The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1900-10-13
SOME UNIQUE cALL1NGs

The complexity of modern civiliza-
ton is shown in nothing more strik-
.ingly than in the extreme multiple
ity of pursuits by which men to-day
gain a living. In a country village
which supports with difficulty sin
gle baker or tailor, only the old-fash-
ioned and indispensable trades are
pursued but in the great swarming
centres of population like London and
Paris, not only these, but multitude
of strange, queer, out-of-the-way call
ings, which, even in towns of half a
million or even million inhabitants,
would not give employment to a sin
gle human being, are followed by
scores and even hundreds of men who
derive therefrom not only the means
of subsistence, but in some cases an
independence and even riches.
Persons who are familiar with the
history of popular delusions, which
Porson once said jestingly that he
would write in a work of five hun
dred volumes, will remember the
famous stock -jobbing mania which
ragged in Paris under the inspiration
of the Scotch protector and fnancier,
Holm Law.-rDurin.g the IN, -Inania 4ai the
Qunqiuempoix. The business was
by law confined to that spot, where
multitudes of men and women of all
ranks and conditions focked to buy
shares in Laws bank and Mississip-
pi Company, which, though absolute
ly worthless, rose to twenty times
their original price.
A HUMP THAT MADE IT'S OWNER RICH.
Desks and writing materials for
the transfer of shares were in great
demand, but in a street so densely
crowded they were not easily obtain
able. In this exigency a hunch-
backed man let out his protuberance
for the infatuated spectators to scrib-
bic upon, and so eager were they to
use it and so literally did they pay
him that he is said to have made in a
few days a hundred and fifty thou
sand 1ivres. 1t was happy thought
that led this man to convert an OBJ.
stacle into stepping stone to success
it showed that though his person was
crooked, his mind was straight. Hun
dreds of hunchbacked men would
probably have seen the golden tide
running by them for life without
dreaming of thus profting by it.
Since Laws days Paris has been
eminent for the odd pursuits and
callings of many of its citizens. OF
all the great cities of the world, it is
the one in which to-day the most ex-
traordinary and surprising modes OF
gaining living are employed. No
where is keener ingenuity exercised
in turning refuse to account than in
this huge hive of industry, where
literally nothing is wasted. Out of
the very leavings of the regular in
dustries of the metropolis dirty rags,
half-gnawed bones, mouldy crusts of
bread, cigar ends, parings and peel
ings of fruits, pieces of squeezed
lemon thrown aside by oyster eaters,
pieces of glass, clippings of hair, etc.
scores of shrewd men are continual
ly realizing fortunes, and thousands
are getting their daily bread.
Among the articles thus transform
ed by Partisan ingenuity are faded
flowers that have been flung aside by
the beauties to whom they were pre-
sented. The discarded bouquets are
collected daily from the dirt heaps of
the city, are picked over, sorted, and
the ends of the stalks dipped into
water nearly boiling, whereby the sap
is made to mount into the flowers,
and they become as brilliant as if
freshly picked. They are then mount
ed upon rush stems, arranged in bou-
quets, and surrounded with fresh
green leaves, after which they are
sold by tidily dressed little girls who
perambulate the boulevards and press
them upon the Parisians.
PAINTING AS A PROFESSION FOR
WOMEN.
The following incident shows an
originality of invention rarely rivaled
even by the prolific brain of the Yam
kee. One day in a lawsuit before
the Tribunal Correctional a handsome
young lady, smartly dressed, was
called as witness. The presiding
judge asked her name, and then her
profession or calling. II faint, !" an
swered madame in a very low tone.
The judge thereupon directed an Off
Ger of the court to bring her chair
and allowed her to sit down. Don t
be afraid, madame said he; "and
please to tell me before you are
sworn what is your profession :" 81
am faintinp - again WHISPERED the