Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-11-23
KING OF F'AKIRS.
FIFE. HEAD OF a CURIOUS IN
DUSTRY IN HIS DEN.
lie Has His Subjects In Many States
How the Fnlsir Secures His
Wares and How IIo
Operates.
e6TZAKIR" is said to be of Hin
II, doc origin, and in India
means necrOmancer iuo.

| ''N~o tA'o hOe iOuntt DluCO III our Int
est dictionaries it is sure to do 50, for
II has passed out of the realm of slang
and taken its place with many other
Dew terms recently adopted that s1ill
long-felt want" We have not only
the substantive "fakir," but tho adj
Iective fake" MS applied to other
articles that arc not all they seem to
be, and the verb 'to fake"- has taken
It's place i'll every newspaper Office in
tho land. When n reporter-which is,
of course, very rarely the case-draws
On his imagination for his facts. or
with creative genius makes his story
"out of his head"-as the farmer 3 son
did his fiddle, after no had wood
enough left to make another-it is
said to be faxed.
How tho name fakir came to be np-
Piled to street peddlers do not know.
nor can tho most careful invcstign.
ton discover. L have Just had
a. most pleasant interview with
MIR. George Washington Stivers,
the head and acknowledged "king
Of tho falSirs," and he is as ignor.
mt OF the origin of tho term as
applied to himself and his associates
AZ tho rest of the world. When n
name, no matter how Objectionable,
sticks and cannot be avoided, it is tho
part of wisdom to accept it, and no
matter it's history or its associations.
to have it honored by making it re.
spectacle.
George Washington Stivere, king of
the fakirs, has his armory on tho north
side of Ann street, near Nassau, New
York City. He is man of medium
height, blue.eyed, with blon1 mus
tnchc, mn active, erect form, n manner
OF speech that is forceful and defiant
OF grammar, and ho says he is forty
years of age, though he might easily
pass for thirty.
Among tho great mass of facts pre-
sonted by his majesty are many of
general interest and few TINT sre
applicable only to New York City.
Iwenty-seven years ago, when MIR.
Stivcrs, ms boy of thirteon, entered
tho business, all "street salesmen"
sold goods from tray, push carts and
Wagons being unknown to tho fra
tornity. "Away back in 'G7," snid
his majesty, "when took up the
business, L began by selling pocket
knives from tray that was down in
front of tho old postoflicc on Nassau
street. used always to mako from
five to eight dollars day by few
hours work Mt noon; but them DAYS
is gono and won't never como back."
Tho men who sell from push in
New York City pay license of five
dollars year, or rather they pay that
Tor tho first year, and ono dollar for
each succeeding year. The pcddlcrs
who sell from trays or baskets pny
ono dollar Tho first year and fifty cents
thereafter. Mr.. Stivors has scores OF
mon in his employ and lie keeps them
supplied with licenses MS protection
against the police, who have not n
little to do with the happiness of tho
street fakirs. There is IN ordinance
that no street snlesman shnll remain
in ono place moro than ten minutes MT
time, but if the seller stands in we'll
with the coop" OH that beat he may
romain for hours without being dis
turbed.
What follows as to the street sale of
goods in New York will apply equally
well to our largo cities, for the meth
DDS and frequently tho sources of sup
ply arc identically tho same. In the
busy thoroughfares OF Now York, and
particularly in the vicinity of tho
postoflice aud city hall, tho sidewalks
are crowded with fakirs, whose push
iarts obstruct the streets, whilo the
5tontoriRn voices of tho ealesmnn
drown ont the roar OF the street cars
and tho rumble of passing vehicles.
Cheap novels, selling for loss than the
cost OF tho white paper, cheap toilet
articles, cheap pockctknives, hand
kerchiefs, vnses, lacquer ware, soap,
blncking, jowelry, music, magnifying
glasses, and novelties in tho shape oil
toys, puzzles, portable hat racks, tack
hammers, nail pullors, pencil sharp
eners, md SO OIL exotic tho interest
and open the pockctbooks OF the pass
crsby.
"rhe first requisite OF mn article for
street sale, Z" said his majesty, sis that
1t shall be easily portable; the nec-
ond, that.it shall DO cheap, and the
third thnt it shall be useful, or be of
character to induce the purchnser>tu
believe that it is.
The stock articles in the wav oil
cutlery, handkerchiefs and toilet arti-
cles sold by the fakirs nre, according
to Mr.. Stivers, bought from tho i'm
porters or wholesale dealers, who gel
q largo stock OF certain limo Of goods
that it is necessary to get rid of and
turn suddenly into cash. On such oc-
cosions Mr.. Stivers is sent for; ho OK.
nmincs the goods, and if they are of q
character that his men can handle in
their chosen field he buys them md
puts them on the market; and while
he does not make an inyariable hit, III
nine cases out Of ten ho makes by the
contract.
The king of the fal,irs counts his
subjects NIL over the United State.
and in many foreign lands. and nj
times he hns had mn army of from five
to eight hundred men employed in tho
sale of one article, though his stand.