Evening star., 1899-01-28

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3C the institution in this
6SSa- &Ff/ town that he used to
ffSvM EHHFt| be. In truth, he , is
KcTMS NfT -~ almost extinct Little
R 7 ENA9 @f%1N surviving groups of
HSSSAktS6 Vs W two or three of the
VIM IkG1A old-time p us h cart
u hEx 1Hshs darkies still sun
fTMtf6 N~ themselves hlinkingly
>W3tNR AtN at few of the old
FGN W push-cart stands, but
they all wear that in
definable look of nothing DOING None of
them ever seems to get a customer. Every
time you pass by one of the push-cart
stands you see all the carts ranged side
by side in the same order as before, with
their ebon proprietors contentedly leaning
against them, apparently plunged in bliss
ful perpendicular slumber 1t Is, of course,
difficult to believe that the push-cart men
never get a job at all any more; but when
it is remembered how the streets of Wash
ington used to be almost cluttered with the
busy two-wheeled freighters of minor and
domestic commerce the passing of the push
cart will be an obvious realization. 1t does
not seem many years ago when the push
cart appeared TO be quite an Indispensable
vehicle, even for the great who came to
Washington. There was one famous sena-
tor of an economical turn of mind who was
especially addicted to the push cart. 1t
was his invariable custom whenever he got
on train upon his arrival here to walk
TO the outside of the station and wave his
dusty green umbrella at the army of push
cart men across the street. They would all
feach MN at once, and the senator would
spehd ten minutes or so making Il selection
IN accordance with the best terms submit
ted. Then the push-cart man elected to
maui the great mans luggage to his board
ing house would pile the old yellow-paDer-
covered and intricately roped trunk and the
Two or three b1ack-varnished pasteboard
Valises on his cart goodnaturedly ignoring
the umbrella pokes in the ribs delivered by
the great man in lieu of directions, and take
up his journey, the senator following him
on the sidewalk, not ten feet in the rear.
Fast Passing Away.
Then, the now diminishing class of ma
irons who, by bidding against themselves,
used to acquire huge bargains in bulky
old hedsteads, sidebeards, refrigerators,
chiffoniers, etc, in the auction rooms pa
tronized the push-carti men for the delivery
of their purchases in the old days In
truth, many stores, some of which now run
as many as twenty delivery wagons were
not above giving the push-cart men fire.
quent jobs before their commercial stars
got thoroughly into the ascending groove
There was a time In Washington when
every hardy black man who had enough
ingenuity to throw a two-wheeled cart to-
gether seemed to have knocked off all other
sort of labor for the purpose of embark
ing in the push-cart business. All Of this
competition in addition to an increasing
pubilc demand for quicker action" in the
delivery of their luggage and gear Drac-
tically wiped out the push-cart business,
barring the few relics that still remain of
1t.
A good many of the old-time push-cart
black men are now in the "express-for
hire business-that is. they've got horses
and wagons. The writer knows whereof
ne speaks in stating that no American CITY
washington There is long line of them
on 6th street, across from the PennsyIva-
ma depot Most of them seem to hold to-
gether miraculously. They seem to defy
law of gravity. Most of them look to he
hahd- made, down to the wheels and the
wheels on lot of them are as nearly
square as 1t Is possible for wheels to be
Inc way they are painted is something
weird. Standing all together this 9Th street
nne OF express wagons viewed from the on.
poslte side of the street looks like an orsie
riot OF color. There are green, blue, vel
low, req, white, black wagons, and wagons
or all the intermediate shades. The co,ors
are apparently laid thickly on the wagons
Tor the sake of giving them a new sfnrdv
leok. That task. however. is out of the
question. The very reddest the very vel
lowest wagon in the bunch looks. in snite
OF ls gayness of painted raiment on tho
point of falling into @ dismal hean os scran
Wood ana nalls, and when you see one Of
the drivers climb into the seat and actuauv
M Mdrl'c or you close your eyes, fearing for
the mans safety.
The Equine Aggregation.
The horses, too, look rs If thew might
have been fashioned by the same hands
that devised the wagons. Brown-speckled
white nags predominate. The colored ex
pressmans leaning toward an aged white
morse mas long been a matter of comment
A man who runs horse bazaar down near
the market told a Star man that these ey
press horses will bring at public sale an
average of s1.G3 apiece. This looks llxa
exceedingly close calculation, but the borse
baZaar man said ii convincincly as II he
had 1t all carefully figured out and meant If
seriously Just why the h2rses invariably
look whole lot poorer than poyerty is |
hard to explain, for they seem to be aIWavs
at rest, and to divide their time betnesn
nibbllng at the contents of nose bags and
blinking luxuriously in the sunlight-when
the sun shines. that is, and the sun has
been known to shine quite few times in
w washington this winter
The black expressmen near the denots o.,
pear to gain the best points of yantape fpr
thelr teams in accordance with the r,,Ies
or seniority-not seniority in point of aee
but in point of service as public carriers
Each man has his regular position. ana
there are rarely, If ever, any prow,s ~ |
scraps over the good positions Each mar
knows kin noSv just where he belongs The young @
black men are always stationed 'way dow
at the end of the line. They do not seem
TO mind their comparative isolation hnt
stretch themselves out at full length in tbe
bottom Of their Wagons during most of the
working hours of the day and slnmhar
gloriously under the blue, or gray arch Of
heaven. ~
Their Weird Signs.
There is a vast diversity in the ortbog-
raphy with which theeXpressmen announce
their business by means of the painted
signs on their wagons. The signs as well |
as the wagons, are, Of course. all hand
painted. All of the signssIor nearly all of |
them, seem to have one point in common
namely, the invariabte turning around Of
the letter ''s.' In the word ''express'' the
two twisted SIS" have an uncanny look
Occasionally a sign will give variety to the
scheme by having one of the SIS" painted |
the right way, and the other one, right next |
to 1t, turned around,bas IL to indicate the
versatility of the proprietor of the outfit. |
There Is always considerable play upon the |
word for in the phrase Express for |
hire" Some of them have it right; Others |
get it ''foar,' four "forr,' ''foor," fore" |
80" and SO on. But the word hire seems |
to be the worst problem for the express |
men sign painters. 1t is rendered variously |