New Britain herald., 1929-02-09
SHE TAXES BARRELS TOMARkET Woman Broker In Odd Trad e. Works Daily On Wharves.
BY JULIA BLANSHAJp NEA Service Writer

CT on record, so far as is known.
 It is no wonder. considering just what hard work dealing in second- hand barrels entails.
 Old-timers along the wharves Of Boston. Providence and other New England ports often have been startled on bitter cold winter dawns to see a woman's figure bustling about, overseeing the longshoremen loading barrels on barges. checking the number and condition of the barrels and keeping tab on just how they are loaded.
 For Lillian Fink is no absentee dealer in barrels. Getting an order for thousands of oil barrels for some refinery in New Jersey. she goes Tn person to Boston, Providence. Cam bridge or where she knows barrels are available at that moment. She bargains personally with 10 or IF dealers who have the barrels, char ters a barge to deliver them, picks up her own crew to load. sees the barge off and goes back to her New l lOFk OltlCC tV CdlNil hCA oA SAN" "S fore the next order.
 She's Barrel Wise
 She knows her barrels from the old oaken bucket up.
 T got an education in barrels in- stead of college" ii the way she lputs it. "I quit high school to help my brother who was barrel broker.
 q started in business for myself the year after the war;" Miss Fink continued her story. First I just had desk space. l started in such a small way, But I had taken care of all my brothers orders for years. had personally bought and sold for him and I knew the market. Now handle almost half a million barrels yearly.
 ''They are secondhand barrels, called tights used mostly for oil and coal pitch. Some are bought and kindred things such as asphalt for vinegar and, in season, for wlne' As a matter of fact there is a lively trade in wine tights Most of my clients are oil refineries in Jersey They usually buy by the load, which
 runs from 5000 to 6,70O to the barge, depending on how they arc loaded. That is why it is so impor- tant to personally supervise loading
 q shop around for the barrels
 buying 500 here and 1000 there
 The price fluctuates somewhat so we bargain back and forth. ] always
 pay cash on delivery and that helps
 get bargains. Then I have to charter
 the barge. We usually have .hree
 days to load and two to unload. U the men loiter and don't finish load ing, either the barge shoves off and I loose some barrels or it waits and charges double fee. So there's
 scramble to get loaded"
 Being a woman has been nc . handicap in her work, she feels
 That is, only once it was and sh' 3 won out then. It was this way. ac :. cording to Miss Fink:
 "Once in the bitterest wintel 3 weather I've ever felt in cold Soutl 8 Boston, the men got to drinking t y keep warm. I didn't blame them c The blasts cut into me and had oI I a couple of suits under my fur coa
 and heavy woolen socks and ga .oshes. But the men got mean ant X struck for higher pay. l overhear' f one say. She'll have to come acros !. for the boat leaves tomorrow ant Ii she's got to get her loaded. - Her Ire Aroused c "That made me mad; l fired tn
 whole gang and started out to scou
 the wharves for more longShoremer V I got them and got the boat loaded :, That's the only time they ever trie e to put anything over on me becaus , ' was a woman. Usually ] find tn
 rough river front men more gentle |. manly 10 woman than many '. man who wears spats and carries ia cane" n Miss E'ink's life is not all barrel :" She has found time t. marry. ha ', two little boys, and keeps a bi ~ house running in a street calle 7' Featherbed lane. She is very ion 'S of poetry. in fact named her secon
 son Edgar Allen Poe. And. sf 'e states these facts as though si ll were not unusual-she is pri1 % fight fan, never missing bout ; r. the Garden when she can help t. and is more fond of baseball tha 'h the theater.
 ]. "Tl,cres nothing unusual nov
 adays in woman's doing any kin H. of work she wants to. do you thin to so?" she asked. With women fl. of ing across the Atlantic and going CT congress, it seems funny to thir ne buying and selling barrels miel ts cause comment"