The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-24

nave fellows who ike 10 trOt around with Their
swecthcarts and see what they buy and help them
in the matter Of selection and then there are al.
ways lots OF people from out " town who want
something in hats or millinery and must have
it on the jump, even II IL is Sunday. So Sunday
finds Division street thronged, as general thing
This selling on Sunday in Division street
il nothing new 10 be sure. II has been going
on for years and years Even the few Gentiles
among the dealers keep their shops open and
strive AZ hard for the Sunday trade the Hebrews
The cloakmakrrs across the way also find IL
good thing To keep open and they have even fol
lowed the example II the milliners and hired pull
lers in. Yes, there are many persons in New
York who shop ON Sunday as n matter Of choice
or necessity.
1T is a mistake Ia think that the rich folks have
entirely deserted Division street, although, Of
course, they don't come here In such crowds as
! understand they did twenty OF twenty five years
ago. All the hats you will find in the best shops
in this street Of the latest shapes aud are trim
med and put up according to the most fashion.
able mode. III such respects. really there is very
little II any. difference between them and the hats
you see uptown In the swell stores. They
not made Of AZ fine material, certainly. hut then
AT II distance you could hardly tell the difference
between Fifth avenue hat which sold for $50
and Division street hat which sold for So So
the rich customers mentioned buy the stylish
cheap hats. wear them n few times and then give
them to their servants or sell them to the second.
hand dealers. who keep lists Of fashionable Gus
toners and send their agents around regularly
TO buy up their cast OIL hats It's a mighty fine
business, can tell you, this buying Of hats which
perfectly good and made Of fair materials
and selling them again at about five times what
they cost the dealer There lots Of money made
in it, and some Of the dealers here in Division
street have gone into II and are getting rich |
have young man who does that, but guess
I've said enough ON that point
~ great many Of the hats sold nowadays in
Division street are bought on the nstallment
plan. You get ono at the best shops by pay
ing 80 cents down and 50 much week thereafter.
according TO the cost Of the hat and the buyers
ability 10 pay In some Of the shops as low as
% cents down IL taken. But to buy hat this
way is generally mighty poor plan. for the hat
wears out or is out Of fashion. which is worse.
long before the last installment is paid Besides.
lot Of the shops do quite an extensive credit
business. viii they trust their poor customers?
To be sure they will and do It's not hard to
size up those who will pay and those who won't
without knowing how much money they have in
bank There is very little money lost in trusting
our customers. | have found Maybe il is be-
cause women are more honest than men, or have
q greater horror Of not settling their debts. that
the mncrs lose so little
We cali this block which runs up from Chatham
square Division avenue 10 give it some dis,inC
ton, for there much better shops in this block
and better pullrrs in than there are further up.
one Of the dealers in Division avenue has occu-
pied the same shop for nearly thirty five years.
and at one time he had the most fashionable trade
in the city. His were nearly nil carriage custo
m he nf To- nd hon nf
them come back, just for the sake Of the old times
when Division street was the SWEETEST place To
buy millinery in the whole United States. Why,
even 10 this day that old man actually uses silk
flowers and silk velvets instead Of the cheap
things most Of the other millincrs in trim
ming: and he's awful rich. He's got houses and
houses, and money in more banks than can tell.
up in that block beyond Division avenue
the shops belong To the very mcanest and worst
of all the milliners They are coarser in every
way than the dealers down here and handle far
worse goods. Besides their pulersin are much
rougher in their methods Of approaching poo
pie and don't have one fourth the nice good
paying customers We get down here. They IRE
certainly an awful tricky and deceitfu Sc, Of
women and are giving all Of US a hard name.
I'm inclined 10 believe. don't know Of one real
lady among them. 1t is so different down here.
One of their mean tricks is TO tell customers that
they will give them certain things at prices much
below the fight figures. and then, when the Gus
toners discover that they must pay more or have
cheaper feathers. flowers, velvet trimming
put on and lot Of the trimming taken of, all
sorts Of trouble begin.
Another Of their tricks is 10 get customer
inside and sell her a hat at n ridicul"usly low
price. promising to make number Of additions
10 the trimming in the way Of pumes and such
h. hrrf nd
goes home TO wait for the hat 10 I've made up and
sent Ia her. When it does come. after good
long wait there IL usually bill with il which
calls for two three dollars more than the price
agreed upon. and unless he gets this extra money
the boy who brings the hat will refuse to leave
it, There is no way for tho swndcd customer
10 get her money back or have the mean swindlcrs
handled So in most cases, she pays the extra
money rather than have any more trouble with
the thieves.
THE life II a pullcr in in Division street is not
n bed Of roses by any means, as told you in the
beginning" continued thc informant, making
ready To resume business as her quick eyes which
had never ceased to scan the faces of the on hur-
ryng pedestrians during her chat, detected an
interested face, but strange to say. once girl
has left il she will come hack sometime or other
There is a sort 81 fascination about it, | think;
something in il tell myself which is like that
excitement a gambler feels when he is betting
heavily at cards Every woman or man who
passes along the street is my gamble, YOU know
He or she may bc customer or may not II
n customer win. II not, lose, Of course: and
~ go on all day long, excited by the hope Of
winning, provoked al losing, hut hoping
for better luck next time, | have known some
girls To stay out Of tho business for three four
years and then driU back to their old places and
work hard any Of us who stayed all the
tmH. They told me that they simply had to come
bHC,, as their lives seemed mOnOunouS and
drcAry away from the shops.
Lots Of pullcrS in are married. The one two
doors above, with that big picture hat on her arm,
| has four children She has been pulling in for
twelve years. There is another puer in just
above the one pointed out who has been in this
| business eighteen years, and says she's never
going Ia leave il. She is very successful"
Not Many DeSparadoes Z" Shoot Out -
Lights.