The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-22
LIFE IN BooTBLACKDoM.
The Way The Bookblsck Earns His
Living And How He Spends It


Living And How He Spends It.
The bootblack element Of Savannah is a
rather tough one, but for all that there are
good traits in some Of these urchins The
disciples Of bootblackism are scattered all
over the city, but the bulk Of them fire.
quent the hotels. Sunday is their favorite
Day and Saturday afternoon comes next.
Va Sunday every young man puts on his
best suit, and, of course, wants his shoes
poHshed; but just at the moment he wants
70 make the polished acquaintance Of a
bootblack, that worthy is not in sight. and
at the time he is not desired, he is all the
time bothering to ''shine 'em upP' His kit
Is scant and cheap affair, and is usually
made by the boOtblack himself.
All that he needs is a small zine box, a
pot OF blacklng and two brushes. The only
running outlay is for backing, which is
very cheap. A few bootblacks who enter
tain some regard for the appearance of
their trousers have a small piece of carpet
under their knees while kneeling, but such
Dootblacks are scarce, for the average
youngster has no ambition to wear fine
trousers, and furthermore, the respect
which he would naturally have for them
would seriously interfere with his move
ments in throwing '6e bones" bis favorite
pastime.
At one time the bootblack population of
Savannah was large, butSt has been dimin-
ishing lately at q rapid rate, and if il con-
tinueS to diminish the only data which the
coming generation will have as to there
ever having existed such being as boot
black will be the records of the police court,
! which, il Father Time allows, will laconic-
ally "tell the tale"
In large cities the bootblack is forced
to his wits ends to exc out an existence,
and he has some queer characteristics
The Savannah bootblack exhibits the same
distinctive features, and is veritable stole
toward his brother bootblack in q business
transaction, which only goes to show
that he has been treated to some
injustice in this world, and he treats
everybody the same way. His age ranges
| from to 20 years, and he smokes, chews,
curses and fights. No living person sticks
up for his rights more than the bootblack.
| He is pugnacious and will fight to the
scratch, and to attempt to cheat him is like
| trying to get board of aldermen to agree
upon a question without a squabble 1t
| can't be done. Ii is one of the impossibili-
ties of the age and the person who succeeds
in passing a bad nickel on one of them
ought to be given a diploma.
The bootblack's life is not path Of roses
nor romantic one by any means, but he
manages to make it decidedly interesting to
himself, and happy is the bootblack who
has enough money left from his earnings,
after settling up his debts, 80 play "seven
up" with He is up at 8 o'clock in the
morning, and after breakfast, if he is able
to pick up one, he is off for his morning
| papers, which he fights for through
a bowling mob Of other boottlacks and news
| boys, but he gets there. AT O'clock
| Bay lane, south of the MORNING NEWS
building, where the boys get their papers
as they come from the press, is jammed,
and the lane is nothing but mass of howl
ing humanity. If little fellow has the
/ teY IN h. l.
sure to be dislodged by some big fellow,
who contiscates the place with a smile of
satisfaction. Protestations are of no avail,
for might rules right" every time.
The average weekly income of the
bootblack is not much, and hardly ever
reaches over 81. To clear IS in week he
has to hustle, indeed. He would have more
money at the end of the week, but nearly
every bootblack is an inveterate gambler,
and the size of his pocketbook is limited bv
the number of games he plays. 1t is hard
task for the police to catch him gambling,
even when the officers are dressed in citi-
| zenS' clothes, for the bootblack is as fleet
footed as a deer, and can tell a blue-coat
four blocks off, SO keen are his observ-
ing powers in matters of vital interest to
him. Capture means "$5 or ten days" and
he does his best to avoid it. He fingers
around the hotels until everybody else has
retired, and when things get lonesome he
some convenient dry goods box wherein he
can sleep as soundly as in feather bed
Perhaps the hardest part of the boot
blacks life, and the time when he
bitterly curses the irony of fate, is
when he is unceremoniously yanked
out by the ear from snug dry goods box
by a stony hearted policeman, and is me-
chanically told to "move on" 1t is the
most unhappy event in his career and his
half-uttered words would not look we'll in
cold type. The police say that they can
tell the bootblack by his snore and they
show no pity when they come across one.
Nevertheless, the bootblacks continue to
shine at the feet of society; and despite the
structures imposed upon them by the police
and the public in general, they laugh
in their sleeve at the efforts of the
fly ''cop" who tries to catch them. Nothing
more delights the bootblack than the sight
of policeman in trouble, and when one is
in trouble their only fear is that he will get
out of it. The bootblacks of Savannah
know the name of every man on the police
force, and they have them classified ac-
cordingly. They pick out the ones who get
after them oftenest and when that one is
on the beat where they congregate close
watch is kept for him, and the gang quietly
| disappears when he makes an appearance
If bootblack is hard up or busted" as
the saying is, he can borrow from his fellow
booJblack, but he has to pay it back or
fight.
The bootblacking business in Savannah is
mostly given up to colored BOYS. White
bootblacks are scarce. The colored bows
will not allow them the freedom of the
city, and have effectually driven them
from the business. The crowd which fire.
quents the hotels is far different from that
which covers the other portions of the city,
and it is more aggressive. The former will
not allow the latter to solicit trade in their
district, and when they find one of them
doing it they make it hot for him A good
many eminent men have reiterated time
and again that they began life as an humble
bootblack, but they were evidently not
Savannah bootblacks, for the principal end
of a Savannah bootblack's career is first
class gambler or alI-around tough. He is
not to be despised, though, for he is an in
dispensable necessity. To look neat and
gentlemanly one must have his shoes pol
ished. So the bootblack has the upper hold
on the public, and the underhold on its
purse. He will act the despot as long as he
possibly can, aud when he can no longer do
it he will retire reluctantly
COL. DEVEAUX GETS THERE
The President Appoints Him CoI1ector