The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-15


The number Of men now regularly en-
ployed to carly placards and advertising
symbols about the streets in this city is
computed to be between 1000 and 100
more than a third of that number having
been secured for the purpose within the
last twelve months. Wherever the people
congregate most, and traffic and travel Is
thic,lest, these queer conscripts are seen
quietly pacing their appointed beats, each
with a special advertisement well in view;
perhaps blazoned on banner ashed firm
ly to the shoulders. or inscribed on a head
trapping, worn helmet fashion, or lettered
across the breast. or on boards or gar
ments that cover the entire body, accord
ing to the win of the employer.
A motely, grotesque array the peram-
bulators are, uniform in the motive, if not
the method, of their calling. ana exciting
alternate mirth and ridieule or sympathy
in the passers-by, according to the mood
of the moment. A pedestrian making his
way along a populous street not long since,
laughed heartily at a heavily encountered
sandwich man, whose appearance was es-
pecially ludicrous; then turned aud spoke
kindly to him, Offering to get him place
as porter in a store if he wished 10 be
feed from his present incubus. The offer
was accepted, and the man now does cred
table work i'm his new capacity.
Not only has the vocation of banner
packer" (the trade name for the crafO
come to be a recognized means of liveli-
hood, but its establishment has in turn
created a new calling, that of the banner
packers foreman, a functionary retained
by employers who have many men on the
street and find a superintendent neces-
sary 20 keep the signs moving in the right
directions. He merely wears a cap let
tered with the firm name as a badge of
authority, and makes the rounds of his
district at irregular and unexpected in
tervals Some firms have as many as
twenty-five or thirty banner-packers on
the streets at one time their respective
beats covering an extended territory. or
this number only small proportion is to
be depended on for regular. daily service
The others enlist by fits and starts. work
ing only two or three days consecu-
lively or, may be, only one day or one
hour at time, leaving a gap in the ranks
that must be filled as best it may.
The foreman goes out into the high
ways and byways to rally achievements.
getting new men here and there from a
class whose integrity is usually a matter
OF doubt and uncertainty until it has been
tested Even the most promising type Of
banner packer, il is said is liable 20 LAPSE
on any sudden accession of prosperity.
so the wary foreman, who is usually a
promoted banner packer familiar with the
inns and outs of his world extends as
Vlgllant surveillance over his seemingly
more worthy subalterns, as over those
whose natural incompetency for work is
patent. The foreman's duties are not easy.
lie must prompt the laggard and inactive
packer" to fresh exertion, and defend his
temptations of the free-lunch counters. He
must start his men out promptly in the
morning, all properly uniformed, and he
must pay them off at night, making prop
er reductions for delinquencies. and per-
sonaiy adjusting such brawls or disputes
as may arise between individuals of the
clan. All hours of gkulkIng, protracted
visits to the free lunch counterf or sly
smokes on the park benches or in out-of-
the-way saloons, when the significant sign
lies prostrate away from the public eve.
are carefully tabulated, and the time de-
Quoted from the delinquent's pay. This
procedure naturally inyol1es disappoint-
ment and protest The strikers claim that
they have been unjustly accused by com
radeS who desire to secure the positions
for some of their friends. A hand-to-hand
encounter is not infrequently the outcome
and thus il follows that to be a successful
monitor of band of banner packers calls
for Drawn and muscle and a physical build
that the men will respect
Three explicit stipuletons are laid down
in the banner packers manual of conduct
namely, never to walk two together on the
street; never TO keep the banner or sign
out in the rain, or In a wind that will in
Jure II, and never to engage in jovial So
cial converse with any person during
working hours, least of all with one of
his own fraternity. Occasionally. how
ever, in between lines, and when the fore
mans attention is relaxed or diverted, two
of the craft will be seen hobnoDbing to-
gether, oblivious for a time of their re-
sponsibilties, and enjoying the brief re-
spite.
Such a pair, trigged out in diverse and
parti-colored regalia, crowned with odd
head-gear, met and exchanged greetings
on Tenth street the other evening. con-
versing with a spontaniety of interest that
proved them men and not mere automatic
machines. The sight gave the on-look-
er something of the same sensation that
might be experienced if the lamp-posts.
window-frames, and other inannate street
objects should suddenly become sentient
and begin to converse. One of the couple
was short and thick of girth, and his sand
witch placards covered him completely from
chin TO shoe-top. The other was tall and
loose jolHted, and as the two gesticulated
Familiarity, bowling and bobbing in the
Hight that shone from the shop windows
and open doorways, they could not have
looked more grotesque had they been de-
toiled for the express purpose of taking
part In a street thcater There was in the
manner and countenance OF the pair com
Portable contentedness, even exhilaration
that made the lot of the street advertiser
seem neither so ill-starred nor pathetic as
might at first appear. Fifty cents a day
and meal or two is the average compen-
sation and from rs cents to 81 for those
whose luncheons are not provided. Very
seldom are the banners and working para =
phernala kept at the employers place Of
business. If the shop or restaurant is at
all pretentious, or ambitious Of good stand
ing. the men and their trappings are kept
out of sight, and a place is hired in a To-
cality where rents are light, to serve as
headquarters for The outdoor force, and
as storing place for their business equip