Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-26

every pocket, and along the edge of all
iapels, upon the sleeves nearly from wrist
to elbow, aud along the wide plush side
stripes of the trousers, from just below the
knees to the verv edge of the trousers leg,
so that the last button clicks and patters
against the pavement and the shoe.
The coster women are none the less strik-
ing in their garb and appearance. Like the
men they are all we'll shod, and wear short
coarse serge petticoats showing their ankles
and shapely feet. These petticoats are as
ample as Claddagh fsh-wife's. Their
waists are always low at, or are left open in,
the neck, and usually the latter, as with the
men. is adorned with 1ashy silk bnecker-
chief; while small woolen plaid or silk
shawl covers the shoulders, its ends crossed
upon the breast where it is always fastened
with broach of huge dimensions.
Tho Women Fond of Feathers.
But the hair and headgear are most dis
tinctive. From these alone coster girl is
anywhere recognizable The hat is OF straw
or felt, and always as large as coster's
cartwheel. It protrudes alarmingly in
front, and above this canopy wages forest
of ostrich plumes. Coster girls belong to
clubs for the purchase of these priced feath-
ers, and there is no ordinary sacrifice they
that can be bought The hair is bestow ed
behind in large braid. A "part" extends
from this over each ear, and heavy,
straight tab lies against each cheek. Above
the forehead the hair falls straight almost
to the brows, but is then frizzed and curled
until it stands upward and outward like
monstrous matted cheaaux de frise. As a
coster proudly remarked to me: tour
donahs (girls, sweethearts, women) 'as
style as is all their own"
4 The costermonger's outfit comprises
either handbarrow, spring cart on two
wheels, on which he will load from 800 to
1000 pounds of fruit or vegetables and with
the help of boy or his 'donah" push the
and cart, possessed BY the more well-to-do.
I have seen the latter loaded with from
l. 200 to 800 pounds weight at Covent Gar
men Market The women when hawking
alone are sometimes provided with donkey
carts or barrows, but oftener with ''shal-
lows" or shallow baskets, which with their
heavy contents are carried on their heads.
A curious sort of business has always
been in vogue owing to the improvidence of
the costermongers as q class. This is the
hiring out to them of baskets, barrows and
carts. Out of the $4,000 or $4,000 coster-
monger population of London fully $4,000
are actually engaged in daily hawking, the
remainder being old folks or children un-
able to work save at odd times Fully one
half of the daily workers own their own
shadows, barrows and carts The other
half hire them at fuinously usurious rates.
The donkey and cart are seldom hired,
nearly all Of these outfits being owned by
the costers. But the hand carts or barrows
are usually hired at 8 pence per day or
shilling for the week for barrow origin
ally costing less than So. More than e20,- d
900, or S100, 900, is annually paid in barrow
or shallow" hire by the London costers
Where to See Them at the est.
Any one desiring asuperfcial observation
of this class can find ample studies of cost
ers at the chief London markets Daily
., 900 come to Covent Garden market; about
4, 900 secure fish at Billingsgate; fully 1000
are at Spitalfelds; perhaps 500 each will be
found at Borough and Leadenhall: and fully
5000 are distributed among the lesser city
and suburban markets Covent Garden
market is the most interesting place to visit.
not only for its historic associations but for
its greatest throngs of costers From the
opening at o'clock in the morning until
or 9 o'clock, from 5000 to 900 coster carts
will have come and gone. The remainder in
attendance wait until afternoon to dicker
with the 'hagglers'' or spectators, who
have bought unsold loads from farmers 'Hin
the lump" In these morning hours in
terest will not only center in the cos ters
but in their donkeys and carts. Hundreds
upon hundreds are packed in corner of the
open market waiting to load, for which
privilege they are taxed penny each
I would write of the coster's home life,
but he has none. The Gipsy, even the poor
London Gipsy of the loathsome van, is
vastly his superior in this respect. In the |
past three years I have visited more than |
/, 900 costers' haunts and habitations. In |
the m all have not found a dozen genuine |
homes The nearest approach to the home |
is where the coster is fairly well-to-do, and |
owns the donkey and cart or couple or
three. In these extremely rare instances
you will often find the coster, his wife or
mate, their children and the donkeys in one
basement room together. But the character |
Of the mans and the woman's work keep |
Them upon the street. They eat at cheap
,hop-houses and coffee stalls. Their even
ngs are passed at the tap-room, the "penny |
raft" shows, the ratpit, and the cheap music
halls.
Boys and girls leave their parents and
nate at from IA to 16 years. They take
rooms in the coster districts of
Leather lane, Drury lane, Shoreditch, Old
Street road, Marlebone lane, Dockhead,
Bethnal Green, Wbitechapel, Camberwell
Ind the like, and are at once full-hedged
,osters Children are born to them, and
ire minded" for the first year or two.
Then they take their chances for life and