The Washington times., 1901-08-18
The BUSY STREET FAKER.
Statesmen Who Handle Everything
and Reap Big Profits.
Novelties of All Kinds Introduced-
a Convincing Manner and an Elab-
crate Vocabulary Required - The
Poetry of Feeling Potatoes.

| Here you are ladies' This glove was
picked out of the ash barrel this morning
| You perceive its condition. You see me
| rub that thumb with the preparation put
| up in this little box. You Immediately
| perceive the difference? You see the dirt
| on this rag? / can't keep dirty gloves
enough Just rub that glove on the as
phalt, will you, boy? This sidewalk amt
dirty enough. There, You see this white
kid glove rubbed on the asphalt? Now
you watch me rub that thumb again
See?' az "tihsi
The last "See?y does the business. The
dimes fiowIinto the pockets of the little
old man oil Fourteenth Street He does
| a thriving business, cleaning his old
gloves, handing out his little boxes, and
taking in the dimes. He has his beat
usually on Fourteenth Street, between
Broadway and Sixth Avenue, a favorite
! location for street statesmen. He does a
good business, because he has a good
thing. anu gives good object lesson. But
not all street statesmen are so successful
These street statesmen are essentially a
feature of New York The great staples,
of course, are newspapers. fruits, flowers,
and all manner of cheap and doubtful
eatables and drinkables. The penny-a-
glass lemonade stands flourish in the
warm wave, and pretzels, ginger cakes,
and candy continue to be sold, though the
very sight of them cause the fretted soul
to Ioathe But besides these staple street
wares there are all manner OF things sold
on the sidewalk.
There is an Italian woman who stands
on Fourteenth Street, near Fifth Avenue,
day after day, with tiny green love birds
in cage. They stand tamely on top OF
the cage, in the open air. or hop about
on a stick in her hand. There used to be
two Italians, man and wife, who did a
| thriving trade in telling fortunes with the
love birds, which they seem to be partic-
ulariy successful in training. They had a
heap of tiny envelopes, each with a fer
tune inside; for nickel one of the birds
would pick up an envelope and hand it to
the patron. They have rot been seen for
year or two.
a jolly, sociable old German woman has
her beat from Fourteenth TO Twenty
third Street on Broadway. She sells flow
ers but she also carries market basket,
in which you may always find two or
three tiny pet animals of some kind.
Sometimes 1t is little rabbits; sometimes
puppies. and sometimes Angora kittens.
The children linger about the basket with
joy, and their pleasure makes many sale
for her.
One afternoon last week a curious sight
was seen on upper Broadway. Two weii-
dressed women, apparently ladies, stood
on the street corner with table full of
small bound volumes before them. over
the stand hung q sign, THE Black Art
of Christian Science Exposed; Help Us to
Spread the Exposure." They excited a
good deal of attention, and have not
made their appearance upon the street
since.
Fourteenth Street between Broadway
and Sixth Avenue is favorite beat for
the street saIesmen.- All along here are
men with big stands OF sponges and
chamois skin; trays of collar buttons,
from a penny Upland clothes baskets full
of 'galiuses,' with a boy saving away
upon one pair attached to the side to dis
play their quality
a little further on is another accom-
piished barker
Now, gentlemen" he says, think of
your women at home; the angels of your
ireside; your wives or mothers. maybe, or
the hired girl. anyway. Think of EN-
peelin' potatoes. Did you ever see more
tiresome, disagreeable job? And think of
your own poeketbocks, gentlemen. Look
at me a-peelin' that ere potato in the old
fashioned way. Look at the thick skins
that comes of under the knife Look al
what your girl throws away every meal
time. Do you know how many bushels of
potatoes you are a-buyin' gentlemen, to
be throwed away in the course of a year?
An then she laboriously picks out the
eyes and the bad spots with the blunt end
of the knife. See that. gentlemen? See
what she wastes. And 1t all comes out OF
your pocket; to say nothin' of the wear
an tear on her temper; an you know
what that comes out of Now, look at
the effect of my little, modest, five-cent
patent potato peeler. See that skin drop
off. thinner than tissue paper? An, the
scientists tell us that the best part of
potato lies next the skin; also the econo-
mists tell us that a French family will
live on what an American family throws
away Observe how take this point of the
blade and extract the eyes and bad spots
in the potato, without haste, waste, or
troubled Now | take this end of the cat
ter and slice, and there you have the
cubes, or rectangIes would say for the
famous French fry. Now l slice with this
edge, and you have the world-renowned
Saratoga chip. Now with this. and you
have the humble but popular German fry.
Did you ever see a finer shaving for
Saratoga chip Or for sliced cucumbers
on ice. or for the beet. or any vege table
whatsoever? Now, ladies and gentlemen,
l think I've done talkin' enough. The po-
tato peeler talks for me. Five cents she
is, and if you don't like er bring 'er back
and get your cents back. I'm always
here, EXCEPT when it rains blue blazes. as
it did yesterday. Thank you, sir, here
you are"
The nickels are raining down on the
potato parings. and the barker is doing
10 potato peelers as fast as his hands
can work. A boy pushes through the
crowd with an important air and emptics
a fresh sack of potatoes on the operating
table. and the exposition begins over
again.
Most of the statesmen on Fourteenth
Street seek the shady side next to the
stores. But there is one who always
stands across the street next the park
in the hot glare of the sun. 1t is good
for his business. His stand is marked
Blanks Brick Ice Cream-l, 2, and 3
cents a brick His patrons are chiefly
boys. who rival the women at the soda
fountains in their Unsuitable appetite for
the cooling sweets. The pennies rattle
down ON his stand all day long, and for
each one he lifts cover in the top of
the stand, then another cover in the in
terror. and takes out a small brick OF
cream wrapped in tissue paper. The one
cent bricks are not much larger than a
chocolate caramel. The two-cent bricks
are proportionately larger. while for 8
cents you can get about as much cream
as there Is in an ice cream soda