The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-04-17
TOLD BY A FAKIR.
The Mary Tricks in the Street
-Man,Sh ife.

Last evening, says writer in the
New York World, "a man stood in a
a buggy sailing prios packages by the
blaze ora huge Para1iine lamp. He
wore "A -f-ocl1 coat Il shiny silk hat
clean i34lseu. a benevolent smile and
half a,s1zen badgs>
.-Ite;heen taxing for twenty years"
he c0nfiaed u a reporter after he had
replaced prize packages with - and
thrusrtI into his inside pocket.
.1Ity,- travelled the country from
Maine TO California" he continued.
'-andH know every city, town and VII
laqe IA here there's a dollar / either
g,1.a- permit or IA license at each place
and-so I'm knswn Il all the mayors
ana chiefs Of police from Florida -
Crs.7ua. I'm 10 years old. and haTe
b-cn = Street man just half my life.
no, ii doesn't matter what a falliT
lIae- TO sell. he'll sell It if ne only knows
haIr. It's the gift OF the CAB. a solid
front, nerve and Judgment that
succeeds: andlhe goods have nothing 10
de with IL. To be successful you mus
be grammatical newsy ard brief- If 4
man viii only wait until get through
t..Iking III have his quarter. II he
goes home1ne misses my breezy cunver-
Sation. and his wife gets the mOncv=
mine does when go home. know.
lin prohibition States / advocate free
license and in Chicago high license for
snleuns- If strike a town where there
has recently been an elopcmcnt ! tel
Chem an elopement story. and get en-
Ranghing. If it's a pious town ! look
z4nstcrc: t<il>sober. pathetic stories. and
siealthilv wink at the policeman. who
usually goes away and cholles. If the
town il Democratic ! talk Democracy
,r If Repn blican I advocate the prln-
s:iEjirs 0f tsre e o. p. and nod TO the
Democratic coroner.
some audiences have worked with
Il carriage and pair and with a colored
driver. An hour later. in the same
town, am selling to a different crowd.
mounted on a soap-boX. with soft felt
h1r1 4 hlre flannel shirt and overalls-
sell the same goods to both crowds, hut
out of the c;rrriage get a quarter and
off the soap-box | only get a dime
However. | clear much money in an
hour from one crowd rs from another.
o. the stuff sell does not cost me over
three cents. and if sell 100 boxes at 10
ceu1s. and 20 at -. have done well.
even after paying for the carriage,
handle almost every thing. 5ut medi-
cines pay best ] was once in a town
with a big stock of jewelry and could
moi work ii OF. I thought il ! only had
some medicine TO sell | MIGHT pay the
hotel bHl. I went out sl5irmishing and
foun1 a sHwrnill whcrc they cut up 4
good deal of mahogany and some
ebony got a paper bagful 6f the
dark savvaust and soaked it all night ut
the hotea- Weihnd a beautiful medicine
next dsfv- and my wife bottled il while
| went To the printers and had some
labels struck off. Each bottle was the
size OF your little finger, and cost so
CENTS a iy-oss. the labels cost 80 cents
and the -sawdust nothing. / sold -
worth n noon at - cents a bottle. and
that night j took in $50 in cold cash.
People who felt all kinds of things at
noon had gone home. taken some, felt
better and recommended it. See?
The first street man / ever saw was
DR. Mcbride, the original king OF
pain who resided in Chicago up to the
time of his death. He made many
thousands Df dollars. and at one time
showed me his bank book with $40, 900
to his credit, hut he died penniless-
Gardner, the original street soap man
became wealthy and old man Clark.
the pioneer street indestructible pen
man. is still selling on the street at
the age of 7G- Charlton. the i'm
pression-paper mnh- became a minister,
and Is now pastor of a New England
church by the way. Clark the pen
man recovered heavy damages for in
juries received in the Ashtabula dis
aster in Ohio. and enjoys the distinc-
tion of holding life-pass over the
road on which he was injured As he
Is now 80, it wonld be interesting To
know how old he might have become if
he had not received those injuries.
Every lawyer and broker down
town viii remember Smith. the razor
strap man, who was recently buried
with Masonic honors. Prescott. the
fnzru who handled gaianga root. is
settled in Maine in good circumstances.
bu, although 30 years of age, the old
nomadic spirit comes over him at times
and he lights his big lamps and talks at
country crossroads as glibly as ever.
Biglow. she street man who sold patent
medicines for years, is now connected
with very large patent-medicine house
in New Haven The original glass
cutter man was c. ii. Thompson, now
in the insuranee business in Boston.
''old man DoD. who made a speciality
of novelties, is still on the road with
big Cheap-John notion wagon in Massa-
chusetts, and Marvin, the razor-paste
man. is practicing medicine in Boston
King still sells blacking in summer and
juggies with paper at the dime muse
ums in winter.
AS for myself. commenced on bird
whistles in the street They cost me
- a thousand, a. ! made them myself,
and | whistled like Mrs Shaw, so !
readily sold one for quarter, although