New-York tribune., 1922-08-11
East Side Pushcart Men
Struggle for Bare LiUing

word that strikes fear into the hearts
Of the pushcart men. To them 1t re-
calls the knout of the Cossacks er the
chains Of Siberia. Fhe fellow WEE
ffourishing one OF those wide-bott ormed
hrooms usually carried by street
cleaners.
moved my cart down Rivington
Street, and asked my competitor who
was driven along with me who the
cleanly attired man with the broom
was.
One Of Isracl's Workers
"Hc's one Of lsraei's workers." he
explained. Hes supposed to be
laborer TO clean the market and gets
SIS day. Did you ever see such dude
street cleanerf Look, with fine,
clean collar and nice shirt and creased
pantsl All he does is carry his broom
on his shoulder. Watch and seer He
laughed as be turned down Cannon
Street.
followed the collared street cleaner
for FIVE blocks, and, although the street
near the carts was strewn with ali
kinds of rubbish, he didn't put the
broom to the pavement once.
next took UP my place in front OF
the butcher shop Of j. Fleisher at
Lewis and Rivington streets. This was
practically outside the street market
district, SO that there were no other
stands in this block but my own. /
found couldn't dispose of my bananas
here even at the rate of ! cent apiece
and offered them ut for 2 cents. The
wives were incredulous, examining the
fruit with suspicious glances at me.
They would take q few, never q half
dozen CIR dozen. A storm came up
and l was forced to take refuge in the
butcher shop.
I observed, however, that although
il was raining and hailing heavily the
hucksters along Rivington Street left
their stands whare they were. covering
them if they possessed covers, but left
them entirely open to the rain If they
did not At the close of the storm they
went back 30 their flooded carts and
hawked their dripping products rs
though nothing had happened
1t was near nightfall, about o'clock,
with half of my stock still on my cart
I trundled up to Suffolk Street once
again and there established myself be-
low Rivington near little old woman
who had a cart full Of toy drums,
| rattles and other such knick knacks.
Below me was another stand hoaped
Quinine." The cry Of the owner, liter
ally translated from the Yiddish, bore
the burden "lt smells from heaven"
Around the corner in plain view a
man was shouting Green peas, three
cents handful, three cents a hand
full" and next to him were "bagle,"
that time-honored Jewish pretzel, and
cracked glassware for sale.
THE peddler who was just here be-
fore you came" the little old women
next to me said, "was selling specked
Tlx
there were too many flies around; no.
body would buy them. He had bad
day. Did the police chase you? They
will soon get US out Of here haven't
got a permit. 1t costs dollar week.
can't pay it, My profit is only about
dollar day. They take quarter
from you It you amt got permit, but
It's like throwing money away. You
don't get no paper or receipt or any
thing"
Bargaining at Its Apegee
She was interrupted by the shout
ing OF the peddler next to her who
was having trouble with customer
trying to drive home a hard bargain.
Say, do me a favor" cried out the
peddler in disgust, don't buy This
is not talking stand. Move on We
only sell here. Would you believe it?,
began to take stock. There were
about forty bananas still left on nv
cart The little woman observed me
taking stock and offered me 20 cents
for the lot. I hesitated and held on
for about twenty minutes, during which
! sold few more. / then turned to
her and offered to let her have them
at 20 cents.
mo, it's getting Late she began bar
gaining again. I'll give you Is cents
for them
sold out this time in haste lest she
further reduce her offer.
On taking account Of my ten hours
work found ! had made a profit OF
just so cents over the $3.50 original
investment. / asked the little old
woman how this compared with other
peddlers. She said that some made
more, as high as two and three dollars.
AS I trudged back into the stable
with my cart I was met by "Avrom."
He was smiling happily, apparently
indicating his pleasure at tie return
of his vehicle by a stranger.
We'll, how did you do to-day?" he
asked.
"I made 30 cents, Avrom," replied
wearily.
That's good living" he comment
ed witt q decisive nod oF the head