The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1897-07-08
JOSHED ALL NATIONS.
THE Ex-KING OF THE FAklRS TELLS
HOW TO MAKE A LIVING.

THE Ex-kING OF THE FAkIRS TELLS
HOW TO MAKE A LIVING.
Rich After Having Done Only Four Days
Work In Thirty Years-How He Got His
Nickname-Corn Salve For Russians and
Perfumed Beans For Frenchmen.
Tick Lowndes, the ex-king of the
fakirs, having become rich, left off trav-
cling ON his fiftieth birthday, married a
young wife and settled down in Phila-
delphia, because I was born there, -
he says in explanation of this strange
thing, land I believe d man ought to
give the town he was born in show. y
For nearly 80 years Lowndes, circum-
navigating the globe / 4 times, beamed
upon the worlds popul ation through
his Moses P. Handy whiskers, and, in
his own words, "josheds em all, white,
black, red, brown and yellow" into
providing for his luxurious existence
and for his eventual wealth. He got his
nickname of Tick from the solid gold
watches he used to sell to countrymen
for the nominal sum of two bits.
Maybe you think they won't go, )"
he would bawl, holding up one of his
watches when purchasers were back
ward. ''That's where you re way off.
Listen to this one tick. - And he would
initiate the ticking of watch with his
mouth so that the sound copld be easily
heard by those on the outer limits of
the crowd around his torch illuminated
carriage. Success and seniority gave
him the title king of the fakirs, by
which he was known until his retire
ment.
Il often hear no account chaps talk
ing about how hard it is to get along in
this world said Lowndes when he
was here. "They make me weary. The
world is easy-easy swapping his
fingers as if the subject was too silly to
talk about. ''When I was small boy,
playing marbles and shiny and peg
top, I looked about me and saw all
hands breaking their necks trying to
earn, a living-struggling, sweating,
worrying, working like the devil, every
one of 'em.
"It was positively painful for me to
watch 'em, although was only in knee
breeches. I made up my mind right
then that had heap too big capaci-
ty for fun to wear myself out working,
and determined to make the world my
oyster. Well, I've been nibbling on the
oyster ever since, and the only work
you could call work that I ever did was
four days of coal heaving down in the
stokehole of Japanese steamer on
which [ was a stowawasy.sFiow's that
for record-only four days work in
80 years! Don't look it?''
Tick did look it. He was perambu-
lating jewelers. shop. Diamonds gilt
tered all over him-not the sort of dia-
monds he used to put into his Pandora
envelopes. Itwas acknowledged that he
looked prosperous all right
Nov you'll be astohished, but the
worst jays I ever struck anywhere in
the world are the Russians. I think I
sold about five tons of axle grease corn
salve for ruble an ounce box on one
trip through southern Russia. All the
men in Russia have corns They all wear
heavy cowhide boots - the ordinary
folks, mean-which suppose accounts
for it. I felt almost ashamed the way
those Russian folks fell over each other
to buy my ordinary axle grease of COM
MERGE for their corns, and the worst of
it was that in the larger towns, where
I staid for three or four days, the yaps
that had bought the stuff on the first
day of my arrival came to me before I
left and told me gratefully that the
grease had entirely cured their corns.
Why, I was regarded as public bene-
factor throughout the whole Russian
empire.
II found the French pretty easy ones,
too, especially in the smaller towns.
The first time I hit France was SELL
ing West Indian perfumed beans. They
were the ordinary American beans that
they don't know how to cook in Bos-
ton, despite all this talk of Boston as
the town Of beans. dyed the beans
blue and soaked 'em over night in CO.
logne. used Mexican vaquero's make
up on this. trip and sold the beans a
dozen for franc, with long spell
bind about the perfume lasting for 1000
years, and SO on. It was like finding
money, this bean fake in France.
s'Au Of the South Americans, from
Panama to Patagonia, are pretty easy to
gold brick. All over South America I
sold thousands of gallons Of whitening
tonic to make the half breeds white. I
made it of nights as went along out of
any old thing that wasn't harmful
dandelion roots, wild cherry bark and
such stuff. The governments got after
me finally for it, though, and that's
the reason the half breeds of South
America are still reddish in color.
Their governments wouldn't let 'em buy
enough Of my whitening stuff, you see.
"The Mexicans'll buy anything.
You may not believe it, but sold thou
sands of dollars worth of common bar
soap for removing grease spots on one
trip down there, notwithstanding the
fact that the duds worn by the people
who bought the soap were as much on
the G string order as the law of the land
would permit. I sold 'em safety razors
that cost me quarter each wholesale
for 49,, which was about as low down
as ever played it, as anysman who
ever used safety razor will admit.