demands were satisfied out of on extra can carried for that purpose. To fill them caused some inconvenience, for 1t necessitated additional trips from wagon to house, and the marS rather disliked being dictated to in regard to longer stops than usual As the wagon went along Tom said that he began serving new family the day l,oS
 customers, and he wanted his visitor to mo- tice how unerrinSly the marc would follow
 the new route. She did it as correctly as if
 her owner had held the reins, which be never
 once touched. Corners were turned as faith
 fully by the careful and intelligent animal,
 and other vehicles were passed as safely as
 the most cautious driver or pedestrian could
 have wished. At one point near corner the
 mare stopped, and Tom explained that be | boa 6Oza,, IF O1or in hot