The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-01
NEW "BUTCHES" ID
 HAVE MORE GINGER
Two Boys from Boston Will
 Try Their Hand
THEY LIKE SoUTHERNERS
Several "Butchers" on Southern Trains Fired for Selling Whisky to Sui fsrers In Cold Water Towns
 In Mississippi.


 daily routine of the so-called languid news butchers of the south the Union News company some days ago decided to try the experiment of importing eastern | talent and yesterday two bright boys arrived from Boston.
 Up to last night MT. White, local man. | ager of the Union News company, had not assigned the young men to any par tlcular train but 1t is likely that they will be put on the Southern railway and operate between Birmingham and Rich mond.
 With several years experience In ped ding wares to what the boys call "the close listed people of the New Hampshire mountains and travellers out or Mas sachusettsn these boys come into strange land determined to show south erners the way hard work makes money. The boys are Sylvester Kennedy and Leslie Norton. Both were born in Bos- ton. and while they have spent two or three years in Woodsville, N. H. they still use the broad Ia with bean-eating precision. Taking them all in all they are extraordinarily bright young fellows.
 The New England Way.
 "The 'butches' down here don't seem to have been up against people who are hard to separate from their money" said young Norton. up our way we have to talk long and often to get the money, and to make a good living we have to keep the aisles hot walking from one end of the train to the other. Com ing down I noticed one butch who went through the train about every hour and then he didn't seem to care whether he sold anything or not. He didn't let the people know he was there. That kind of a man wouldn't last long in the east. Now don't think that I am trying to knock anybody but I just couldn't help notic- ing the difference in the ways of the peo- ple."
 As young Norton talked, Kennedy, his pal, nodded assent occasionally but had very little to say himself The boys felt that they were In a strange land and their occasional moves of discontinue showed It.
 They were in the office of the Union News company on Twentieth street and, by the way, one of these offices would prove very Interesting to a person who had never seen one.
 These news companies, as they are usu- ally called, are organized for the purpose of supplying the patrons of the various railroads with anything from newspa- per to dried figs and yellow bananas. They employ boys whom custom has dubbed news butchers" and these boys are paid a certain per cent of their gross sales. To get this per cent the two boys have come from Boston.
 News Company Quarters.
 As the two Boston boys were discussing their past experiences yesterday the lit tie room proved interesting to a stranger. On shelves reaching up to the ceiling hun dreds of novels were stacked. The titles of these books were rather amusing There were Barrels of Fun" scores of "Drummers' Yarns" Bushels of Jokes, T and an occasional Laugh" On the next tier of shelves the subjects grew more serious "Shadowed by Three" in great stacks ldy near "Marguerite's Comics sions," and without a Clue" occupied adjoining berths to the "virginian"
 Just back of this book room was a closet filled with apples dried figs in wooden boxes, punches of bananas and candy put up in all kinds of attractive shapes to catch the eye of the weary trav- eler.
 These goods are supplied to the ''butches" when they start on trip, and the boys are held responsible for every thing that is missing or stolen. This rule falls right hard on the boys sometimes as hundreds of dollars worth of stuff is stolen monthly from these young mer who are working to make a comfortable living.
 The "butches" get the advantage O books and papers left by passengers, an' this makes up for the loss by theft.
 Five-cent Papers.
 'I am glad to know that newspaper down here sell for five cents," sail young Kennedy as his caller was lookini around the room. Up around Bostoi the papers have gotten down to one ant two cents copy, and we make absolute ly nothing out of them. Tn fact we hay about quit, and passengers occasonall. kick because we don't handle newspa pers.
 T remember man got on a train on day somewhere in New Hampshire wit at least dozen magazines in his arms He piled them all down on the seat b