The Washington herald., 1921-02-27
Finds Poesy In
Cries of Vendors
HaWkers of Crabs, Melons
and Newspapers So 9th.
p. A.. O. IS Ear.

-
To accept the police regulations as au-
thoritativc. the shambling and shouting
merchant afoot or en- voiture. is as extinct
in fair and smoke-free Washington, the in
ternational Spotless Town, Vas the-ptero-.
tlactyl But the oral evidence Is aH against
acceptance. He still shaub1es> and shouts.
Solemnly the bluecoat's bible sets forth:
No person within the District of Co
lumbia shall make any noise or outcry for
the purpose of advertising wares or at
tracing or inviting the patronage of any
person for any vehicle for any business
whatsoever" Then comes a propiso per,
mitting the youthful calliopc, fthe. newsboy,
to hold forth vocally between Ga. m. and
p Nor when rushing away from roar,
ing pressrooms laden with damp and ejac-
ulatory "wuxtrys." ~ Z.
But in practice. the man on the beat is
supposed to close his aesthetic ear to the
pleas of the hawker of watermillions. fresh,
fresh, bananees, etc, unless the sweet
singer gets too operate when he and his
cart must trudle to the nearest precinct
station on charge of disturbing the peace.
What is the most gladstone sound when
resurgent spring trips into town on pearIy
dawn? The rusty-hinged warbling of black
birds parking in the District between flights
from Florida to points North? The blithe
note of the bounding robin? The flowing
eadences of the rustic of spring" executed
by the blond pianiste next door?
is none of these. 1t is the sturdy
earolling of the fish man as he and his
eart-load of Potomac Best roll grandly
north from the wharves, to wit: "Ray,
Shad; Roe, Shad" The mystic signaf-
canee of Ray" IN this connection is
known only to the student of the pisca-
torialiy esoterie. Probably it is a form of
salutation to Poseidon, god OF the seas and
their denizena
Several months later, comes he of the
melons. Under a Aagellant August sun
whose equatorial power generations ago
burnt his Nubian ancestors black walks the
Son Of Ham, his horses ancient and loose
shod hoofs merrily Ginning in while he
chants:
"Watermillions, watermirlions. fresh from
> the vine, 49,, --.s-, ,> i
'fWatermillions, watermillions, sweet to
the rinds 81 '=-''- t'~7-s.r -:-7-r~E. .' -
The rhyme Is not perfect, but the singers
technique is superior to the demands of
prosody. =
We remember in our youth a man Of
strange, wild visage, several leagues high,
over his back swung paraphernalia for the
mending of cane chair-seats and also
small grindstone for the family cutlery. Up
and down the streets of Georgetown he
stalked like a visitor from strange places
and his ringing baso eternally intoned this
phrase: High Chester Be-e-e," rising from
the subtonic to the tonic note. The mean
ing of this phonetic motif is hopelessly lost
in the legendary mists
To make an interesting noise and keep
on making it; that is the semihypnotic
praxis of the street vender. No one ever
knew what a newsboy was calling, particu-
larly that one who formerly stalked the
Sabbath, enunciating in a rabid, choking
way: !"Eliopay." 1t was New York papers"
he was announcing.
.
Those vendors crying Same ole Rag
Man." "Cra-a-ab Man; Freshdevi crabs~
"Ra-a-ags, Bones an Ole Iron," etc, are
well known to dwellers here, their cries not
being remarkable for originality. Seem
ingly, the ancient and vociferous tribe is
impossible of dispersion. From the days
when the cries of barter arose in the Ro-
man forum trade by shouts has been
characteristic of civilized man. 1t is the
savages who trade quietly, with. gravity
and beads.
4 4
When our great ones SAY, in part" and
the throngs are assembled to catch the
latest word of policy or oratorical grand