s
 

THE HARD  LIFE

EVERAL occupations in the city are exclu¬
sively followed by the " has-beens." There
are the " sign-carriers "—the walking adver¬
tisements; the men who distribute circulars and
pamphlets; barroom cleaners, whose wages are
generally of a liquid nature; coalmen, who travel
the streets in search of a ton of coal to be " put
in"; the penmen, who grind away at addressing
envelopes; the lunchmen, who prepare the free
" spreads " in the gin-mills; the firemen, who at¬
tend to the fires in the smaller boarding houses;
the dinner-waiters, who work for two or three
hours during the rush of noon in down-town
lunchrooms; and men of other similar and diver¬
sified callings.

The great majority of the " has-beens "^—espe¬
cially the men of the collars and cuffs—will not
" stoop " to manual labour, but prefer to depend on
the "chances" of the great city. This does not
imply that they steal or beg for a living. However,
every one of this latter class would steal if it were
not for the required nerve and courage; and as to

32