Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-03-08
THe PEpDLeR NUISANCE.
90 Long M This swindler Is Patron'As1'
Inst So Long VIII He Flourish.

60 Long M This Swindler -
INST So Long win He Flourish.
1f there is one thing that makes the
life Of n housewife burden more tnan
another. it is the constant and unrenit.
t;np visits of that peripatetic vender OF
s.sheap, merchandise yclept the peu.
dler knock at the door or pun AZ
fle bell arouses her and disturDs lei
household duties, and with the expec.a-
t;on that It is some dear friend she tioies
her hair. arranges her dress, and Win
her sweetest smile responds to the SUM-
mons. 70 on
expression of disgust, however, wnen ~
stead of meeting the expected friend sne
i confronted by an unkempt and dis
reputable son of faraway Italy OF soLue
other foreign cline who lmportunes hei
N axam;ne the wonderful array OF par
Gains to be found in his foul smeEihe
nack If she yields, and after allowing
him m scatter his goods over her chairs
and sofas she fails to buy. he frequently
becomes insolent and is got rid oil WIN
difficulty.
That they are worry and a nuisance
10 the universal verdict OF all housenoio-
ers Int how to suppress them is another
story. Kicking the interloper on the
stoon and into the street may relieve an
Individual case, but those who come ait-
or him. and their name is legion, 90 not
seem to be deferred by the inhosptaoie
reception given their compatrlot' pu'
nersist in their calls as long as the neigh
horhood gives them patronage. Inc
class of customers who encouraged tine
neddler are often caught by SLY insinu-
alton from the cunning dealer that the
goods have been smuggled or secured by
fraud or thieving in order to explain
their cheapness. But If the woman VINO
welcomes him to her house paws over
his wares, buys his goods and encour-
ages him to repeat his visit could view
the surroundings of the foreign hawker
when at home and before he starts ON
his pilgrimage to the rural districts, she
would hesitate before allowing nm TO
cucumber her parlor with his goods or
expose her family to the contaminated
air engendered by his presence.
Imagine the headquarters OF the ped
dlers, as described i'll one OF the great
daily newspapers some months since,
where hundreds of them, male and fe-
male, with their packs of merchandise.
baskets of decaying fruit, fish and veSe-
tables, were packed together In dark,
unventilated cellar. like sardines in
box. When the reporter visited one OF
these places, the noisome odor was so
great that he was almost overcome and
was obliged to retreat to the fresh air
outside. Vermin crawled all over the
walls, over the packs, the baskets and
over the bodies of the men, women and
children.
Out from these fever breeding kennels
their inmates go, entering clearly VII
lage homes and farmhouses, bearing with
them the seeds of disease and contagion,
to be scattered among the innocent chill
lren of the bargain seeking housewife.
TIE peddler is the citizen of no COM
munity. He seldom possesses the first
elements of honesty, and he is ready and
eager to make any guarantee or repre-
sentation in order to palm off his goods
upon the unsuspecting, fully aware of
the fact that he will not pass that way
again and will therefore not be called
upon to make his word good when the
fraudulent nature of his transactions are
discovered. Only thoughtless people pa
tronize the fly by night hawker. and they
invariably receive their just deserts by
being thoroughly swindled. The safest
plan is to Danish all the unsavory breed
from your houses when they call and
forbid them repeating their visits. Buy
only from those whom you kncv, whose
antecedents are good, habits decent and
whose regard for their business reputa-
lions, if not their innate honesty, would
deter them from disappearing their
merchandise md obtaining your money
under false pretenses.