Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1904-11-10

Elizabeth street was originally a
workman in piano factory. He
learned in the course Of his trade how
to make and repair hand organs. He
decided that the accumulation of
pride, and began to turn the crank on
the street himself. AS soon as he had
saved enough he opened shop and
began to rent organs. He has % or
80 organs now, which net him S35 or
$40 a day through the summer
months.
There is another shop in Roosevelt
street, two in Baxter street, one on
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 be-
longs to a woman whose organs
perambulate the length and breadth
Of the Oranges.
There is a man in Mulberry street
who has ground the hand-organ for
20 years in New York. Twenty years
ago he lost an arm when working on
a 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, ia 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 out
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 in
Carmen style, in short, bright red
skirt, black velevt bodice, white
chemisette and fancy headdress.
One of them carried tambourine to
shake while the other girl played, and
this served as collection box after
ward. Instead of going to the factory
for IS week, these enterprising
young women were soon making their
81 or S. day. Genius always has
its imitators, and there are now siA
or seven similar couples, dressed in
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 the
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 far
as Canada. One such man made
500 last year by a tour of Connecti-
cut.
Usually such a season clears up be-.
tween $500 and $500. There is a man
on Mulberry street who has made as
much as that for 20 seasons past.
This is the first summer he has been
in the city for 20 years. He is too
old to go abroad again.
People familiar with eastern
country towns rs or 80 years ago can
remember the wild juvenile excite
ment which used to prevail when.
once or twice a summer, an Italian
organ man came with a monkey.
Jocko has almost vanished from the
business, for it has been found that
foh a.,
He is, indeed. an excellent collector,
cleaning crops of cents from balconies
and second-story windows. But he is
almost sure to take cold and die in
the winter, and then all the time ana
bother spent in training him is lost.
The hand-organ man would like
much to take out children as col
lectors, especially little girls. They
make ideal collectors. But municipal
regulations now interfere with what
was once a profitable source of in.
come
The handorgan business is not
what it was once, say the old-timers,
sadly. Twenty-Five years ago the col
lector came back with nickles and
dimes and quarters in his hat, and
the firm went home at night with
$l5 or $40 in its pocket, instead of
81 or SIS.
Now only cents are given, and
within the last 10 years, since the big
immigration began, the number of
street musicians has increased until
it is not likely that any more $50, 900
tenement,houses will be purchased in
the craft.