The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-03-30
TIE DEPARTED TN PEDDLER.
The Philosophy OF HIS Disappearance. and
Its Relmtion to the Nc x inlcX noom.

Its Relation to the Mckinley Boon.
To THE EDITOR OF THE SuN-Str: The enter
prising Mr.. Hanna, advance agent and grand
boomer for the Hon. William Mckinley, has in
structed his select corps of editorial writer's for
Mckinley organs Ito make a v winner OF the fact
that since the establishment OF tin-plate facto-
ries in the United States the importation of
English tin plates has fallen of enormously"
This tin-plate racket elected Mr.. Mckinley as
Governor OF Ohio, and to-day the clashing OF
tin-plate cymbals by the McKinleyites is grateful
music to the ears Of Mr.. Hanna, who expects
that Reed. Allison and Harrison will be silenced
by the tin-plate orchestra at st. Louis. Now.
when these things are thus. It is surprising that
the Mckinley fuglers do not know that the con-
sumption of tin plates in America has been
steadily declining sincs 1876. except in certain
kinds of charcoal. coke and terne plate, used
by the oil. provisions and roofing industries,
which make up 65 per cent. of the orders sent to
England for tin plates. The reasons for the
small importations OF fine tin plates during the
past twenty years are, first. the invention and
enormous sales OF agate and other sorts of en-
amelled wares for culinary utensils: secondly,
the fail in tho price OF copper and improved
and economical electrical processes for coat
ing copper vessels with nickel and silver,
by which utensils formerly made OF tin
plates are now sold at prices asked for tin
NS'i'' sa'''' hES p ut'As t'' III ~
vention of wood pulp machinery and processes
for making wood pulp paper. by which the col
lection and exchange Of tinware for rags by
tinware peidlers il now and has been for ten
years Improbable.
Twenty years ago there were more than 90. 900
men engaged in bnrtering tinware for old Junk In
the New England and Middle STATES, going about
in the familiar kind Of red cart called the tin
p%eddler's go-cart;" To-day there are not 500 of
these peddlers in the United States. These
peddlers were famous for ,inventtng kitchen
utensils for every purpose In the dnye. when
a day in her kitchen. and when it was the ambi-
ton OF every good housewife to have her
kitchen SHOWED and pegsed for holding the
ware bartcrei for rags. old metal. yarn stock
ings, mittens. dried apples. eggs and butter.
years ago the ~pe1dlers. Of whom sixty were
sent out by two Salem firms. received in barter
vast Quantities of pewter p]latteIs: porrlngers,
the early settlers Of the Puritan colony, but the
stores, of pewter, were soon exhausted. conse-
and throughout tho territory once ranged
by the tinware cartr from Maine u
G taiise of a o. ,ca ass sale" ner cent "f 'i as somp nnrs
with the sales OF. say, twenty to thirty wears
ago, when the red tin cart was seen on every
road and street within the territorial limits In
which. for a hundred wears. 1t was a picturesque
and familiar object. In New England and New
spectacle, and industrious citizens. were usually
Democrats of the old fashioned Constitutional
school. seeing, matters in the right proportion
SOFT was that when industrial revolution in their
business set in q few years ago. tinware men did
f%t ,R Reg snu .I se nor i0 for Mffn nof' %i fSn : f tarifr 9 for
deficiency only. Like sensible men. they found
work In other pursuits; and are not looking for
ley being President, the politicians will do all
the work; while the workingmen VII at at
W.sniXnyox March "a "'"'"hD ! TN"'"'