The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-08-07
PASSING OF TRADES.
FEATURES OF OLD TIME CITY LIFE
THAT ARE FADING AWAY.

.Ole rags! Ole iron. Ole rags! Ole
iron!' Who does not remember the tin
Grant tradesman with lusty lungs who
pushed his little cart. with its string of
ROSY, 5ansling bells, through, the streets
and alleys Of the city ard II strident
Voice announced his Willingness to pay
( cash for the household refuse: Old "a
pers, rags, empty bottles, scrap iron,
! discarded horseshoes, bottoms Of dilapi-
dated wash boilers-eyerything was OF
understandable value with this accommo-
dating individual. His sharp eyes never
failed TO discover some glaring defect
that lowered the worth Of the articles
offered, and his scales were seldom III
accord with those upon which the goods
had been previously weighed; but, for
all this, his visits were none the less
welcome to the thrifty housewife and
energetic small boy. Who is there that
does not recall the chickering's and lively
badinage on back steps or at area doors
over the transfer Of a lot Of old junks
With what eager anticipation Of lis Wis
4 lis tlI biIC DiNSG CCuI liIc iiGiSILJiijbp
just before circus time, picking up pa
rers and bottles and rags and iron un-
Ill the streets and lots were rs clean as
i freshly swept barn floor!
It is a scant half dozen years since
the old junknlan was a prominent fac
tor i'll household economy, but he is
quickly passing away. Cheapening Of
production and new business methods
have led to his undoiug, and he is a
character now rarely seen. New paper
can be made so cheaply these days it
does not pay to pick up the old, and the
result is seen i'll badly Uttered streets
Il lots. There is no money IN han
ding scrap IRON, and as fer bottles the
new custom Of blowing the names Of
the owners in the glass has made them
contraband and dangerous to deal in.
Nearly everything once salable as junk
now goes into the ash box, to be carried
away to the city dump, where a band
ct Italians make a little money out Of
it because they can get it for nothing.
In place Of the jollying, sharp dealing
chap of old we now have al airy indi-
vidual with q ~pretentious rig, who dis
dams to cry out his trade and confines
his purchase to secondhand goods, for
which he offers prices that cause the
average housewife to turn up her nose
in contempt.
And the travelling tinker-that idle,
absolute old fellow who used to 60
about with a kitof charcoal, furnace and
soldering irons calling, .Tinware to
mend, in o subdued tone, as if afraid
he might really get a job-he, too, is
gone. When tinware was dear, it was
rarely thrown away SO long as it could
be soldered into seryiceable shape, but
the newfangled granite ware is fast
driving tin out of use, and what little
remains is SO cheap that even the most
economical of women do no hesitate to
cast out a pan or a dipper at the first
sign of a break or a leak. Tinware now
forms but an insignificant part of kitch-
en- furniture, and the travelling tinker,
whose fame even poets of note were not
above singing, has passed into obscurity.
The school children can no longer
gather about him in crowds and watch
with wondering awe his deft manipula-
ton of pans and kettles with dislocated
spouts and handles or sievelike bottoms.
MOI pursue him with mocking calls to
rouse him to deeds of indignant ~retalia-
tlcn. Vale the tinker, itinerant philos-
opher and friend of our childhood dayst
The generations to come will never
know the pleasures of the confidential
chats with which the urchins of 90
years ago We're honored, nor hear in
similar ways the marvellous tales Of
travels and adventures those interest
1ngiy nendacious rascals trolled out.
Then there was the 'sglass pud i'm
laan-a patient toiler, generally a for
elgner with Hebraic countenance, who
royed about locking for odd jobs in re
pairing broken windows. His equipment
OF glass, putty and tools was carried in
. erudely formed rack slung on his
back, where it made All attractive tar
get for the stones and bricks cast at
him by rude gamins. Windows, for
reason, don't break as easily now
as they did years ago, and there is less
work for the itinerant glaciers. Besides
this 1T is fast getting to be the custom
to send for a regular mechanic when
work of this kind is to be done, and as
q natural result the glass pud in
is on the decline. In this instance
is a case Of the survival of the fittest.
for at his best this ancient character
was a shabby chap. He had no redeem
lng features like the junk dealer or tin
ker-he brought no circus money to
boys and was devoid Of interesting
yarns. The los that can be said for
him IS that his visits were marked for
days afterward by the suspicious