Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-06-08

have dealings. Hts shop Is a pushcart or
small wagon drawn by donkey, and
bright and early every morning 1t Is drawn
up. with dozens of others. beside the curb.
A whole street block will be lined on both
sides of the way with these little stalls. a
few loaded with meat.> others with hsh,
still others with vegetables, fruit ana
cheap crockery; the stalls themselves pre-
sharp-faced women The scene is a busy
one. with each vender crying the Superia-
tive merits of his wares, the scores of I'M
tidy women and girls. baskets or queer
bags on their arms. crowdtng around,
handling. pricing and arguing.
You can tell that almost every dealer is
a humorist born from the stray words you
are able to catch of his utterances, but the
choicest flights of his fancy are lost on the
stranger in the district. for the coster rat
ties his adjectiveS off so fast and speaks so
queer jargon that to all but the den1zenS
of the neighborhood he might as Well be
speaking in a foreign tongue. He is
cheerful Individual this coSter, and never
for one minute does he drop his high
pitched monologue Buy! buy! buy! buy.
yells the coster butcher. waving his hand
eEcouragingiy toward his stock in trade.
IAN bright and tender, and you carries
away wot you fancfes a your own price. 1
don't make nothing on it Come, now my
dear''-this to bag of fifty at least-'wot
shall II be-a flank of beef, or maybe
scrag of mutton? All bright and fresh.
Here y'are; look at these sleeps heads,
SOln LOT tnrlDpeNce ma penny lpudS OiilS
All brown and tender Buy, buy!
The marketing women themselves say
little, but trudse anxiously from stall to
stall to make sure that the few coppers
they have to spend go as far as possible
and that no bargain Is overlooked. Report
says that most of the costermongers deal
pretty fairly with their customers and
that profits are small.
The Laboring Mans Wife.
If you study carefully the crowd around
the coster stalls you will notice, going
quietly about with her basket. a woman
of a type slightly superior to that To which
most of the pushing swarm oelong. She
is the wife of the laboring man who,
though he can earn precious little. is faith
full and turns in to her nearly every shfll-
ing of his wages. and as she is alert and
saving, their home is on a level above that
of her next-dOor neighbors. On her table
occasionally are eggs with a scrap of ba-
and jam are to be found in their turn in
her menu. There is milk for the tea, and
once in a great while cup of coffee or
cocoa. Her washing she puts OUT SO
that she can work as well as her "old
man" and together they are able to pay
their Club dues.
mark of the family little above the COM
mon ruck in a London SUM 1t is a
friendly society. sometimes organized in
the pub sometimes among a few la
borers, and each week the good man pays
into it's Golfers his mite. The dues are
about 50 so a quarter. and the heirs of the
member who has RENTED them faithfully
Is entitled to 500 if he dies. and an allow
anCe for sickness. beginning with 81 30
week Such society usually bears a
name Indicative of urbendng loyalty, such
as THE Hearts of Oak" Sometimes they
formed among factory girls, each of
whom pays in sixpence a week. the whole
sum being drawn each week by lot or by
each member in succession.
CURTIS BROWN