Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-10-14
Business Appears to Go on
About as Usual in
Normal Times.
HARVEST is BEING REAPED
BY NEWSPAPER VENDORS
Pretty Girls Are Among Most Per.
sistent Merchants Who Pedd!e
War News on the Streets.
Special Correspondence of The Star.

Special Correspondence of The Star.
LONDON, October SIT is difficult to
see any sign of trade depression in
London just now. except for the closed
doors Of the stock exchange, and the
empty look of the West End shops.
Building, in central London at least, is
going on fast although, Of course, the
speculative builders in the suburbs are
crippled by the difficulty in getting
loans and placing mortgages. The port
OF London is employed full time and
over at the work of unloading cargoes
out of German prizes, and every day
boats clear for ports overseas as If
nothing was untoward on the North
sea. Even the Antwerp and Rotterdam
lines keep up a pretty steady service.
and the coastal lines to the Tyne and
Scotland are all running again.
But the liveliest place in town at
present is Bermondsey, the home OF
London's long languishing leather and
boot industry. Bermondsey is tanning
and making boots day and night 1or
the British army, and Tor the french
and Belgian as well. Harnessmakers
and the saddlers there and in Long
Acre are working day and night. and
the government still entreatS them to
do more. Even the fancy-leather trad
ers are up to their eyes in work. They
have all turned to making leather
motor services. and for the navy to
wear in it's North sea watches.
News Vendors Reap Harvest.
Luckiest Of all London's occupations
at the moment, however. is that Of
the street news vendor. Londons
papers may not be sure that their in
creased circulations are guarantees of
financial stability in these days when
reserve investments are unmarketable,
and the company promoter has no
to advertise, but these
fears-short-sighted ones, since the
commercial side of Fleet street bust
ness is, looking up already.never al
stone vendor. He-he is most often
full grown man and not boy-sells
edition after edition. and the growth
Of his prosperity is obvious.
Never before this month have / seen
the street paper seller wearing clean
collars. Yet If you go down
Oxford street and Kingsway today you
will find almost every one IS we'll
dressed, and never before this war
could you have seen these men stand
ing at quiet moments, three in line,
all intently reading their own wares.
A new feature of the London streets
brought about by the war is the pres
ence of the female news vendor. 1t
began with the publication of a little
war bulletin for the French residents
here, called LEcho de Paris. the editor
of which, a French journalist, con-
ceived the cute idea of employing
young. and often pretty, girls to cry
his paper. Since then competitor,
La Depeche, has appeared. as well as
L'Echo de Belgique. which is written
partly in French and partly in Flemish.
The girls are much more persistent
Than the male species of newspaper
vendor, and rely ON their own powers
If persuasion rather than on Nhe quail
Ity Of their journals. which many hun
dreds who buy them cannot read.
There are SO many of these newsgirls
that as soon as you have run the
santlet of one you find yourself held
up by another. At first it was a mat
ter for wonderment where they all
came from, but with SO many shop
girls and typists out of work the mys-
terry is explainable.
Churchill Gets Credit.