The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-05-21
PASSING OF TRADES.
,oes OF OLD TIME CITY LIFE
IuAT ARE FADING AWAY.

wrought by the iconociasm Oh
0"- ',,.,,on- Itinerant Junk Dealers,
and GLASS "Pud In" Men Give
-. ,o Modern Methods.
.o,o ropsl ole iron! Ole ragsl Ole
-, WHO does not remember the itin-
hO tradesman with lusty lungs who
ei'h Ia his little cart. with its string OF
pu Vs., ianeling bells, through the streets
nOi,'' ailevs of the city and in strident
anu M announced his willingness to pay
.,, Cor the household refuse? Old pa
rags. empty bottles, scrap iron,
P ,,.oorded horseshoes, bottoms of dilapi-
sotod wash boilers-everything was OF
,morcbantable value with this accommo-
&c individual. His sharp eyes never
s';Iod N discover some glaring defect
.hot lowered the worth of the articles
osered. and his scales were seldom III
aoord with those upon which the goods
Sod been previously weighed; but, for
~ this his visits were none the less
'na,come to the thrifty housewife and
"noroetic small boy. Who is there that
Aces not recall the chickering's and lively
badinage on back steps or at area doors
S"or the transfer of lot of old junk?
W;th what eager anticipation OF his Wis
;ts aid the boys scour the neighborhood
.nst before circus time, picking up pa
rers and bottles and rags and iron un-
I'll the streets and lots were as clean as
a freshly swept barn floor
r. is a scant half dozen years since
the old junkman was prominent FAC
tor in household economy, but he is
onicklv passing away. Cheapening OF
PRODUCTION and new business methods
have led to his undoing, and no is a
character now rarely seen. New paper
can be made so cheaply these days IL
does not pay to pick up the old, and the
result is seen in badly Uttered streets
and lots. There is no money in ham
ding scrap iron, and as for 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 band
Of Italians make little money out OF
il because they can get it for nothing.
In place of the jollying, sharp dealing
chan of old we now have an airy indi-
yidual with 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 kit of charcoal, furnace and
soldering irons calling, "Tinware to
mend" in subdued tone, as if afraid
he might really get a job-he, too, is
gone. When tinware was dear, 1T was
rarely thrown away so long as it could
be soldered into serviceable 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 not hesitate tt
cast out pan or a dipper at the firs'
sign of break or leak. Tinware now
forms but an insignificant part of kitch
en- furniture, and the travelling tinker
whose fame even poets of note were no
above singing, has passed into obscurity
The school children can no longel
gather about him in crowds and watcl
with wondering awe his deft manipula
ton of pans and kettles with dislocatet
spouts and handles or sievelike bottoms
nor pursue him with mocking calls T.
rouse him to deeds of indignant retalia
tion. Vale the tinker, itinerant philos
opher and friend of our childhood days
The generations to come will neve
know the pleasures of the confidential
'chats with which the urchins Of Q
years ago were honored, nor hear i
similar ways the marvellous tales Q
travels and adventures those interest
ingly mendacious rascals trolled out.
Then there was the "glass pud in
mana patient toiler, generally fol-
eigner with Hebraic countenance, VIII
roved about looking for odd jobs in re
pairing broken windows. His equipmer
OF glass, putty and tools was carried i
crudely formed rack slung on hi
back, where it made an attractive tai
get for the stones and bricks cast 6
him by rude gamins. Windows, fC
some reason, don't break as easily no.
as they did years ago, and there is le'
work for the itinerant GLACIERS. Beside
this it is fast getting to be the custoi
TO send for a regular mechanic whe
work of this kind is TO be done, and ;
natural result the "glass pud in
man is on the decline In this instant
1t Is case of the survival Of the fittes
Tor at his best this ancient charact'
was shabby chap. He had no redeem
ing features like the junk dealer or til
ker-he brought no circus money
the boys and was devoid of interestir
yarns. The most that can be said II
MN is that his visits were marked fl
several days afterward by the suspicion
supply of putty the neighborhood youn
sters had for blowpipe purposes Hous
wives accused the itinerant glazier
ootching his work, making exorbita
charges and carrying away the broke
Dlts OF glass he removed from the sash