Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-07
WORKING The HOLIDAY CRAFT
An Army Of FakirS 10000 Strong separat-
lug Fools from Their Money.
WHENCE GENUINE BARKER CONES FROM
Some of h Seasons Novelties by
which Jays OF Every Degree Are
Induced to Cough Up
Their Pile.

Ten thousand Christmas fakirs are now
on the streets Of the cities and large towns
OF the United States barking the novelties
for the holiday season.
new York will be made to listen to the
insistent pleadings Of 500 Of the brass lunsed
and slick-tongued profession until Christ
mas day dawns. Philadelphia will be worked
py hah this number and Boston. Baltimore.
washington, st. Louis and Pittsburg will
each be given attention by a hundred bawl-
ing street men. Chicago cannot be covered
thoroughly with a man less that $50. San
Francisco's contingent will aggregate $50.
and such cities as Milwaukee. Buffalo.
Cleveland, st. Paul and Cincinnati will be
strenuously solicited to part with nickles
and dimes by from fifty to one hundred
fakirs, according to the fertility OF the
neld. And in many another town-Colum-
bus, New Orleans, Charleston, Los Angeles,
Atlanta, Albany, Omaha, for example-the
number will vary from two or three to
twenty or thirty.
Fakirs Shun New Jersey.
In every state and territory, except one,
the Christmas fakir will be in the heat OF
commercial strife when another day dawns.
The exception is New Jersey, and the street
man will keep without It's boundaries for the
very good business reason that he cannot
make money within them. From the fakir's
viewpoint Jersey is the monetary Sahara Of
America, because its inhabitants. having
the advantage OF cheap railroad rates to
New York and Philadelphia, scorn to buy
even a scent Christmas novelty other
where than in these two cities just beyond
their states line.
But wherever he operates-whether in
VUoII trAaN = ~
customers, or in the shadow OF the Golden
Gate; whether in the blizzard swept cities
OF the northwest or under dangerous south
ern skies, with holiday carousing negroes
as principal purchasers of his wares-the
Christmas fakir. hve times out OF six, will
have the stamp Of New York upon him. He
will be from the East Side and of the East
Side still, no matter how far away he may
be from the tenement home that his mind
will bark back to occasionally while his
stentorian voice sings the ~undying praises
OF some novelty, because the king has sent
him out; and the king is an East Side man.
The Original FakIr's Career.
1t has been thirty-four years since the
boss fakir, the ma newsboy Of 10, originated
the street man occupation. Until he began
barking penkpives ore morning in front of
NV NN ANN" ASAh BOoNObAtOs IN ANuo9hb
street, no one except a few Jews were try
ing to sell things on the t~horouRhfares.
and they offered only dust brooms and
other minor household necessities. A month
later the boy had the p~eddling Jews work
ing for him. A year later he had a big
bank account for one of his age. BY the
time he was old enough to vote he was
postmaster Of the art he had originated. the
sole instructor In a school Of fakirs: and
from that day to this he has recruited his
students from the section of the town where
he was born and sent them broadcast over
the country selling his wares.
So it happens that the typical Christmas
fakir Is, In large measure, a chip of the
king of them all.
Run across him wherever you may. YOU
Will md him as sturdy Of body as OF voice:
with a wit as incisive as his business
acumen; possessor Of a soul utterly incap-
able of being cast down. the ingenuity and
Imagination Of a clever novelist. and the
power to make word paintings that rival
the alternative work Of circus press agents.
And lastly, as he hands you your purchase,
Jerks the price of money out Of your hand.
losses 1t into a pocket. and turns to the
next customer, all before you begin to real
lie what has happened, you can readily
see why the hustling western business man.
famed In song and story. takes a back seat
when the fakir comes around. And like tina
hrst OF race, nearly all the East siders
who will be selling Christmas novelties
tomorrow morning first served their ap-
prentice days as newsboys along the Park
Row
The VIII Clear Up 100000
1t is conservatively estimated that be-
tween now and Christmas the 5000 fakirs
will take In 81. 900. 900 over and above the
percentage that goes to the man back of
them, The average New York. Chicago or
Philadelphia street man clears nywher
from $500 TO $500 ;or his work on the ten
days prior to Christmas. The novelties are
never put on the street any earlier, for the
fakir glories in catching shoppers at full
tide. In Plttsburg, San Francisco, ST. Paul,
81. Louis and Louisville his net income
varies from 5000 to s4O0, while in the lar
ger southern cities and in such northern
and western towns as Albany. Omaha. CO.
lumbus, Los Angeles and Spokane It
doesn't lake more than ordinary ability to