Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-02


| means great deal 1t means peace of
mind and several hours extra sleep a night
at certain seasons OF the year. One man
who lives In Harlem keeps a small crock
cry store on Ludlow street. He found that
a peddler came each day In front of his
store and undersold him in the same line of
goods To do away with this competition
| the storekeeper rented a cart and placed IL
| IN front OF his own store. Then began a
fierce rivalry for position. The peddler ar
rived at z am. The next morning the store
Keeper was on hand at $50. So II went
until for the holy days the storekeeper ar
rived at o'clock in the morning. This was
too much for the peddler. who departed to
find crockery shop whose proprietor had
not heard of the strenuous life. At the
corner of Rivington and Suffolk streets
! during the last holy days peddler placed
| his cart and never left 1t for eight days.
When the night trade ceased he curled up
| IN a nearby doorway and slept with one eye
| on his cart.
At these holy days the number OF the
| carts increases marvelously. Every cart
| that can be borrowed. rented or appro-
| priated Is put to use. Long before the de-
mand is satisfied the supply is exhausted.
| Then dilapidated baby carriages. children's
wagons and even invalids chairs are
pressed into service. Every conceivable
| plan is adopted to display goods. The
noise and confusion becomes greater men
pound on the crockery to show that it is
| not cracked. and beat the agateware and
shout to attract attention. Inasmuch as
the board OF aldermen has in the past sus-
pended all ordinances during these DAYS
| the traffic conditions become worse than
| ever. The peddlers crowd around the cor
ners OF the streets until literally one has to
thread his way in and out between the
carts. comparison of the number of
carts on the most crowded streets of the
East Side on the day the census was taken
and on one of these holy days showed that
there were 6S per cent more carts on the
holy day than on the ordinary day
A peculiar fpatIlra Of ha nod &c ha
growth of what is called the Stablekeepers'
Union. The members OF this union are the
men who own most of the carts used by
the peddlers. They have for the use of a
cart that originally cost about $40 a min
imum fixed charge of 10 cents a day To
understand why the peddlers are willing
70 pay such rental one must remember
the tenements of New York, In which there
Is no room to store a cart. Even II there
were space in the family rooms, they are
most frequently upstairs. and the peddler
would have to remove his stock and in
most cases the wheels of the cart, to get
II up the steps. On the other hand the
stablekeeper" rents a basement with wide
steps down which 1t is easy to get the cart
II you are regular customer and your
goods are not perishable they can stay on
the cart over night and be ready for you
the next morning. These ''stablekeepers''
are well organized, and report good and
bad customers to one another. If YOU have
in the past rented a cart from the stable
at 40 Ludlow street and desire to rent one
from 81 Forsythe, you have to bring word
from the first stable before you can rent a
cart from the second If you have not
paid all you owe to the Ludlow street
owner you will not get cart from For
sythe street.
But these stablekeepers are most per-
nicious influence in ''eXhilaratin trade"
as one policeman stated. If there are a
number of unrented carts in the stable
what is to hinder the owner from seeking
the man out of work and suggesting that
LA boo; 8
license that also is easily arranged. for the
stablekeeper has not only carts, but also
licenses friend has taken out a license
for which he no longer has USE and the
stablekeeper gathers it in. Then, for %
cents day, a cart and license can DE
secured, even If ones name is changed In
the process.
If one who has seen the pushcarts only
In the financial district were asked what
Is sold them, he would undoubtedly say
fruit, lunches and candy. But even IL
he went far north as Fulton street he
would have to make new list Of arti-
cles. When our list of goods sold was
complete we felt 1t would have been
easier to make list Of things that were
not sold. The Americans sell lunches.
the Greeks fruit and ice cream almost ex-
clusively while the Italians widen the
list by adding vegetables. But the Jew
ish pedders sell practically every con-
ceivable thing. The ordinary foods and
vegetables were found on the carts, but
ample, grape fruit, artchokes, egg plant
and olives. All the men who sold clans
were found in the italian districts, as the
Jewish ceremonial does not allow shell
fish, Among the Italians. too, were found
the only peddlers of cheese and of dande-
lion green's.
East Side Goods.
But on the East Side one finds the great
est variety of goods. Hats, caps. goods
left over thirty days in the laundry" furs.
shoes, pictures, postal cards. hardNare,
groceries, and even bedding and the omni-
present Welsbach burners. One can but
wonder at some of the things sold. Why
should mattresses. what one policeman
called "sul-sir-warter." be sold from q
pushcart? The incongruty Of some Of the
things is most apparent, as one man was
found selling crucifixes on Rivington street.
One would not expect him to find a market
for his wares in a section almost wholly
Jewish, but he stated there were many
buyers. An italian at 18th street and LIST
avenue had a most unique collection, for
on the self-same cart was a supply of toy
balloons, gaudy whirligigs, candy crucifixes
and shrines of the Madonna. 1t was diff
cult, too, to tell which was his best selling
article. The writer found him so engaging
that he bought one of each! The seasons
bring out new men, as the lemonade man
In summer. and the hot potato and hot
corn man in the fall. The hot potato man
has an oven that looks like steam road
roller, which he laboriously pushes about.
Inasmuch as he moves it with the fire up,
one feels him to be perfectly capable Of
borrowing a red-hot stove" The hot corn
man has a charcoal fire under a pot and
the corn is hot, though late In the day
rather overdone.
From the standpoint of the general pub
lie. the commissions most interesting rec
concentrations are to divide the city into
districts known as travelling districts and
restricted districts" In the travelling dis
tricts' the peddlers can move about from
place to place as they choose. They can
not form long lines and remain long per-
iods In the restricted districts there
to be no more than four carts on one block.
and these are to stand twenty-five feet
back from the corner. No carts are to
stand on streets in which there are car
lines In order to do away with all chance
for favoritism, the stands on the corners
in restricted districts are to be auctioned
and sold to the highest bidder. whether he
be a citizen or not, though the minimum
fee of $40 must be paid in each case. The
bidder then receives license to put his
cart at a given-corner and also receives a
sign to be attached to his cart which shows
where he is to stand; thus. Northwest
corner Rivington and Allen streets" This
will do away with all lines of carts, faciii-
tate traffic enable the streets to be cleaned,
NV ar, d