The Mt. Sterling advocate., 1901-12-31

Did It ever strike YOU that on enter
ing certain shops that you were being
ssignalcd" as surely as any train en-
.ering railway stationf Most prob
ably not; yet such a thing must often
have happenedin in your case, especially
if YOU DO your shopping in or about
London. and arc in the habit OF going
regularly to certain shops for cert ain
/ things. 50 that some of the assistants
come to know you by sight--as they
very quickly do, says the London Ex-
press.
OF course, the same code prevails
in no two establishments, so that even
though youwere lucky enough to pick
up 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 certain
large shop in the metropolis, which,
for obvious reasons, need not be fur
iher specified here.
Old hands can carry on a sort OF
conversation in the presence ola third
party as expert as themselves but ig-
norant of the special code in which the
two in question are working; hence
the instances we are about to cite are
only specimens Of one of the many
codes in use in the city.
II, in showing you to the counter
you seek, the shcpwalker in the es-
tablishment in question extends the
first two fingers of the right hand and
grips the Others, the assistants imme-
diately understand that you are a
kleptomaniac--not to put too fine
point upon it.
A twirl Of the rightside 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
ant who has had previous experience
of you, and has come to the conclusion
that you are a particularly sharp
customer, who cannot be taken in on
account of your knowing the price Of
given article to the fraction Of a
penny, he will let the assistant know
this fact by winding his left forefirger
in an absent-minded sort of way, the
exact significance of the sign being
"tartar; no good trying bluff"
If a little flattery 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 "blarneyp
Even more explicit instructions can
be expressed. For instance, if an as
sistant espies another bringing down
a particular roll Of silk, which he
knows is dyed one Of your favorite
colors, he viii 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, as it can
be made up in raising that Of thenext
thing You ask for, many customers be-
ing easy to serve eucc 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
forelnger.
"Appear Indifferent and she'll
bite" is conveyed by puttinga thumb
and forefnger in each waisicoat
pocket, while biting the thumb nail
means, ''Takeno pains; she is only an
old stager who has come TO look at
something for a friend"
Postpone pressing the customer"
is signified 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, volume
could he written on the subject with
out exhausting it,
Tadv GIantunrth