The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-06-11
COsT[RM0NGERs
NAksman Describes His Expert
snces Among Them by Day
and by Night
with Donkey Cart and Ooster
Companions He Becomes
ono Of Thorn.
asiumpey Jem," the Cestsr, and Wife
8ooky-Their vicissitudes and Good
Eortune-Ameng the Lowly.

eslumpsy Jsm," the CestsF. and Wife
Haokv-Their vicissitudes and Good
Eortuns-Ameng ths Lowly.
Special Correspondence Of Tho Independent
LONDON. May 20. 1S93.-1n that most I'M
eavory portion Of london lying between
Bethnal Green. Billingsgate market and
Ahe London docks, I have passed many
strange days and stranger nights among
those most curious and interesting ok
known a. tho London eosterm ongers.
IL III came about in m accidental way. -
most pleasant things arc sure to happen to
the yarrant traveller who loiters rather than
bushes Though old-world scenes, and 20
cheap withal that whom / Dame to figure
expenditure and found that not $40 had
been required TO give mo permanent status
With the entire fraternity. ! felt some
itwsingss Of conscience That my foot
Ing made 20 bsgearly a showing.
Two pounds zen were invested In a
costsrss cart and donkey; three pounds
went 10 prevent q domestic tragedy; eigh-
teen shillinps bought o secondhand ~costes's
barrow outright; four shillings were paid
for / specpipQ'' chafinch; twelve shillin ~
sixpence took me to tho derby ~ = soster in
Ahc ~ccsters' annual parade; another two
pcuras was lost on the supposititi0usly nm
q Reachable Judgment OF q coster com
parion who introduced me TO several bril-
liant ..pegsing'' contests in tho White
chapel districts; and the remaining hftssn.
III val aquandsred without computation
n coater tea parties, by this side Of eoster
fat bits. IN coster penny gads." and at
eostor tap rooms-all Of which. as I have
taken the reader thus far into . p~srsonal
~oonndenee. should b susceptible Of rigid
explanation.
To begin With. that all this and these
London folk may DO understood, there
must bs something SAID about coste's in
She abstract. There are from $4,000 to
10000 Of them in tho great metropolis.
They are the hawkers Of hsh, vegetables
and fruit. u 10 not true as with ~ whom
one that hawks 10 . hawksr that any
one who 'costers" in London would be .
e0ster. The cosSers are a separate raee.
They are the only hRwkers here. They are
I distinct, charaetsrful and integral part Of
err great and ever wonderful Babel OF
London. II is known that they have bsen
precisely what they now are for nearly GOD
years.
mongers' cries 10 said to DO In LydGste's
poem Of London Lv~okpsnny" in tho time
81 Henry ", about 475 years ago. Shaks-
peare refers contemptuously to "these cos
termonrer times" Ben johnson makes his
Norose awoon IL ho hears a costermonEsr's
CRY; and DR.. Johaon gives the derivation of
s.costardmongel" as originating In the
street sale of apples or cestards ''rouAd and
bulky like tho head"
1.-The result 10 that the eostermongers of
Athe London OF to-day form almost . little
realm of their own, ever changing in SON
antiquity; with . pufer strain Of blood, of
It's kind, than half Of the English nobility;
and with ancient customs and traditions
remaining inexerable laws OF guidance to
themselves; oil to . more marked degree
than is true Of any equal number of people
In any corner of Europe. ff@
Al his daily labors the coster will have ON
his head a small cloth cap we'll to one side,
with the visor either pointed to the sky or
saving one side of his neck. He is never
without his black or fashily eolorea silk
''kingsman" or heavy. loosely gathsred
neckorchisf, always tied in q sailors knot
and the ends tucked in the folds of his gay
wooden shirt. the whole exposing a fine. we'll
corded and often hairy neck and chest.
capaoious pockets and huge tabs. and al
ways Of corduroy or velveteen. His trous-
eHs are half Mexican in cut. OF corduroy or
coarse ducking. and their wide bottoms
flap over the best shoes worn by any lowly
men in London. Added to this arc pearl
or polished metal buttons innumefable.
In the matter of buttons their ''besttogs''
81. Cr,-l~-n url k~l{ln-u Nro <rrlr ,t-xA
ling. Whether Of metal or tesrl, they are
from q half-inoh to an inch in diameter.
and are set as thickly as they can be placed
around the cap ban and visor edge. down
tho edge of the waistcoat from throat
to point, above evory pocket. and along the
edges of all lapsls. uson tho sleeves nearly
from wrists to elbow, and along the wide
plush side stripes of the trousers, from inst
below the knees to the very edge OF the
trousers leg, so that tho last button clicks
and pattels against the pavement and the
shoe.
The costsr women are none the less ssrik-
ing in their garb and az psnranee. Like the
men they are all we'll shod,' and wear short
serge petticoats showing the ankles and
shapely feet. Their waists are always low
at. or arc left open In the neck. and usually
the latter. as with the men, is adorned with
. fashy silk neckerchief. while o small
woo.en plaid or silk shawl covers the shoul-
ders, its ends crossed upon the breast where
IL is always fastened with a brooch Of hass
Dimensions.
But tho hair and ths heaagenr are mos:
distinctive. From these alone 4 coster girl
10 anywhere recognizable. The hat is OF
straw or felt, and always MS large rs q
coster's cartwheel. 1t rrotrudes nlarIninRly
In front, and above this canopy waves &
forest of ostrich plumes. Coster giris be.
long to clubs for the purchase of thess
priced feather Is, and there is no ordinary
sacrifice they will! net make to possess tht
largest plumes that can be bought. Thu
haif is bestowed behind in a large braid. A
"pnrt" extends from this Immediately ovel
each ear. and a heavy. straight tab lies
against either check. Above the forehead
the hair falls straight almost to the biows
but 10 then friZzled and curled until /
stands upward and outward like monstroul
matted chevaux de frise.
The nearest approach to a home anon.
the costers is where the coster ia fairly vel
TO do n WINS the donkey and cart or
couple or three. In these extremely rar
instances you will often inc the coster. hi
wife or mate, their children and the don
keys in one basement room together. Blu
the character of the mans and the woman
~s.k keep them upon the street. They en
At cheap chop houses and coffee stalls
Their evenings are passed at the tap Ooh
the penny gaff" shows. the rat pit and tn
cheap music halls.
Boys and girla leave their parents an
mnte at from II to l6 years. They taxi
furnished rooms in the coster districts c
Leather Lane, Drury Lame. Shoreditct
Old Street Road. Msrylebone-inne. Dock