Evening journal., 1904-06-08
LIFE IN tub STREET
ODD cUsToMs AND CONDITIONS ONE
MEETS WITH ABROAD.

Trade Upon The Pubhc stdeWniks.
Anfwerps BfHkmntdn. A-
In the street the traveller learns the
characteristics OF a race better than IN
the house. Man Is more artificial out
doors than in Whether savage or
civilized. he is prone to "dress up
when be goes out. Whether Il be a /
few more feathers or a new frock coat
the principle IS the same. He is mere
" a son or a father at home, but In
the street men call him a carpenter a |
barber, a gambler a miser. judge. a
colonel or whatever other name nts
his artificial relations with the outside
world.
When the native OF Constantinople,
for example, visits New York, be needs
only to walk up Broadway 70 discover
how widely different are the Turkish
and American civilizations The sight
Of a gang OF street cleaners at work
would Immediately claim his attention.
The spectacle would be novel and
strange to his eyes. He would won
der why these men waste their time
in sweeping the cutters and in loading
refuse into wagons. Why all this la
Dor for nothing7 he asks himself. Why
does not the American, like the Turk.
let the dogs be the city scavengers7
Constantinople existed long centuries
before Manhattan island had streets.
be boasts, and yet the only street clean
ers have been the hungry pariah dogs.
When the American visits Mexico,
he sees IN the streets OF such a city as
Vera Cruz a spectacle as strange TO
him as Is a street cleaning brigade TO
a Turk. He sees yultures roosting on
the house tops or slowly circling over
head with never a Zap OF wing, and
when some busy housewife empties
garbage out OF the front window he
beholds the entire flock come swoop-
ing down TO the pavement and tight
over the feast.
How different are the American and
the Algerian ideas OF personal comfort
may be seen by a short walk through
the streets Of Tunis, Here one finds
the barber on the sidewalk instead OF
in a shop. Should one desire n shave
he is not invited with q bland welcome
to recline at ease in a plush uphol-
stored chair, nor are his senses soothed
with perfumes and saives. On the
contrary. the barber takes one over
his knee, as II TO draw and quarter
him He squats against a wall, where
all Tunis may watch him as II might
a public executioner. He squirts some
water into ones beard from a dirty
goatskin, rubs the hair the wrong way
few moments and then begins to
scrape. The steel Of his razor Is sharp.
but bis way OF welding il is relent-
less. should a cut be so deep that one
complains his simple explanation Is:
rOnly the blood OF a coward runs"
Ia Korea the horseshoer. like the
barber OF Algeria, makes the street his
place Of business. His forge biazes
within his thatched roof house and
makes one wonder why It does not set
fire 70 the establishment But no horse
IS brought indoors When the Korean
jehu finds a shoe of his beast Of bur
den. he leads It TO the edge OF the
street. where the horseshoer ties the
nose OF the animal to one post and its
rump 10 another. From a crosspiece
supported by the two posts he hangs
a moose, which he fts around the
horses belly By means Of few
vigorous tugs he lifts the beast almost
of its feet and then completes his task
of shoeing at leisure.
No customs Of the Yankee and the
West Indian offer wider contrast
than the methods OF their milkmen. In
the United States the milkman brings
his supply In cans OF bottles from his
dairy. In Cuba and Porto Rico he
briags bis eairy with him. In walking
through the streets OF Ponce whether
IN the morning or the afternoon, one
is likely 20 come on a herd OF cows
chewing their cuds pensively in front
Of some dwelling house. When the
milkman fills the measure Of his Gus
toner direct from the udder. he carries
It foaming into the house. collects a
few centesimos and drives his herd on
TO the next doorway. Sometimes he
viii llnger so long IN a corner cafe
that by the time he leaves his glass Of
rum a couple OF hungry calves have
ended his business for the day The
reason that the West Indian dairyman
must drive his COW 10 his patrons gate
ia because milk keeps fresh only a few
hours in such a climate. Milk for
breakfast must be delivered direct
from the COW early in the morning, and
for supper late IN the afternoon.
In Antwerp. where milk keeps sweet
overnight. IN winter at least, the milk
maids employ almost as rudimentary
methods. One sees them in the streets
driving a pair OF oxen or a team Of
dogs that are hitched to a numbering
wagon containing a huge barrel. Will
quart ladle they dole out a measure
here and another there into the cam
awaiting them on the various door
steps.
Just as the Mexican cobbler work
IN the gutter. so the Panaman hattie
makes the street his workshop. Her
he weaves grass into a sombrero be
meath the surface of the water in tn
barrel at his side. In f.. Nand aero
bats use the streets much as itineran
bands do in this country. These gym
nasts generally travel in twos an
threes. and on coming to crossroads o
a village OF a corner Of a city one blow
a horn while another spreads a bit O
dirty carpet on the ground There ]
always some master trick which Is fr,
quently referred 10, but which cannc
be performed unless the hat that