The Savannah morning news., 1903-03-10

From the heart of New York's ka-
1eidoscopic lie comes a practical con-
tradiction of the common belief that
women form the weaker sex. Fully
5000 women work on the streets of the
American metropolis in fair weather
and foul.
The sidewalk is their shop, the curb
stone their counter. They know moth
ing of the barest comforts afforded by
a poorly appointed store. They stand
or walk about the whole day long,
while carrying on their petty businesses.
Yet they are strong. they enjoy life
after their own fashion, and they lay
up treasure in banks of whose stabil-
ity they have the best assurance.
This steadily increasing army of
street saleswomen does not include
agents of any sort who make a house
toulouse canvass, nor beggars who
wear the guise of peddlers. 1t repre-
sents only those who have placed them
selves in open competition with the
male pedd1ers who cry their wares and
the fakirs who offer anything salable
on the street corner from half-frozen
fruit TO near-gold watches.
Among them are numbered the push
cart women of the East Side, the news
girls, the proprietors of vegetable and
fruit stands, from the Battery to Har-
lem, the clerks connected with the dry
goods stores on the upper East Side,
the body snatchers" on Dawson street
the women who work cafe and theater
entrances with smokers supplies, and
The ROmany women who infeSt the
fashionable shopping district with So
called handmade laees.''
AS the ma jority-perhaps rs per cent
--of these women live on the East Side
it is worth while to hear the opinion
of Ghetto physician who has large
private practice, and who is also con-
nected with one of the leading dispen-
SarieS:
Never waste your pity on these woln-
en- who cry their wares on the street
They are more healthy than you ever
dreamed of being, and infinitely better
off than the women who shut them
selves up in stuffy flats. Their diet Is
simple, and this, with their open-air
life, seems to harden them to all
changes of weather. In summer it Is
rare thing for one of them to be
overcome by the heat, while a woman
who spends her days indoors will easily
fall victim to the heat of the blister
ing streets. In winter they rarely APP
ply for cold or grip remedies, and rarer
still is it to find case of pneumonia
among them. AS a rule, they enter
upon the life because they like it. The
mercantile instinct is strong within
them, and if they cannot share the
business of father, husband or brother,
they. coolly enter into competition with
the men Of other families"
How They Take Cure of Their FAINT
lies.
The most interesting phase of the life
Of these street saleswomen, mostly of
Jewish extraction, is their dual mer-t
camille and domestic ability. "A bach
elor maid is unknown among them.
In truth, the mother of the family is
most often in business, and if it be a
daughter or unmarried sister, she COM.
tinues to do her share of the house
hold duties, and boarding away from
ones relations is unknown. Wives and
mothers run both business and home
with remarkable success.
If the saleswoman looks after a fish
cart or a bread wagon, she must be in
the wholesale market at an early hour,
but before departing for the scene of
her labor she starts the simple break
fast of coffee, rolls and perhaps eggs,
leaving the family to complete the
preparations. In her absence the hus-
band leaves for his work. which may
be in a tailor shop or on the sidewalk
gathering up old clothes or junk. The
children make ready for school, and
the morning work which they cannot
do awaits the mothers return during
a lull in the mornings trade Toward
noon she trundles her cart homeward,
picking up what she needs for lunch
as she goes. The amount of house
work she dispatches in that brief noon
time respite is amazing, and after it is
done she reappears at her stand for
the early afternoon trade. The prepara-
ton of the evening meal is frequently
left to the children, who early learn
the lesson of responsibility.
If the older boys work, their earn
ings, with those of father and mother,
go into common fund, but the chill
dren are usually kept at school until
the grammar grades at least have been
reached. The mother may not have
so much as a charcoal brazier to warm
her hands while at her cart, but she
will keep the children presentable for
their teacher.
More fortunate is the woman who
runs a dry goods cart. Her hours are
shorter and there is no early morning
tramp to the wholesalers. Her stock
Is merely a study in remnants, strips
OF cloth few yards long, small bum
dies of lace, half a dozen pairs of hose,
and dozen towels, all different. To
sell an entire bolt of goods would mark
an epoch in her trade history. Should
customer decide to buy a dress pat
tern, the woman sends the young hope
ful clinSing to her skirts in search of
her husband who is at home, perhaps
IN the f1at-house before which her cart
stands, and he drops his tailoring long
enough to assist in closing the deal.
These saleswomen of the streets take
their business seriously. To the casual
observer, the shoulder-shrug which ac-
companies the "All right" uttered as
customer objects to the price and
starts away empty-handed, might in
dlcate Indifference to the loss of a sale.
To the knowing ones it is evident, how