Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-03-30

French have the fine dry goods business
and the Germans have big esta blishments
of various kinds Many of the latter are
bankers and others are wholesalers. The
German merchants as rule speak Span
sh. and not few of them have Mexican
wives AS 10 the Spariards, they hold
somewhat the same place that the Italians
do IN the United States. They have the
corner groceries. and they also peddle
goods all over the country. Some OF them
stay Sere only short time. and then so
back to Spain to spend what they have
made.
there are towns that make certain kinds
of wares which are peddled about over
the country or sold in small shops by the
natives About every city market YOU
will find booths devoted to fancy work.
pottery. shoes or cheap dry goods and
notions. Every town has its plaza or
public square. and around this are
arcades upheld by pillars which run
along in front of the stores. These
arcades are filed with petty merchants.
whose establishments consist of cup
board and counter set against one of the
pillars. These peddlers sell all sorts OF
things and they are of all ages and OF
both sexes. Here the wife of shoe
maker stands with her back against the
wall and half dozen pairs of sharp
toed children's shoes on the flags before
her Next her is black-be arded man
! bedding bride bits and ornamental MeNi-
cane peddler who has carved sticks TO
catch the eye of the tourist.
In all the villages there are little stores
run by Indians and here there are street
peddlers and market men who do not
average more than five or ten dollars a
day in the amounts Of their sales.
x
Mexico City is full of peddlers. and they
accost YOU on every block. There are
hundreds of men and women selling lot
terry tickets ! meet one such every time
| go outside my hotel He is, a native
Mexican, six feet tall and heavy as
former President Taft He has bright
colored blanket over his shoulders and on
his head a sombrero as big as an UNI
brella. He also wears a red shirt and
trousers and brown jacket, gayiy en-
broidered. This representative of Dame
Fortune walks up and down Sixteenth of
September street all day long asking every
one to buy his lottery wares. | photo
graphed him today and he insisted on hav-
ing a copy of the picture the moment
| snapped it. There are many lottery
ticket sellers about the cathedral and in
front of the national pawnshop. and also
at the entrance to the ring where the
bull fights are held.
There are street peddlers selling
clothing. some selling straw hats and
baskets and some who are loaded with
TOYS and trays of candy and sweetmeats
saw man today who had score of
birdcages tied to his back. He was ped
ding canaries and parrots. Near him
was a woman with an open umbrella
filled with picture post cards, and farther
on walked a porter loaded with dressed
chickens which were tied by the legs in
a great bundle He offered them to the
passers-by at so much apiece. There
are men who carry kids over their Shout
ders and peddle them from house to
house. and boys who go along with great
screenlike frames of shoestrings tied to
a stick. There are some men peddling
books and others with mirrors and no
drive live turkeys through the streets
so that YOU can buy your Thanksgiving
bird on the hoof and know it is fresh.
There are even peddlers selling game
cocks Think of the demand that such
trade must imply. There is game
chicken man now. We can see only his
legs, which show out below the great
framework of baskets covering his back
and reaching high over his head. Out
of each basket waves the tail of cock.
and as he goes by we hear a great
suuawking Each of the baskets contains
a game cock and the best Of them will
bring twice as much as turkey. The
cocks have their heads inside the baskets,