The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-16

I days by necessity and human progress TO
/ adopt many strange ways OF filling their
pockets and their mouths. New Occupa-
I tions. the results Of modern demands Of
+ civilization. eve turning I'd every day
and these vhc have Icns aeo adopted
novel methods are ztn struggling slons
living from hand TO mouth Especiau,
900 she hie cities are The different -avs NJ
making bare and eheerie<s living mum
crous and odd.
familiar sight 90 belated pedestrians
l along Pennsylvania avenue is the figure
} Of an old negro. bent and gray. walking
/ slowly along in the gutter. his eyes fast
ened on the ground. and STOPPING every
/ few steps TO pick up something. which he
/ deposits I'm small bag carried over his
I arm. Exposure TO the frost and snow Of
/ many winters have whitened his woolly
/ hair and beard. and given his hands an
/ extra tremor and his voice the crack Of
| age, but he pursues his strange calling
nightly, so the street is not covered with
weather.
/ The things he stoops to pick up are dis
carded cigar stumps and these he sells.
| when he has accumulated big pile 20
sort OF secondhand tobacco firm in New
YORK where they are made into very
I cheap and a very bad brand of cigars
1nese delightful smokers sell for about /
cent each and are highly though of by the
Italians and other foreigners OF the poorer
class, who live in New York's tenement
houses.
The old mans favorite picking place is
In front of the theaters after the shows
are out. lie generally fills his bag before
ne gets home, but even at that rate he
must make only few cents a day. His
wants are not many, however. and he Will
probably not be long on earth.
method of earning a livelihood that IS
distinctly the result of enterprise and
push IN the line of business. out of which
IL grew, is the human advertisement Ar
rayed in same fantastic garb or mounted
on extraordinary high stills to attract
attention, and with the name of the firm
or goods he represents displayed in glow
ing letters on his clothes, the human adj
Nertisement stalks along the principal bus
mess streets OF the city, a constant source
OF delight 70 the small boy and of wonder
70 the rural cousin. Not infrequently, too
he is an element Of danger. for when a
man perched crane-like on top of a pair
of stills six or seven feet high gets on a
crowded street his movements are liable
10 be rather uncertain.
of late advertising In this way has be-
come so common that number of peO-
pie have adopted IL as a regular profess
sion. Chalk, burnt cork or false whisk-
erS makes effCctual DISCUSSES and they
can parade all day long without fear Of
being recognized by some one who might
be sensitive on the subject.
PerhapS the poorest and sometimes the
most Wretched in big cities are those men
and women, mostly colOred or foreign
ers. who make their living by picking over
public dumps, where the refuse of the
city is thrown. Their homes are squalid
novels, often near the dump, In damn and
marshy places, and they are rarely free
from some form of disease. Soap with
cold-Water bath very rarely comes their
way.
There are dozens Of both sexes in WASH
ington who make their living in this way.
At the dumps along Rock creek and the
flats they can be found daily, each one
working on a certain portion of the big
pies OF refuse. All rags. ndDgr metal
of any kind and bits of wood and coal
are carefully laid aside. for each possesses
Its intrinsic value and the smallest fraC-
ton of cent Is never lost sight of by
the dump-pickers. They mark out their
territory as a miner would his claim, and
woe to any one who trespasses, for all
Will unite against him or her as against
common enemy.
No favors are shown to the weaker sex.
and IN this one way of making a living,
at least woman stands on an equality
with man. Their earnings vary ACCORDING.
| to luck, but their existence is from hand
to mouth, no matter what luck bring to
them, and their condition never improves.
The man whom all men, women and
children are familiar with in some form
| or another is the street fakir. He is ON
nipresent and generally a fraud of the
| deepest dye. He may be selling patent
medicine, soap, jewelry. tooth powder
| razor paste or freCkle lotion, but what,
ever his stock in trade his strident voice
| and neVer-failing gall are always with
| him.
! If the fakir can get hold of some novelty
V.
| for awhile. will be strewn with roses So
| to speak. 1t is always the aim of these
| NeIsauie gentlemen TO get hold of some>
| thing that mas never before been faxed
and get exclusive right to work through
| certain territory. Then their earnings, or
| more properly, their winnings are large
| As a rule, however, whether they arc
| handling novelties or not, they make a
| pretty good living, the soap man leading
the others.
Another class of wage-earners familiar
TO all are the ragged little urchins. black
and white, who sweep the street cross
/ lngs with old brooms in slushy weather
| and hold out their hands to passers-bv
/ pleading with voice and eyes for penny
/ and hoping that every donation will eX-
coed the amount asked for. Their earn
! ings are small but in most cases they are
! sent out by pauper parents, who promptly
! take home each evening.
! Selling parlor matches on market days
IS also a favorite pursuit of the small
! BOY, and nearly every one who has ever
| been to market knows what il is to run
| the gauntlet of a dozen or more of little
kids with big voices, pushing their Three
| have a basket with them.
! The man who peddles hot sausage and
| cheap hot lunches around the streets Is
| also a well-known feature of city life
| NeWSboyS and people whose occupations
are as queer as his own are. his patrons,
usually finds its way into his capacious
/ His stuff is not of the best, and, although
| sold cheap, his profits are considerable
| so, on the whole, he has a much better
| time of 1t than the usual run of people
| who adopt peculiar ways to earn a livel-
| hood.
In the same class with the lunch men
are the vendors of CLAIMS, crabs and oys-
| ters. Theirs is a vocation that has be-
come very popular in the last few years
| and nowadays hardly a square can be
! traversed at night without seeing a we'll
patronized stand on wheels of this kind.
The nighttime hackman is an institu-
! tion that deserves special mention in this
| list of queer callings. While of a legiti-
mate order, it is probably the queerest
| of all. and the strange things "eabby''
| sees in the dead hours of night would fill
| a book with interesting reading Men of
! this class, it is to be regretted, are not
| always as scrupuously honest as they
might be and it is sometimes a matter for
| subsequent police Investigation when an
! unfortunate drunk falls into their hands
They as a rule make a pretty good living