Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-22
SHOESTRING VENDORS
THIRTY ONE ENCOUNTERED IN A
SINGLE DAY.
Some of Them Get Into the Police Court
An Overworked In
dustry.

Shoestrings play an important part in the
Christmas calculations of many members
of the "other half In Washington these
busy. bustling days of holiday preparation.
a tour of the principal tloroughfares of the
city yesterday by reporter resulted in
seeing, by actual count, thirty-one shoe
string vendors of all ages sizes and condi-
tons. There were men, women, boys and
girls, black, white and yellow Some i'm
portuned passersby to purchase their wares;
others canvassed from house to house,
while some stood sphinx-lke on street cor
ners or in doorways and mutely appealed
to the hurrying throngs to buy from their
small stock.
In the Police Court yesterday three Of
these itinerant merchants were given terms
of thirty days each and will eat their
Christmas dinners within the grim, gray
walls of the workhouse by decree of Judge
l<imball. They were all white men and
the policemen who made the arrests stated
that they carried few pairs OF shoestrings
as subterfuge to cover their real mission
as thirtythird degree panhandlers. A SER
geant of police testified that one of the men
called at his house and requested his wife
to invest in pair of the strings. Upon her
refusal to do 50 he said:
Then can't you help poor fellow out?'
The sergeant followed the man to the
street and arrested him. At the police sta
ton charge or Vagrancy was entered
against him.
Another prisoner, who bore evidence Of
being a member of the hobo fraternity.
was captured on 1.-The Bowery." His stock
consisted of two pairs of shoestrings and
full cargo of cheap whisky. The police
man said he was begging from nearly every
person he encountered.
These are few illustrations Of how the
industry is overworked here. There are
many worthy poor men and women engaged
in the business who support their families
on the few cents they earn after tramping
about in the cold all day.
Profit in Shoestrings.
why do you select shoestrings to sell in
stead of some other article Of common
| use?" one of these was asked.
For several reasons was the reply.
1.-The principal one is that stock of shoe
strings requires the smallest outlay of capt.
tai, which is most important considera-
ton to those engaged in the business. We
are not Rockefellers Vanderbilts, you
know. or we would not have to peddle
| laces. Then there is more profit in shoe
strings than there is in other things people
sell about the streets. Lead pencils cost
more money and are less profitable. and,
besides. it is not every man and woman
| that can write, while every one wears
shoes. OF course, there are fakirs in our
business. just as there are in many other
businesses. Not long ago a noted thief ar
rayed himself as minister of the gospel,
and after prea ching before large audiences
| as an evangelist robbed nearly one hundred
| Christian guests at a Chautauqua hotel.
The annual session of the Dunkards at
Frederick. Md. was raided by women pick
pockets attired as Dunkardesses who Sc
cured many hundreds of dollars from their
| victims. l give the police credit for arrest
| ing fake shoestring peddlers or any other
| sort, but they should be careful and not
| make mistakes We have hard row to
| hoe as it is, without being incarcerated in
prison for trying to exc out an honest live
| lihood. especially in this happy holiday sea-
| son, when We are trying to add small in
crease to our scant and hard-earned in
come
This peddler Of shoestrings bore traces of