San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-01-03


''Tom" Murphy has been milkman for
more than fifteen years, and for a very long
time has supplied the reporters family with
a regularity that has never been broken save
by an occasional blockade and by the biz
gard of last March. Murphy invited the re-
porter to 60 with him on his rounds some
night and see for himself how the work was
done. This invitation was recently ac
copied
At little after o'clock in the morning
Murphy was met by appointment at little
uptown stable, where he was found groom
ing his horse. A lantern, whose flame sput-
tered and fickered, was suspended from a
nail in a beam just behind the stall, and fur
nished all the light that was necessary for
Murphy's accustomed eyes, but to the
stranger in such surroundings the stable was
filed with deep snadows which changed into
fantastic shapes as the lantern swayed to
and fro.
THE top O. tn mornin' to ye' was Muir.
ply greeting as his visitor appeared. Faith,
did't think ye'd come 50 chill night" Ten
minutes later Tom and his visitor were driv,
ing toward the Weehawken ferry with
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
the wagon fitted in snugly between narrow
strips Of iron so placed as to keep them in pO-
sition, and the ribs Of the cover of the vehi-
Gle were filed with hooks upon which we're
hung half pint, pint, quart and two quart
measures in great numbers. Space was
economical in every way possible so as to
give the vehicle the greatest carrying capac-
ity Of which it was capable. At this hour
the streets Of the city were still occupied by
numbers of people and vehicles OF various
sorts. Restaurants were doing a 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
drunken men and women there were many
on the streets, and these were the natural
prey of the cabmen.
DISTRIBUTION OF MILK.
Weehawken was duly reached and the work
of unloading and loading was quickly ac-
complshed, 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 che milk carted to their own depOts
in 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 tho cars. Those who get their
milk in the latter way purchase it more
cheaply because Of the saving to the con-
tractor IN the matter of carriage than do those
who secure their supplies at the contractors
city depOts. In a majority Of cases, how
ever, the contractors own the entire outfits Of
the milk,nen, who either get a salary or a
commission. There are several, however
who lie Tom, have built up routes Of their
own, and who make a speciality Of furnishing
the best milk aJtainable TO their customers.
The financial returns ara not large. and
CONTINUED on NExTGPAFF