The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-11-07
BOOKS FROM PUSH CARTS.
A Glance at a Worthy. But Very
Poorly Paid, Occupation.

Poorly Paid, Occupation.
The pushcart men have a keen OBJ
servation power and can place the lit
erary monomaniac on sight.
Don't you wish to buy some books
to-day?"
The victim hesitates, like the fly
lowering over a glass of milk, and
meanwhile the huckster, who is a per-
son of repartee, continues somewhat
in this manner:
II have some new books in the style
of the ones you bought last week. Very
fine books" Here follows an enumer-
alton OF the various books, named to
tally with the prospective buyers intel
lectual calibre and literary inclina-
tions. 1t may be added that the pros
pective purchaser generally doesn't
leave the wagon without having suf-
fered some diminution in purse.
And yet, despite all their acumen,
the guild suffers the disease common
to all connected with literature, except
the publishers lack Of money. Indeed,
their earnings barely suffice to keep
them in clothing. One Of them said:
1--WE can hardly make living: and
it's regular dogs life. The publisher
and the dealer-~the middleman-divvy
up the profits, whatever there is in 1t,
between 'en, while we do the dirty
work; in fact, all Of the work, and get
the devil for not. selling enough books.
It's a sort of last resort business and
as such little better than sand
wiching.'"
1t is the wholesale houses and the
publishers, indeed, who corral the prof
as in the trade.
The wholesale houses Of this Kind
are located in Vandewater street, and
are few In numbers. They are situated
In old~time colonial structures, decrepit
with age and soiled with the SCOT from
the hundred chinneys of the printing
plants which abound in the neighbor-
hood.
The houses are locked up tightly, and
from the outside are 'enveloped by a
halo of mystery which appeals to the
Economically inclined. And inside!
Many an Indifferent soul would cape
peep into the interior, which is rare
privilege, however, accorded only to
the nervy and old patrons.
The whole inside is literally lined
with volumes that from vast intel
lectuaI treasure. From the basement,
where the pushcarts are stored at
night, up to the roof, books, and again
nothing but books can be seen. 1t is
an ocean of volumes, a. desert if you
choose. Most Of them are Of the cheap
paper bound variety.
AL! of these volumes are retailed on
the street for 10 cents copy. a few be-
ing sold for nickel, and some for Is
cents. But the average price is a dime.
The publishers sell them in vast
quantities to the dealers at between 5
and cents a copy. The dealer again
employs the hucksters, supplying the
pushcarts The pedlers work on a COM
mission basis, and it Is needless to
state that the commission Is very
small. According to one of them, it Is
one penny copy. At that rate, in or
der to make 81 the man must dispose
of 100 books day. And the pedler
thinks he does we'll If he manages to
sell that many from Saturday morning
up to 10 o'clock at night!
1t is a regular dogs life, in truth,
which the hucksters are compelled to
lead. Small, nay, pitiable earrings,
heaps Of abuse. plenty of hard work
and forever subjected to the inclemen-
CIV of the weather--that is their life.
Yet these crude, ignorant fellows,
with their peculiar English and dirty,
unkempt appearance, are philosophers
in disguise; scholars clad in rags,
whose light is hidden under bushel
of adverse, circumstances. Their knowl
edge of books and literature is simply
amazing. A customer goes up to one
of them on a Saturday afternoon and
asks for book, and the mans hereto
fore stolid face suddenly assumes an
intellectual look.
"What kind of book do you want?"
he asks. 1T have some light reading
by. Oh! you wish historical novel?
Well, here's Thackeray's Henry Es-
mond,' and THE Virginians' Never
heard about Thackeray and his boolzs!"
in amazement. well, they are just
the thing. And here"--pointing at a
row of gil1ed volumes-"are Walter
SCOTS novels, 'Ivanhoe and the rest of
them. Very good, I can tell you''
So they can continue for hours. and
it is a positive pleasure to listen to
them.-From the New York Evening