New-York tribune., 1901-07-28
EAST SIDE SHOPPING.
WHERE THE DELIGHTS OF HAGGLING
ARE PRACTISED-OTHER JOYS FOR
OCCASIONAL VISITORS FROM
OTHER QUARTERS.

OTHER QUARTERS.
It is generally conceded that to practise prop
e1iy the art ot shopping in any place at any
time requires leisure and experience and if this
Is true Of the great stores il is infinitely more
pitIy in regard to many of the smaller estab-
Gshments on the East Side. To decide on the
style and quality wants and on the price
one IS prepared TO pay may be the only tasks of
the well to do shopper, but in out OF the way
Parts Of the city the element of bargaining
erters into the transaction, further TO compli-
cafe the affair. The would be purchaser must
have not only clear fdea Of what he wants, but
TO a knowledge of the value Of the various
Iieces of goods which set before him. The
lice asked by the storekeeper is certainly not
he VIII be willing to accept under proper
l-0ral suasion, and il is necessary for the buyer
judge just how far il is safe TO push the seller
without bringing on himself torrent OF abusive
language and prematurely closing the deal. In
many Of the smaller East Side shops it is safe
10 assume that the seller will accept about
half of the price he asks at first To accom-
plish this, however. great tact and patience are
required. The worm is likely to turn, and after
all. time, even on the East Side, has a certain
Na.-e.
IS not uncommon to two men in some
SINAI. shop haggling for tep or fifteen minutes
ever the price of a suit of clothes, for instance
aeepe-. The buyer laughs pleasantly and sug
gests that he means 81. With indignation in his
sonest eye the storekeeper states emphatically
nat he means what he said, that he sells his
f-2"ds as cheaPly as anybody. and that the
oiothes cost him So 30, anyway. Automatically.
tce customer repeats -Four dollars" and he
sazes calmly while the RACES. This sort OF
Thing viii be kept up for ten minutes or so.
Finally the situation is that the one has gone up
81 30 and the other has come down to So.
About this time the customer viii shake his
.ead apparently wondering at the depravity
e traders in general. and will leave the place.
Ten the storekeeper rushes to the door and
shouts Five an half The departing pur-
c. aser, whose walk has been suspiciously slow.
Mil return and say, with engaging smile,
'.IrTe." and the deal will be closed
The whole transaction, irrespective of the
choosing of the suit has taken perhaps
fifteen minutes. Neither grudges the time, for
the whole thing is sport to theIn-a case of find
ing foe;nen worthy of their steel-and they have
enjoyed the combat The ''one price stores are
tame in comparison; any body can shop in them,
even the women from uptown, who always hand
what is asked and have no spirit of sporti-
ness discernible. Some good citizens of the East
Side come, time. win local reputation
for their bargaining ability, and sought after
by their friends when there is any purchasing to
but it is distinction none the less and they are
proud of ii.
Besides the bargaining, East Side shopping
has much that is picturesque to recommend it.
The vast majority of small shops have at the
back a room two in which the family lives
Without any eavesdropping il is possible to see
much Of the family life; indeed, not to it
eoe would have to be deaf and blind. On winter
Aays when the entrance of a breath of fresh air
has been guarded against as II IL entaed the
plague the odors OF the last weeks meals make
q detective Of another sense well In some OF
the shops especially in neighborhoods which
cherish the herring and the national sauerkraut,
Intending purchasers who may have some slight
prejudice against these honest articles OF diet
kzve to make their purchases between gasps. as
4 were retreating the door. like whales when
= Is absolutely imperative 10 draw breath. The
worst Of il is that to any person sentimentally
inclined the poverty of the little household and
fts evident need of every cent that can be coaXed
ffs wa overbaIances the discomfort Of such
sbopFing and lures the feet of dwellers on the
East Side into these strongholds Of unsavoriness.
IL is not true that all these tiny shops are un-
pleasant 10 visit. In some OF them one gets
delighrful glifnpses of a well ordered and happy
household One shoestore, in particular, is a
spot FOR pessi-fiis;s visit when they despair OF
humanity A Settlement woman discovered the
Mace and spread the knowledge Of it among her
hoo fhnr