Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1889-12-09
SLIPPERS es NEW roRk srRKe1s,

hot Corn is a familiar cry on tbs
streets OF New York. Long ago it b >
csms d metropolitan institution. Scat
'eled along the pavement of the Bowery
eno rs neighborIng thorouchfares, on
my OF tneSs frosty nights, may be
iouno perhaps dozen OK mora fat black
hssties swung ovsr alcoholic flames.
onde. their covers are closely laid ears
OF boiled corn, steaming hot, whose
pest advertisement is the toothsome
ooor e the steam floating out upon the
air. 1t attracts many customers, and
one vendor often sells one bundled on
more ears, at profit of about 81 night
~. They make supper, at five cents
an ear, not dear TO tbs impecuuious and
oy no means dsspicabls to the afausnt.
let the familiar hot corn and the hon
orsd raw oyster stxnd are by no msans
the only methods TO Salty the untimeiy
cravings Of the nomadio stomach for a
trinin9 consideration. The streets
abound With provisions for tho poor
man, II he bat know where 10 look.
There Is the shrimp man. Unknown
above Fourteenth street, he is the cher
ished friend OF thousands below it. His
only fixture of trade is the bushei bas-
empty box or covertly overturned ash
barrel. Sometimes a box of salt, an
ather OF pepper and plate of pilot bis
the streets leading TO the downtown
ferries are tenanted nightly By the
shrimp merchant, and in the markets
and along the river front he is pre-emi-
nent. His favOrits theory ia the harm
lessness of his delicacy in the bulk Che
sells dozen for three cents, and hs
firmly believes that a mans appetite
should be measured alone by the Ca
pacity of his stomach. Akin to the
shrimp vender is the herring man; and
indeed both offices are sometimes unit
ed in the one individual, their hauuts
being the same neighborhoods.
Everybody who is familiar with the
night side of New York life knows the
muffin man. He is distinguished for
proving and mysterious habits even
mole than for the sweetness and light
ness of his mullins. Few patrons of
the pastry have ever eaten twice from
the oven of the 81 me muffin man. The
very next night after his crispy luxury
has been devoured the muffin man may
be sought in the same place, but he Is
never found. The corner is barren and
desolate. Perhaps there is q muffin
man At the next corner. He hes appar-
emily the same oven and mullins, bat he
is not the same man. He never is.
However, the mullins taste tho same.
And this sense of fiee:ness and transit
toriness which are their inevitable con-
conitant perhaps adds to their flavor.
They can DO bought for two cents
q FThn ,r,fT fcu
his most dangerous rival, the hot flap
jack seller. Three fapjacks for five
cents would not seem to insure large
profits, yet the fapjack man is popu-
larry supposed to have money iii the
bank. Unlike the muffin man, be is
consecutive and fixed institution
Selecting his stand he is there
every night until o'clock under
known character and very much re-
awe of him. His great and portentOus
dignity; his smooth, saucy face; his
chubby, red fingers; his huge overcoat
fur cap, with elsphantine ear-tips, are
confidence. But his fiapjacks are deli
OtOuos lac HAL WIZ LIDS liOt tdtcA Adp-
jacks hot, with butter and molasses, ON
"a damp plate ON cold knees, under a
cracking awning on a snowy, buster
ing winters night. that man knows not
bliss. The man makes three hapjacks
in as many minutes, and the way he
dicks them on plate, dabs them with
a piece of butter and paddle Of mo-
lasses, takes your money. makes change
and begins on new set of hapjacks is
u marvel to behold. Naturally he en-
joys heavy run of custom, and often
makes $50 or $40 week.
1t ia estimated that 10000 men will
lead hand to mouth existance in New
York this winter. But it need not
worry philanthropists, and rs long as
hot corn, shrimps, behring's, mullins and
flapiacks can be had, man can sup
port existence at $3.50 per week. Mean
while The street victualers will thrive
and lay away.