Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-07-27
FRUIT PEDDLER
WINS FORTUNE ON
ATLANTASTREETS
BY CARL TAYLOR


Aristides Soumplis, Greek, who had
been residing in Atlanta for the past
twelve years, left the city one day dur
ing the week for Columbus Greece bis
native home.-Nevs stem.
Behind that item, there's a story
for although the newspapers over
looked it,. Aristides carried a com
Portable fortune of $1,000 in his
pocket when he boarded a train for
the first leg of his long journey, a
fortune which he had made and saved
! In twelve years time in Atlanta,
One hundred thousand dollars, Or,
exchanged into Greek money. Arts,
tldes has eight hundred thousand
drachm-immensely wealthy. and he
made 1T all in Atlanta, not in specu-
Iatlon, but in the unromatic bust
mss NESS OF peodIing de banan" and sup
and down Decatur street.
When Aristides arrived in Atlanta
In the spring of 1908, he was prac-
tically penniless. In a strange land.
without even a working knowledge of
It's language. no money and two
i yboinfg sons dsns one seventeen and one
support, 1t might be said that Arts
tides was slightly up against it,"
However, he had a logged determi-
nation, an ability to work, and un-
limited hope and confidence in Amer
lea, the land about which he had
heard so much, the land of milk and
money, where one must only work
and save. to eventually become indie
pendently rich.
And so he started. A rickety fruit
wagon, propelled by much more
rickety horse and a varied assert
ment of fruit, took all his money. He
embarked on a career which was not
n hviO IL,
put fulfl!l his greatest wish to re-
turn TO the mother country rich be-
yond expectation.
Fedd1ed Fruit Four Years
For four years he toiled with the
fruit wagon. For four years he
was familiar sight on the streets,
crying forth his wares, beseeching
the housewives to buy. de MICA ba-
nan" or perehance apples, grapes or
oranges. His stock grew larger and
he made 1t point to keep his stocks
fresh at all times.
Meanwhile, Victor Soumplis, the
youngest boy, had entered school and
was wrestling with the intricacies of
older boy, worked with his father,
and studied at night. Today, both
Charlie and Victor speak English. |
Charlie still has trouble pronouncing
all the tongue-twisters, and occasion
ally ne 1dpSSS lnlO his udClVe tongue,
but Victor talks the language like a
native.
During the four years that the
rickety fruit. wagon was the sole
means Of the three's support, Aris-
tides was slowly accommodating
money. Not a day passed, but what
he put aside certain portion Of his
ings teller of one Of the principal
banks Of the city vouches for that
and his little pile began to grow and
grow.
At the end of the four years, Aris-
tides decided to branch out. Casting
making money in the insignificant
business of peddling wieners-popu-
larly termed "hot-dogs." So, he pur-
chased portable hoEdog stand, and
started his eldest SON in preparing
them for the crowd which constantly
surges up and down Decatur street |
Business proved good and pretty |
soon another was added. Then the |
third and finally the fourth.
Then Came the Chance
continued to make money out of his |
wiener stands and his rickety fruit |
wagon, which he chung to all the |
while. Then he bought out the soft |
drink establishment at the corner or |
Piedmont avenue and Decatur street, |
manage this business. Victor and |
Charlie were called upon as assis- |
tants. And the bank account dou- |
bled and treb1ed again.
Sc Just after the new year had been |
ushered in, Aristides passed his six |
-tieth birthday. and he resolved to |
return to his native home, in Co |
lumbus, Greece. So he wound up his |
affairs, turned over the soft drink
business to Victor, drew an even |
500, coo out of the bank and left. |
Aristides said just before he left |
that he might return-his wife is |
still living in Columbus. and also |
another boy. Pole, fourteen years old, |
and a daughter, Vessis, sixteen. |
eff I come back" he told the boys |
before he left, I'm going to bring |
mamma and the children with me, |
so they can see this great country"
Aristides has gone. He never learn |
ed to speak, read or write the Eng |
1ish language, but he learned that |
sterling quality of thrift, which has
won success for so many, many |
men and applied 1t all his life
namely, that it isn't what you make |
that makes you ultimately wealthy, |
but what you save.