Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-06
AN ARMY OF 10000
Force of Christmas Fakirs in
the Field.
GOTHAM'S MANY TYPES
THE TYPICAL ONE IS CHARGED
TO THE EAST SIDE.
At the Head of His Calling ALI Over
the Country-Millions in
Return.

Copyright 1902, by Guy 7. Viskniskki.)
Written for The Evening Star
Ten thousand Christmas fakirs will be on
the streets of the cities and large towns of
the United States tomorrow morning bark
ing the novelties for the holiday season
New York will be made to listen to the in
sistent pleadings of 800 of the brass-lunged
and slick-tongued profession until Christ
mas day dawns. Philadelphia will be work
ed by half this number, and Boston, Balti-
more, Washington, ST. Louis and Pittsburg
will each be given attention by a hundred
bawling street men. Chicago cannot be
covered thoroughly with man less than
$50; Sal Francisco's contingent will aggre-
gate 100, and such cities as Milwaukee,
Buffalo, Cleveland, st. Paul and Cincinnati
will be strenuously solicited to part with
nicl1els and dimes by from fifty to one hun
bred fakirs, according to the fertility of the
field. And in many another town-Coum-
bus, New Orleans, Charleston, Los Angeles,
Atlanta, Albany, Omaha. for example-the
number will vary from two 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 its boundaries for
the very good business reason that he can
not 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 five-cent Christmas novelty
n tharwhPra than in these two cities lust be-
yond their states line
But wherever he Observation-Disclosures In
Wall street among the brokers, always
good customers. or in the .hadoW OF the
Golden Gate; whether in the bllzZard-SWept
cities of the northwest or under languorous
southern skies, with holday-carousing ne
groes as principal purchasers of his wares
the Christmas fakir five 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 lar away ne
may be from the tenement home that his
mind will bark back to occasionally Whlie
his stentorian voice sings the undying
praises of some novelty, because MS KING
has sent him out; and his king is an East
Side man.
The Original Fakir's Career
1t has been thirty-four years since the
boss fakir. then a newsboy of thirteen
originated the street man occupation. Unui
he began barking penknives one morning
IN front Oh lHe OIu view VI n poSI oiiiNS
in Nassau street. no one except few Jews
were trying to sell things on the thorough
fares. and they offered only dust brooms
and other minor household necessities. A
month later the boy had the peddling Jews
working for him. A year later he had
big bank account for one of Ills age. by
the time he was old enough to vote he was
postmaster of the art he had originated and
sole instructor in a school for 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 broad
cast over the country selling his wares.
So it happens that the typical Christmas
fakir is. in large measure, chip OF the
king of them all.
Run across him wherever you may you
will find him as sturdy of body as of voice;
with a wit as incisive as his business acu-
men: possessor of a soul utterly Incapable
of being cast down, the ingenuity and
imagination of a clever novelist, and the
power to make word paintings that rival
the alliterative work of circus press agents.
And lastly. he hands you your purchase,
jerks the piece Of money out of your hand,
losses 1t into q pocket, and turns to the
next customer, all before you begin to re-
alize what has happened, you can readily
see why the hustling western business man,
famed in song and story, takes back seat
when the fakir comes around And like
the first of his race nearly all the East
Siders who will be selling Christmas novel
ties tomorrow morning first served their
apprentice days as newsboys along Park
row.
The Fakirs Will Clear Up $4,000, 900.
1t is conservatively estimated that be-
tween now and Christmas the ten thou
sand fakirs will take in $2,0 600 over and
above the percentage that goes to the man
back of them. The average New York,
Chicago or Philadelphia street man clears
anywhere from $500 to 500 for his work on
the ten days prior to Christmas. The nov
elites are never put on the street any
earlier for the fakir glories in catching
shoppers at full tide In Pittsburg, San
Francisco. st. Paul. st. Louis and Louis
VILE his. net income varies from 500 to
$500: while In the larger southern cities and
in such northern and western towns as AL
banv. Omaha. Columbus, Los Angeles and
Spokane. it doesn't take more than ordi-
nary ability to clear as much as SO, fire.
quentlv 500 and not infrequently 1928 and
$50.
Once In a while there is man in the
cities Of millions who, when he reclsons up
his profits before arraying himself in his
best buds on Christmas day, preparatory
to calling on his STEADY company"
taking wife and children to vaudeville en-
tertainment, finds that he is $1,000 or
81 800 ito the good" This is especially
true when some novelty, simple as two and
two in construction sand small in con-
structive price, catches the public fancy
and has phenomenal sale at o or l0 cents
the specimen.
But whether he makes 81 500 or $50. the
typical fakir takes a long rest otter the
Christmas harvest is ended. Barring
few of his brethren. who bark year in and
year out, he is liable to spend nearly all
his time until the next Christmas recuper-
ating He is happy-go-lucky fellow is the
fakir. and In this trait he is in sharp con-
trast with the universally acknowledged
head of his calling.
A Good Year for the Fakirs.
This holiday season the street men con-
fdently expect to make so much money
that the odd jobs sometimes necessary to
be undertaken between Christmases for
the good of the body, win be obviated for
once. They base their expectations on the
general prosperity of the country. Even a
fakir new to the business knows that 1t
takes full pocket book to make man
give heed to- laugh over and purchase the
insignificant trinkets displayed on trays
and small stands in the doorways of vacant
stores; in push carts and in huckster wa
CONS.
The prosperous matured and maturing
v,,,hIt rr,{1 1,a cd xr,fth 81,