The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1900-01-11
SOME UNIQUE CALLINGS.
ODD PURSUITS BY WHICH MEN
GAIN A LIVING.
Converted Hump on His Back Into n
stepping-stone to success--Ingenuiiy
of tho Parlsians IN Adopting Queer
Professions-Meat Hired Out.

Professions-Meat Hired out.
The complexity of modern civiliza
tion is shown in nothing more strik
ingly than in the extreme multiplicity
of pursuits by which men to-day gain
living. In country village which
supports with difficulty single baker
or tailor, only the old-fashioned and
indispensable trades are pursued; but
in the great swarming centres oil
population like London and Paris,
not only these, but a multitude oI
strange, queer, out-of-the- way callings,
which, even in towns OF half million
or oven n million inhabitants, would
not give employment to a single hu-
man being, arc followed by scores
and even hundreds of men who derive
therefrom not only the means of sub
sistence, but in some cases an inde-
pendence and even riches.
Persons who arc familiar with the
history OF popular delusions, which
Person once said iestingly that he
would write in n work of five hundred
volumes, will remember tho famous
stock -jobbing mania which ragged in
Paris under the inspiration Of the
Scotch protector and fnancier, John
Law. During the mania the great
sceno of operations was the Rue
Quinquempoix. The business was by
law confined to that spot, whittier
mutitudes of men and women of all
ranks and conditions hocked to buy
shares in Laws bank and Mississippi
Company, which, though absolutely
worthless, rose to twenty times their
original price.
HUMP THAT MADE ITS OWNER RICH.
Desks and writing materials for the
transfer of shares were in great de.
mand, but in a street so densely
crowded they were not easily obtain
able. In this exigency hunchbacked d
man let out his protuberance for the
infatuated spectators to scribble
upon, and so eager were they to use
it and so literally did they pay him
that he is said to have made in few
days II hundred and fifty thousand
livres. 1t was a happy thought that
led this man to convert an obstacle
into a stepping stone to success; it
showed that though his person was
crooked, his mind was straight.
Hundreds OF hunchbacked men would
probably have seen the golden tide
running by them for life without
dreaming OF thus profiting by it.
Since Laws day Paris has been
pre-eminent for the odd pursuits and
rallings 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,
hnlf-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 continually
realizing fortunes, and thousands are
getting their daily bread
Among the articles thus transformed
by Partisan ingenuity are faded flow
ers that have been flung aside by the
beauties to whom they were presented.
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 be-
come as brilliant as if freshly picked.
They are then mounted upon rush
stems, arranged in bouquets, and sur-
rounded with fresh green leaves, after
which they are sold by tidIly dressed
little girls who perambulqto 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 lawsuit before the
Tribunal Correctionnel n handsome
young lady, smartly dressed, was
called as witness. The presiding
Judge asked her name, and then her
profession or calling. 81 faint" an
swered madame in very low tone.
The Judge thoreupon directed an off.
Ger of the court to bring her chair
aud allowed her to sit down. Don't
be afraid, madame" said he; "and
please to tell me before you are sworn
what is your profession9" II am
fainting," again whispered the pretty
witness in barely audible voice. The
gallant Vice-President now sent for
glass OF water, which the lady slipped
slowly, then bowing to her inter
rogator she appeared to await further
questions.
Again, the third time, sho was
asked her profession, when, with
look of wonder and surprise, she re-
piled: "But, Mr.. President, have
twice had the honor to tell
you tina: my profession is to faint. ="
'To faintl' exclaimed the astonished
and puzzled Judge; chow can that
possibly be profession?" The lady
explained that she gained her liveli-
hood by going every evening in
fashionable dress to stall in the The.
atre de la Porte de Saint Martin, and
there fainting, rs though overpowered
by the powerful and vivid acting ut
the most critical and tragical moment
in the play. She added that her SER