The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-05-09
NEW YoRK's GREEK COLONY.
It's Ways of Making Money and Spend
 ing It.

It's Ways of Making Money and Spend
 ing It.
 Of the 4,OOO Greeks who form the Hel-
 lenic colony in New York fewer than
 200 are women, and only small propor-
 ton of these are pure Greek in blood The Greeks who come to America are, with few exceptions, shepherds or farm CTS, with now and then a sailor. The former take to the push-cart life at once. The newcomer Is taken care of on his landing by friends from his own To-
 cality. It Is the boast of the Greeks
 that none of their nationality has ever
 applied to the city for aid, No matter
 how poor they be, no matter how their
 savings may have been absorbed by re-
 peated arrests for violating city ordi- nances, they will find some way to help
 brother in need
 The colony is now comparatively poor.
 Ten years ago, or even five years ago, many of them were prosperous. They | tell now how when the custom was started among the Greeks of peddling 1 flowers on the streets, $20 might easily | be picked up in few hours on a pleas- ant day, and in a week sometimes there were four or five such days. Fruit, too, made as much for the push-eart men. But now all that is changed and $1 day is considered by them as a very good average profit. So frequently are they arrested for violating city ordi- nances that sometimes they make pools on their chances when starting out in the morning. The Greek is a gambler by instinct. The push-cart man is as hard worked as a slave. If 1t is his own stock with he starts out, he will travel from Madison or Oliver street to Har- lem, starting at o'clock in the morning and not returning until 10 or later at night. Then his stand must be made ready for the next morning before he may sleep. The large majority of the Greek colony lead this life.
 Down In Madison, Cherry and Oliver streets is the colony of the fruit and push-cart men. Lately there has grown up on the west side above Fourteenth street, in the. locality where Ferrontos met his death,a settlement of flower ped dlers and dealers Down in Madison street are many restaurants that are the gathering places. the clubs of the Greeks. Wherever two or more Greeks
  It may be for only penny stakes. but at the end of the celebration the saw ings of year frequently have changed hands. In at least two places in the lower colony gambling has gone on for thirty-six hours at |, stretch at New Years. At all times these games of chance are the Greek dissipation, but the stakes are so small that it takes a long time to lose a days earnings.
 There Is one importer who makes a business of supplying to his country l men the peculiar food, cheeses. black | olives, sweets and other products that | the Greek palate demands. After one | or two experiences with Greek cheeses, 1 it is esasy to see that the Greek poets | were safe in singing of the sustaining | powers of cheese and bread for frugal | lovers. The Greek cheeses that find their | way to this country are almost as rich | as meats and fully as sustaining, so that 1t does not seem so odd that the Greek army lived largely upon bread and cheese and still fought well.
 It is since the Turkish-G Greek war es- pecially that poverty has been felt in the Hellenic colony. At that time sav- ings of years were poured out on Greece. Men from nearby towns who had es- tablished fruit and flower trades wil- lingly turned their all into ready money and took it back to fight for the Great Idea" When it was all over some came back in all their poverty, hoping to do a second time what they had once done Conditions had changed. This country was soon embroiled in it's own war, and business was not prosperous.
 Some of the Greeks take wives to and become citizens with the intention of remaining here. But they are a minority. Most of them dream of Greece restored to it's own, and see nc reason why they should not aid in it's restoration. To that end they ong to acquire riches in America that they may pour them out on Greece when they return,
 One of the employments to which the Creeks have taken is that of fern gath ering, The Greeks found a few French nen at it, immediately took possession If the business and enlarged the field Ferrontos was the chief fern gatherer of . he city. In the fall before the frosts : 'ome the fern gatherer goes into the I ' ines one man has several others work { ns for him Sometimes they start out , n companies. Into Westchester, over { nto Connecticut and New Jersey, up { long the Palisades they go and for Y hree or four days or a week at a time ( i've in the deep woods where the finest ( erns grow. The ferns are cut and pack !, d into bundles of a thousand each. I 'hen they are piled up in some deep F olow in the woods. Sometimes fifty or ( ne hundred thousand go into one [ nound over which are thrown earth N nd leaves and bushes. All trace of the ' reen treasure is hidden, but some mark x sft by which it can be discovered by \ he proprietor even when the snow lies \ eep on the ground. Then at another \ oint still other ferns are gathered in he same fashion, and when winter r omes and no green ferns are to be p ound above ground the Greek fern r