Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1904-11-10

Elizabeth street was originally /
workman in a piano factory. lie d
learned in the course of his trade how
to make and repair hand organs. He
i decided that the accumulation .,
capital was more to him than his
. pride, and began to turn the crank on
the street himself. AS soon as he had
saved enough he opened a shop and
began to rent organs. He has IS n
80 organs now, which net him $35 OF
$40 a day through the summer
months.
There is another shop in Roosev,
street, two in Baxter street, one ull
| Second street one on One Hundred
and Fifth street, and various Others
scattered about the city. The only
shops outside New York in this region
are two in Newark. One of these Re
/ longs to a woman whose organs
perambulate the length and breadth
of the Oranges.
There is a man in Mulberry str, u
who has ground the hand-organ Inl
20 years in New York. Twenty years
ago he lost an arm when working OH
railroad He took to the organ,
and has raised family in comfort.
and none of them plays the hand
organ.
The two who go out with the organ
are, in the majority of cases, husband
and wife. 1t is considered that women
are more successful as collectors than
men. In many cases two men go OK
together and lately organs have
been run by two women.
The good-looking girls in Marion
street conceived the idea a season or
two ego of dressing themselves III
Carmen style, in short bright red
skirt, black velevt bodice, white
chemsette and fancy headdress
One of them carried tambourne to
shake while the other girl played, anu
this served as collection box after 1
ward. Instead of going to the factory i
for SIS a week, these enterprisine
young women were soon making Their
81 or S. a day. Genius always has
its imitators, and there are now sin
or seven similar couples, dressed III
the same way, perambulating the +
city. Most of them are Genoese.
The custom is not likely to become
general for not many Italian women
have the nerve to go out without
male relative.
Every spring there is an exodus +
from the New York Italian colony OF
men who do not return till fall.
Sometimes the wife goes along, when
| there are relatives to care for tn
children.
But generally the man goes alone.
making the tour of some New Eng
| land state, New York or Pennsylvania
and sometimes even pushing as falt
as Canada. One such man mad,
$500 last year by a tour of Connect
cut.
Usually such season clears up beE
tween $500 and $500. There is a maj
on Mulberry street who has made as
much as that for 20 seasons past
This is the first summer he has beei
in the city for 20 years. He is too
old to go abroad again.
People familiar with eastern
country towns % or 80 years ago car
remember the wild juvenile excir,
ment which used to prevail when
once or twice a summer an Italian
organ man came with a monkey
Jocko has almost vanished from tn y
business for it has been found tina, Ii
he is not profitable in this climate
He IS, indeed, an excellent collector, 4
cleaning crops of cents from balconies &
and second-story windows. But he Is u
almost sure to take cold and die ~ 4
the winter and then all the time an0
bother spent in training him is lost
The hand-organ man would lii 1
much to take out children as COZ 4
lcctors, especially little girls. They !,
make ideal collectors. But municipal i
regulations now interfere with what
was once a profitable source of in 4
come
The hand-organ business is ~ B
what it was once say the old-timeIs.
sadly. twenty-five years ago the c, |,
lector came back with nickles an .
dimes and quarters in his hat, alo
the firm went home at night with
SIS or $40 in its pocket instead OF !
81 or S.
Now only cents are given. and
within the last 10 years, since the big
immigration began, the number OF 4
street musicians has increased unit! 4
It is not likely that any more sS5, 900 Il
tenementhouses will be purchased il
the craft.
ESOplS EARI &c