The San Francisco call., 1904-12-11

LONDON, Dec. 10.-England poss-
esses several queens besides the dis
tinguished woman who occupies the
throne with King Edward. To men
tion a few Of them only. there is a
queen Of the costers, a queen of the
gypsies. a canal queen and a queen
cf the thieves" The last named, how
ever. is at present in temporary re-
tirement, owing tO-oeEtsls1 .SIfflfce4efes
with his Ma5esty's Government. Each
commands the loyalty Of the commun-
ity over which she rules for the time
being. and 1t IS only in most extraor-
dinary cases that one Of them is ever
deposed.
Such a queen is never an autocrat.
but governs democraticaIly. The dig
nifty is never self-imposed; in fact the
woman may go TO bed at night plain
Mrs. Jones and find herself a queen Of
her particular class the next morning.
This is how Mrs. Sarah Russell, thu
queen Of London costers. was crowned.
A plain. simple, honest, hard-working
little woman on the right side Of 40,
she is a conspicuous personality in cos
terdom. Looking at her no one would
imagine she could WELD the influence
she does over the rather tough COM
munity in which she moves. She is
modest and unassuming and there is
nothing about her which would indi-
cate that she is the wealthiest woman
. Of her class in England.
HAS GOOD BANK ACCOUNT.
Her palace" is situated in a most
uncongenial neighborhood, and one has
TO climb set Of rickety stairs to reach
her Majesty's" drawing There
you will find her absorbed in multi
tude Of books and papers,. in which the
state Of her finances is primitively set
out She is sufficiently industrious to
dispense with the services Of clerks or
bookkeepers, and it is the Commission
ers Of the Income Tax only who can
give anything like an approximate idea
Of the state OF the queens banking
account. It is limited that she is worth
at least $50, 600 in hard cash and that
her yearly income cannot fall short of
$1,000.
The most substantial part of this in
come is derived from the hiring out Of
barTows and trucks TO costermongers
who hawk their wares through the
London streets. She controls over 300
Of these trucks and barrows. They cost,
when new, anything between SIS and
$50, and the usual charge to the hirer
IS 25 cents a week
The business to the initiated might
appear somewhat risky, because all
that is demanded Of the person who
hires them is deposit Of 25 cents and
his name and address. Some of these
bsrrows are kept out two or three
years at a stretch, and in numerous
cases they are never returned to the
stores until their usefulness is exhaust
ed or they require repair. The hiring
fees have 10 be paid monthly, and per-
sons Of doubtful honesty are kept un-
der observation by the queen" and
members Of her staff.
BEGAN IN HER YOUTH.
Mrs. Russells confidential man
combines various duties. He deals
with prospective renters. takes their
cash and in his spare moments does
a bit of carpentry and smith work.
Moreover, he never fails TO impress
upon one that he has from his bov-
hood worked for and enjoyed the con-
fdence Of queens He is a retired
non-commissioned army officer and he
is as loyal TO his present sovereign.
the queen Of the costers, as he was TO
Queen Victoria during his thirty
years Of army service. All the trucks
and barrows are constructed on the
premises and in the busy season,
which is between June and October.
employment IS provided for a num-
Der Of wheelwrights, smiths and car
penters-
IN her youth Mrs. Russell assisted
her father and mother in the coster