Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-07-19
How to Get a Living.
Some Of the Odd Ways in Which Men
Exc Ont a Livelihood.
Over Five Thousand Hutstlers i'm Chi =
cage Who Depend Upon Their Wish
for Support.
Chicago Evening Journal.

mecnanlcs or lH oOrers, said an official OF
prominent local, social and charitable
society to Journal reporter the other
day, land l will venture to say that every
day upwards of 5000 of the population
neither know where to procure a meal,
nor where thew will sleep at night, snd
yet nearly the whole of them contrive to
get sscmething,' after a fashion, before
the day is over. How, it may be asked,
do they manager With many this is
their own secret, and too frequently di-
vulged only In the police court. OF those
who get their living honestly, though none
the less precariously, there are many thou
sands the mere names of whose pursuits
are know to few BESIDES themselves.
Even when you heard them you would be
scarcely the wiser, aud would have TO ask
for an explanation in order to arrive at
any CON prehensiou of what Is meant.
am not speaking of trsmps and beggars
WHO depend upon charity, bat of people
who are actually disposed to do something
aud call their ingenuity into play tc Sc
cure existence"
Without accepting the officials state
ment in all its details, it must be acknowl-
edged that there are many hundreds of
people in Chicago who gain their living
in decidedly odd ways. An example of
this is given on the streets every evening
30 the people who stop 10 listen as we'll
dressed and nicely appearing man stands
on the curb and, npon the corpet, plays
Nearer, Nj God, to Tnee," Marching
Through Georgia" The Star-Spangled
inner" "Home, Sweet Home" and other
tunes calculated TO appeal to the popular
taste, and then passes his hat for CON
trlbutions. He is a most excellent per
former, and WAS asked why he did not
seek regular work with some musical Or
ganizslion instead of following such a
precarious means of making a living.
"Precarious?" he replied, mot much.
Weather permitting, | make more money
In three hours every evening in this way
than | would make in two days playing
in band or an orchestra. ] don't work
hard at night and not at all if 1 feel that
way, and have the days to myself. At
frst it hurt my pride little to pass the
hat, but have got over that"
'S5reet singing and playing, however,
is one CT the commonest of odd forms of
gaining livelihood. 1t remained for a
young man whose story recently came
out in court to solve the problem of how
to live when he could get no work. He
was bookkeeper. He was out of money
ana had no friends here, and finally be-
came so hard up that he went into one of
the numerous second hand basement shoe
stores on Clark street and traded pair
of nearly new SIS shoes for small sum
of money and pair that were rather the
worse for wear. While in the llace an
ms piration seized him. He nquired OF
the proprietor what he would pay for
old shoes, received prices and went his
way. From that moment the young gen
tleman was persistent beggar for foot
gear.
He was deceutly blessed, of goood ad-
dress and appearance, with the exception
of his shoes, which he wore in a most
shockingiy dilapitated condition. He
took the city Systematically, and went
! from house to house. The story was al
wa S the same out of work and money,
ashamed to make his present application,
| had never done such thing before, ETC.,
| but ne had SO worn out his shoes tramp
ing around that he was ashamed to enter
a business offioe TO apply for
He didn't want to beg but was there a
| cast-off pair of shoes il the house that
! could be given himY Such an appeal,
and the candor with which it was made,
rarely failed of results, and as the por.
/
best, the shoes obtained were almost al
ways of a good quality and condition.
These the young man sold to the second
hand dealers, and for a long time his
| business was a thriving one.
Il being known among lovers of the
piscatorial art that a big fish likes to feed
on a small one, the minnow Immediately
took his station in life as bait. This en-
| ables number of men along the lakes
front to gain their living in an out-of-
the way style. With large nets, which they
/ work with tackle, they fish all day long
| for mlnnows, and these they sell at sc
much per hundred. Stock costs nothing,
aud many of them make a coed living III
this way.
| Not the oommonest, and by no means
tho most honest mode of gaining liv-
| ing, is that followed by a man with whom
every wholesaler in Chicago is familiar
He is what is known as the collector OF
sam pies, who has solved the problem of
how to live while producing nothing and
consuming a great deal. His mode of
proceeding IL simple enough. He preys
on all he can, and consumes or sis ali he
gets. On one pretense or anOther-a
| large out-of-towu order, municipal or
other contract, private connection with
wealthy families-he collects samples of
every conceivable thins from all the
manufacturers and wholesale dealers he
| can prevail on to trust him. and these he
| eats, drinks, wears, uses or sells, accord
| ing to circumstances. OF course, he
even tually uses up all his firms, but Chi
cugo is a large city and furnishes an al
most never ending supply. This man,
who lives in an odd way, will generally
| G i've new firms the preference, As they are
| DESTROYS of pushing business and re-
| spond more literally and with less hest
| tatiou to his verbal and written applica-
| Jions. When Que oitysgives out it Is easy
| for hun to move to another, aud he is a
| lucky wholesaler who has had no dealings
with him.
Last Sunday evening, while a large
number of the Leland's guests were seated
IN front of the hotel enjoying the cool
| lake breeze, two stylishly dressed and
nice looking young fellows approached
and sat down. One had a banjo, the
other a guitar and harmunIca, and they
proceeded to entertain the people pres
ent with selections from opera and the
the latest popular songs. Their appear
ance was such as to lead everybody to
think they were hotel guests who were
playing for their own amusement, as well
as that of their auditors, and when one
of tAe young fellows rose and passed
around" his fashionable straw hat, the
surprise was so great that the dimes,
quarters and half dollars were showered
into it. That's the way those fellows
have of doing it," said one gentleman,
who evidently had some acquaintance with
the pair. "They dress wall, have good
appearance, and visit only the first class
hotels and wine rooms On a night like
this, IN their odd way of making living,
they will coin S25 or $50"
Who would think of such a thing as
becoming birds singing master? Yet
they are moderately successful. bird
that costs 81 or 80 has its value more
than C uintu pied after a course of lessons
from one of these professors, who will
receive singing birds of every description
as bosrders and superintend their musical
education. Or they provide tutors for
them at their own homes, in the shape of
perfectly trained wsrblers- which are shut
up night and day witt the pupil whose
vocal attaiuments are of an ia ferior order.
Intelligent birds, after few weeks in
s.ruction, will be able TO sing correctly
and in time will become accom- plished
tenors and sopranos. These professors
also teach parrots to talk, and, in their
odd way, are probably as proficient az
the Madame who instructs the avenue
belle in her music.
The sand s1ch man. must also go
-.