Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1893-04-23
They're GOING west.
WHY THERE ARB 50 MANY FAKIRS IN
TOWN.
One Of the Fraternity Talks About the Greer
Fields he Hopes to View Beside the Sdll
Waters Of the Big Lake.

There has been noticeable influx OF
street fakirs and peddlers during the
past week, and as many as half-a-dozen
of them have been carrying on business
at once in various quarters Of the city
There were in town yesterday fakirs OF
several sorts, a street band, blind
man with guitar and mouth-organ,
popcorn man, and half-a-dozen men
selling special lines OF goods from
house to house. One Of this class was
asked for an explanation Of the sudden
Increase in the population from this
cause, and he said:
TITS very simple. We are all on the
way to Chicago. From all over the
country, but especially from the East
ern cities, the members of our almost
fraternity have set their faces towards
the big city by the lake, and the grand
army is on the move. Pm almost sorry
1 started, for it looks to me as though
there would be about ten thousand
street men at the Fair. We don't eX-
pect TO do anything on the grounds in
the way OF sales, except once in a
while.on the sly, but wen do the crowd
Of suckers who 60 to Chicago TO see the
show for all we're worth. It'll be a
great harvest for the fakirs. City peo-
pie will be no good don't mean ma
tives Of Chicago alone when | say city
people, but visitors who will come from
cities all over the country. They're no
good on an occasion OF that sort.
It's all right to go into a city
and work it, for there is a large class
who are our meat in every city-the
working folks, and others, who are
caught by few easy tricks, stop and
listen to a lot of gas about nothing, and
finally buy out the fakir every day.
We meet them in all towns, or else
| there would be no takirS. But we won't
strike them az the Fair-I mean at Chi.
cago. Cause why, cause they won't be
there. The folks who'll mostly go to
} the Fair from the big towns are not OF
the class who buy from street fakirs.
That crowd blows in so much money
against us at home that they can't 60
anywhere, especially when they have
to travel several hundred. No, no; our
play at Chicago will be at the country
people. Well get q good whack at the
real jays for once, and we'll do 'em. 1t
lint often we get chance, az the real
jay, except once IN a while, when
we strike city like Wheeling on circus
day. But we're going to get 'em at
Chicago. There won't many ordinary
country people go to Chicago from
States as far away as, say, West Vir-
giuia, but from Western Ohio, indiana,
Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, and
sections of two or three other States
the jay will turn out in force, with his
good clothes and all the money he can
raise. He'll spend his days on the Fair
grounds, and his evenings in seeing
Chicago, and we'll have something to
sell him at every other corner all over
town. II only few hundred of the
boys had gone out, we'd had good
thing Of 1t, but Pm afraid it's going to
be overdone, and I've half notion to
stay back and CLEAN the old time fields.
But then, while I'd probably make
more money, l wouldn't see the
Fair, and l wouldn't have quarter as
much fun, and l guess I'll move on
with the procession"