The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-02-10
HOW HE EARNS BIG PAY.
Wine Drummer Who Says He Gets
a alary OF $4,000.
Elrn,,, the H-nshinntnln Otnr
M the Washington Star,

From the Washington Star.
81 get the highe t salary paid to any wine
drummer ia tie country, said the cadaver-
ous-looking man with the fur-trimmed over
coat and sllyer-mounted travelling case in
the smoking compartment on the road from
Baltimore to Washington. II receive $20,-
coo year for selling champagne, aud |
ca II every cent of the money!
SIS it such very hard work, thenf" asked
the reporter
SELLING champagne is a very easy and q
very d ficult EN- ployment,n responded
| the commercial traveller, paradoxically
"WheIner it is difficult or easy dope IDS
ol circumstances. A man is not paid
| $50, 900 per a mum for loaing arou I'd in the
clubs and reco amending this or that brand
to ones fellow dudes. Nor is such an in
cone earned by exercising powers profess
| sioaaIly pc suasive upol wholesale dealers
and the ike. 1t is quite another branch of
the business that offers the big wages to the
few men who are capable of executing its
duoies The pay is large because the occu-
patton is proportionately hazardous"
You don't mean dangerous"
81 DO mean That my employment is very
da gerous. 1t Is very disagreeabe also,
besides requlri e great experience. wide
acq Iantancs ana no little skill. To be sue
cess.uI In it one must be comparatively
reckless of danger, Indifferent TO the main
uenance of personal reputation, and capable
of making himself popular in all sorts of
society, down TO the very dregs of disSipated
humanity. OF all trades, mine. l will ven
ture to assert, is the least agreeable, and
that is precls ly the reason why it is that
an expert in it is paid so highly"
''But | had ALWAYS supposed that cham
payne ling was the easiest and most
agreeable work possible"
"lhe ordinary wine agents labor is COM
monplace enough and n t at ali unpleasant,
bat my line in the business is altogether
apart, and though the most important in
the trade, surprisingly little is known in
regard to it. Perhaps some folks might
think the less said the b-tter, bat if you
ike I'll tell you few fac about it."
pray do SO. am much Interested
well, of course, | sell wine wherever
and whenever | can-to whole ialers, hotels,
or individual $, but my specific line of work
is to get or lers fro II patrons of a class lot
recognized as reputable by the gospel tenn
perance element of the conmu lily. Saloon
ke ,pers Of the be or class are amo the
| leasts obiec5io abe of my customers.
Gather before your mi DIS eye all the es-
Establishments in the United States organ
lied for disreputabie purposes; consider
collectively ali the dives aud places
of dis>ipa1ed resort in the country;
| assemble within the range of your
mental vision the entire number
of haunts for vice and wickelness from the
Atlantic to the Pacific and from the gulf
coast to the Canada border, and you are
overlooking the field of my professional ex-
e tions. Champagne is the essence of DISH
patton, as you IN gnt say, inasmuch as it's
consul priOn usually acc Jmpa lies every
sort of Embarrassment known to civihza-
ton. Where people are too poor 20
49, al .
an imitation if they have money to squan-
der My range of work exte ads from TwAn-
ty-seventh sire t and Sixth avenue, New
York city, to the bloodhound-guarded deus
of Wisconsin, the gam ling helis of G. icago,
and he opium joints of San Francisco,
through the big towns east of the Aiissis-
sippi, and along the line of noto I1usly bad
towns from the .tner of rivers west ward,
with an occasional excursion TO the south.
1t is my task t. make my never-e ldiny way
travelling expenses paid. To sum the
matte up, there is scarce dis
spated gu trter in any town on the Ameri-
an co .unelt That is not my sa nping
ground. | am acquainted in every dea; l
KIN wv every dive keeper: am on familiar
terms with every gambler Of prominence
in snort, tie entire vicious population of
the cou try forms my social and business
circle. This knowledge, with the experience
1t implies, is what cnietiy makes me worth
$4,000 year to the company that employs
me, and l am cneap at the price. conSid ar
ing the number of bottles per annum taat
sell. The incidental danger, too. must be
taken to view"
And where does that come ing"
"Where does it come in: Why, young
man, do you suppose chat a person can spend
his time from yelr's end to years end in
and about tine worst hau IT'S of vice from
Washington City to the Golden Gate with
olt being frequently exposed to perils Five
times cave | been attacked in dens, " here
was cornered. and only escaped with nv
life by using or threatening with my re-
volvers; twice | have eluded murderous Y
dlSp )sed entertainers by lowering myself
from my bedroom windo $; a four occa-
lions | have been robbed of all nv personal
effects, even to my sample case, and once
was AL but lynched on suspicion of stealing
six mules. Dangeri Look here"
The traVesiag alae opened ais frock cost