Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-12-24
CURBSTONE MERCHANTS.
Fakirs Who Hold Forth ON the Street Cor
ners.

ners.
THE WAY oP JEwELBY-How SOAP Is MADE TO
SLIDE OFF kAsrLY-rHE PUSH CART MEN WHO
ARE KEPT MOVING ALONG.
BAKERS HAVE TAKEN possession of the
Il street corners and their silvery tongues and
glaring lights never fail to draw crowd. The
small reservation at Pennsylvania avenue and
It'll street is the favorite place for them. They
cannot all get there. however, and the conse-
quence is that they scatter along the avenue
and It'll street. Many of them have no difficulty
in putting of snide jewelry, common soap or
some other cheap article for ten times their
value.
THE CHEAP JEwELRY MAN.
The fakir who sells cheap jewelry in the
vicinity of the markets never fails to gather an
appreciative and paying audience.
MY dear friends" said one of those orators
81 am not out here tonight for the purpose of
making money. but simply to put on the mar
ket samples of new jewelry l am a son of
William H. Vanderbilt and only want to adj
vertise my wares" After telling a funny story
and showing the latest trick he takes up a large
envelope and begins putting in the jewelry.
Here" he says. lis q gold chain that you
can wear 1t is worth several dollars but, as
said before, money is no object and so in it
goes. Then l will put in pair of goldl-plated
sleeve buttons. which will make handsome
present if you do not wan. to wear them your
self. A gold bracelet or locket is the next and
your sweetheart will surely kiss you if you
make her a present Of it. And here is a diamond
pin that will dazzle your sweetheart's eyes"
Several other pieces Of jewelry are inserted
and then it is-''Who will have this for only
twenty-five cents?"
Everybody wants the first package because it
is generally feared he will not duplicate the
bargain. and for moment there is a rush.
Package after package is sold until there is q
lull IN business. Then the fakir revives in
terest by putting in ''gold watch,' and asks:
Who will have this lot for a dollarY' Just as
In the case OF the first lot offered everybody
such packages the light is extinguished and the
fakir disappears.
THE SOAP MAN.
The man who sells patent soap to take out
grease spots. paint or any other stains from
clothing Is out in full force and like the jewelry
man, he catches many persons. The soap man
sells his packages for dime and also gives
jeweIry. His jewelry is worth ten times the
money, OF course. but then he tells the unsus-
pecting crowd that he does that sort of bust
ness only to advertise his soap. The small
amount OF money asked for his packages makes
more customers, and in the end his profits are
greater than those of the twenty-five-cent man.
THE PATENT MEDICINE MAN.
The man who sells patent medicine also
shouts aloud from dry goods box on a street
corner the superior quality Of the contents of q
little bottle of liver regulator. consumption
cure or mixture that will cure any disease
known to the medical fraternity. He does not
always give away gold or silver, but he
demonstrates to his listeners and purchasers
the harmless nature of the mixture by taking a
drink OF it every time business gets dull.
TO CATCH SMALL ONES.
The combination man got in his work on the
small triangle the other night. His envelopes
were larger than those of his competitors, and
to swell them he put in a Christmas toy first,
but he did not always call attention to that
article. One by one he put in pieces of jewelry,
and then he told his hearers that they wanted
something for the ladies. The article he
referred to was card of needles. Then he
said; Here is large thing to catch the
small ones" This article was done up in a
piece of cOlOred paper, and everybody Won
dered what it was. The only way they could
find out was to make purchase. Most Of
those who paid their % cents would not open
the mysterious package to crafty the curiosity
OF the others. There was one big colored man
who made a purchase who could not wait He
opened the package in his envelope. and to his
surprise found that it contained a fine-tooth
comb.
PUSH CART MERCHANTS.
The street arabs push cart merchants mo-
nopolize large part OF the carriageway along
It'll street, from Pennsylvania avenue to the
Boundary. and many Of them have large head
lights gasoline lamps on their carts. Most
of these persons are Italians Greeks while
some few are native Americans. They sell a
large amount OF cheap fruits and candies.
Their presence is a constant annoyance to mer-
chants, who complain that carriages are pre-
vented from stopping in front of their doors.
The push cart men. however. pay a license to
do business and under the law they can stop in
one place long enough to make sale, ,but the
police generally keep them moving. Every
time policeman reaches 7th street the word
goes along the line and the carts can be seen
one after another moving out from the curb
stone and continuing along the street or turn
ing a corner and getting out of sight entirely.
These men rule remai,: ont until after all
the stores are closed and some Of them are out
until long after midnight.