New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-02-01
Hundreds of Them Live on
% Cents a Day for Eight
Hours Work.
POLICE REGULATE
THE MARCHING ORDER
Few Are Ever Able to Quit the
Boards for Good, but Some
Emigrate Occasionally.

don,s thoroughfares advertising pays
/ Turkish baths, books. pins, needles, res
! taurants-almOst anything LONDON II INC
home Of sandwich men. In very fe"
clties I'm England are there more IMAM
aftv a. one hundred board carriers 20 DC
/ found. and when Liverpool Birmingham
/ Manchester or Glasgow needs big al
vertisen,ent in the streets II turns 20
ro,don which supplies the men. Ihele
"a never any shortage OF labor among
ssndvich men. strangely enough. TOO
for while the work is not the hardes'
itra ~ nhvsicaI labor. still the boards
weight is considerable. and, besides. tns
n,o,L r,.ans continuously standing on tho
feet for five or six hours at suetch'
Many OF the men are UNIT for anytnihs
els. physically, but others have done no
other work for years
Mos, Of them are aa a rule. drawn from
that class OF men who are not Favored o'
employers because they are lacking IN
self-reliance. and. too, pitful as IL IA 40
self-respect Some OF them are men VINO
! have been thrown out OF the regular
army: others are clerks who nave not
been able 10 Withstand tho ouIets Oh
/ fortune and have made rapid descent
| in the social scale. But, on the othef
| hand. there are responsible men among
the board carriers. some Of them married
men with families which have never risen
| above General Booths submerged tenth
Two large firms IN London employ on
an average three hundred sandwich men
dav On some days as many as seven
hundred are in the streets. The theatres
and pantomirnes had 10 be advertise"
for the Christmas holidays. and the " OF
der Zoo alone kept seven hundred EN-
Moved for three days. But the busiest
time OF the year IS that during when the
motor show Is held About THOUSAND
sandwich men are employed then Inc
oui.test months are June. July and AUX
uet Uben strawberries have 20 be picked
large number Of sandwich men me-
themselves 10 the country ana many arc
absent from London when the hoppihF
season arrives.
4 set Of three boards and shouiuer ltonS
for one man costs Is cd The day worn
lasts eight hours But all the time Is nov
spent in trudging the streets. Inc NC"
! have n quarter OF an hours rest IN INV
| morning. another quarter OF an hour "'
rho afternoon. and an hour for dinner
so that while the time OF leaving 'ne
depot until the return is eight hours their
actual working hours are six ana h'''.
They do not begin work at hNe'
hour TIE starting time depends on ule
requirements of the clients. some me"
are always on the same beat. The same
mon have carried boards for the same
,l..es of amusement ever since they were
ls1nr NJ q
/ and would consider IL strange II they
were told off to another quarter OF 'Ne
, town.
! Ordinarily the pay is Is. %. day. rms
rate applies to the central part or west
ro,don II the men are sent further
osold tbav are paid extra. For carrying
! boards IN Kensington one would get four
or six cents day more. The RUE Is 10
NV In nroportion 70 the distances COW
| ered n men we're sent TO Putney. for
example. they would be given their re-
,urn fare. and receive 36 cents, or little
! over. a dav. Sandwich men have been
! known 10 receive as much as 81 day.
In one advertising order recently given
n was stipulated that this should be tho
/ rate OF pay.
/ The men are not Opuuu ~ MY H@~N
rule When one OF them takes out his
/ boards his employer has little control
over him. The trust placed In him IL
! full and implicit. When he returns, after
/ putting in eight hours. no questions are
asked. II is taken for granted that hs
| has done his duty. He is paid his money
| and there the transaction ends.
But il the employer does not impose
/ hard and fast restrictions on the man be-
/ yond seeing that the instructions or ell
ents are carried out. there are certain po-
! lice regulations TO be observed. Sandwich
/ men who appear on the streets in large
numbers are expected to observe the rule
| that i'm walking at last thirty yards must
separate each from his nearest fellow.
| Where a hundred or more are employed
on one Job It is TO be feared that this
rule is more honored IN the breach than
in the Observance for the space occU-
pied by them would be over mile and
three-quarters The boardmen may pa
troll anywhere in London except the city.
Bond street. Piccadnly and the Strand.
These thoroughfares are closed TO them
on account OF the heavy traffic
How the sandwich men exist on their
little earnings is difficult OF comprehen-
sion. tut they have solved the problem
Of living on 30 cents day. With many
OF them tho work is not merely stop
gap until better employment turns mp.
This is the only kind of work they have
OF ever hope L. attain. and so they have
discovered how To live on their little
incomes Most of them sleep FOR 4
cents night I'm their own lodging
houses. which in some instances charge
cents and . cents They obtain their
food at soup kitchens ami salvation
Army restaurants. NJ some places they
get the soup free az others they have
10 pay cents for a canful. Nobody
understands better than the sandwich
man how TO get the worth OF money.
how to get food value. He goes IN for
quantity. not quality and chcaoneSS is
the ruling consideration.
II is a hard and at hest an uncertain
life. and some II the men who arc lead
inS II are as wrctchcd as ever vas Vie
tor Hugo's Jean Naljcaa. But IL has its
redeeming feature. II Keeps men on, of
the workhOuse. for they would rather
earn IS cents day by carving sand.
Wich boards than perform the IA Skis In
the casual yard. And II r. cheering 20
learn that they are not all deNoid of grit
The employers help eligible men 10 oh
tain situations. Sometimes on, gets AN
emigration allowance and fares forth 10