Evening star., 1925-08-02

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charmed life. Despite the numerous
and diverse means by which commu-
mites have sought to prevent his ply
ing his trade he manages to carry on
and he may call at your door any
| morning with impunity. The law
usually upholds him and. although
apartment houses and family hotels
forbid his coming in the front door,
he usually contrives to get into your
presence. The sales argument con-
corning collapsible suitcases, paper
bound books, opera glasses, detach-
able wastebaskets, or anything else
you may conceive of. then begins.
A recent case in which the law up
held the house to house vender had
its inception in Portland. Greg. This
city passed an ordinance requiring
the aforementioned vender to pay a
license fee. such fee to amount TO
$3.50 per quarter should he go on
foot, and $25 should he use a vehicle.
1t was something like Paul Revere
and his lanterns. Likewise under the
ordinance he had to file bond. The
bond was to be in the penal sum Of
$500 and conditioned to make the
| final delivery of goods, etc.
Oregon Law Challenged.
Shortly after the passage of this
ordinance a Middlewestern firm en-
ploying house to house statesmen as
It's means of reaching the consumer.
| filed a bill in the United States Dis
trict Court for Oregon challenging the
ordinance and asking that its enforce
ment be restrained. II asked restraint
on the ground that the ordinance was
repugnant to article I. section of
the Federal Constitution. The trial
court upheld the enactment and sus-
| tained a motion to dismiss the bill.
| The case in question finally found its
way to the United States Supreme
Court, where the decision of the in
ferior tribunal was reversed and the
appeal upheld.
Immediately from various people
arose the clamor that communities
| cause the Supreme Court decision pre-
vented levying what they called
| legitimate sales tax on itinerant ven-
ders. Hence. according to the COM
| plainants, the citizens of the commu-
nifty were being defrauded of revenue
which was rightfully theirs. 1t was de-
clared that the Supreme Courts de-
| cision precluded the passage Of any
effective legislation to cope with the
| so-called peddler nuisance.
Always Leads Charmed Life.
| But Supreme Court Decision No.
AIT might have been expected. 1t Is
but another instance illustrating that
! the itinerant vender-the peddler-
| leads a charmed life. 1t has been so
| in all time, for, no matter what he
sought to sell, nor what measures
were taken to prevent his selling 1t, he
| usually succeeded in gaining his OBJ
| jective.
| The ancients recognized him, and he
has been the subject of several of their
| poems. In order to explain his un-
| usual qualities they gave him patron
of godly lineage. In the "Metamor-
| phoses" of Ovid it Is told that Mercury
| and Apollo were travelling together. In
! the course of their journey they came
/ to the top of a high hill. Surveying
| the verdant valley beneath them they
| espied the maiden Chione, who Is de-
| scribed by the poet as being of ex.
treme beauty and possessing great
charm. He tells that the youths of
| the vicinity We'd for her hand in mar
| riage The two immortals, however,
were so enchanted by the sight Of her
| reclining on the greensward that they
| decided to possess her. She bore each
| Of them a son. The progeny OF Mer.
| curry was named Autolycus, ana was
endowed with his fathers sagacity and
wit. Apollo's son was called Philamon
and was endowed with manly beauty
and a genius for music. He is de-.
| scribed as being virtuoso of the harp
and Tyre.
The Patron of Peddlers.
| Autolyeus may be said to be the pa
tron of peddlers, as later authors and
poets ascribed this to him. He sprang
from the immortals and led life Of
romance His deeds are obscure, but
it is established that he Is the mater
nal grandsire of Ulysses and passed on
his cleverness and sagacity to his
| grandson. In the Odyssey" Homer
declares that the Ithacan prince owed
his wisdom to Autolycus. In his early
youth Ulysses, according to some
| chroniclers, saw much of his grand
| father and absorbed a deal OF his cum
ming. Hence he was able in his ad.
venture at Troy, which eventually fell
i due to his strategy. and In his subse.
l quent wanderings, to escape unscath-
/ ed The wisdom Of Autolycus served
| him we'll.
Since Autolycus is the twin brother
of a musician, the wandering ped
dlers, mendicants and similar people
| of romantic themes have been de-
iscribed as cQmein!nk . sAzsMd bar.