The Mt. Sterling advocate., 1901-08-20
sHopMAN,s SECRET SIGNALS.
Study of Interesting System as Erac-
ticed in London.

Did it ever strike you tnat on enter
ing certain shops that you were beng
"signsled" as surely as any train en-
.ering a railway station? Most prob
labiy not; yet such thing must often
have happenedin your case, especially
If you DO your shopping in or about
London. and are in the habit of going
regularly to certain shops for certain
things, 50 that some Of the assistan Is
come to know you by sight-as they
very quickly do, says the London Ex-
press.
Of course, the same "code" prevails
lin no two establishments, so that even
Though you were lucky enough to pick
lup that at one shop, the knowledge
YOU thus acquired would avail you
nothing at the one next door.
In this article, however, we propose
to touch briefly on few of the better
known signs, giving the meanings
which attach to them at a certain
large shop in the metropolis, which,
Ifor obvious reasons, need not be fur
ther specified here.
| Old hands can carry on sort OF
conversation in the presence of a third
party as expert as themselves but lg-
norant of the special code in which the
1.-TWO in question are working; hence
1.-THE instances we are about to cite are
only specimens Of one of the many
codes in use in the city.
If, in showing you to the counter
YOU seek, the shopwalker in the es-
lablishment in question extends the
first two fingers Of the right hand and
grips the others, the assistants imme-
diately understand that you are a
lkleptomaniac-not to put too fine a
point upon it.
A twrl of the right side of the mus
tache upward with the right hand
signifies that you're sort of fool who
knows nothing and whom, conse-
quently, it is safe to crush" for all
you're worth-and the assistants
charge accordingly.
If. on the other hand, some assist
am who has had previous experience
Of you. and has come to the conclusion
hat you are d particularly sharp
customer, who cannot be taken in on
account of your knowing the price Of
a given article to the fraction of a
penny, he will let the assistant know
this fact by winding his left forefinger
in an absent-minded sort of way, the
exact significance of the sign being
"tartar; no good trying bluff"
If little fattery will work well
with you an assistant, knowing this,
will telegraph the fact from the oppo-
site counter by putting the finger
| tips Of both hands together, the sig
nificance of it being "blarneyW
Even more explicit instructions can
be expressed. For instance, if an as
sstant espies another bringing down
a particular roll Of silk, which he
| knows is dyed one of your fayorite
colors. he will pass his finger over his
upper lip, which means: "Raise the
price Of this particular article" in
contradistinction to putting some
thing on all round.
A similar movement across the
lower lip would mean that it Is well
to lower the price if possible, II, il can
b, made up in raising that Of theneXt
hing You ask for. many customers be-
ing easy to serve once they have
bought something which they con-
slider TO be bargain.
"Be cautious" is indicated by rub
bing the left eye with the back of the
fore!inger.
Appear indifferent and she'll
bite is conveyed by puttinga thumb
and foreiinger in each waistcoat
pocket, while biting the thumb nail
means. "Take no pains; she is only an
old stager who has come 10 look at
something fora friend"
Postpone pressing the customer
is signfied by passing the hand over
the forehead from left to right.
These are only few of the more
frequently used signs in one estab-
| lishment in London, but there are
countless others. Indeed, a volume
could be written on the subject with
out exhausting it,
Lady GlentwOrth.