S

CHARACTERS I'VE MET.
BY A RIVER-SIDE VISITOR.

I.—THE GUTTER MERCHANTS.

the distribution of the funds subscribed by the public. Though this duty had its pleasant features, it was upon the whole a hard one to discharge satisfactorily. In mine, as in all poor London districts, there was a charityhunting set, who though, generally speaking, poor enough, were so through their own idle or dissipated habits. They were the least deserving of all the poor, but being also the most mendacious and shameless, they generally managed to secure a good share of whatever charity might be given in the district.

OME of my readers will perhaps remember that in the winter of 1866-7, one of the chief" sensations" of the day was "the Distress in the East," the East of our own great "city of extremities." With its docks, warehouses, and manufactories, it is rich as a storehouse, but as regards its inhabitants, it is essentially a poor quarter. The distress ordinarily characteristic of the East of London, would seem terrible in almost any other place; but there it is chronic, is mostly hidden from the outside world, and has come to be regarded as pretty much a thing of course even by the sufferers-so that in ordinary times little is heard of the distress in the East, except in local circles. But the particular winter to which I refer, was, owing to special causes, a time of special distress of distress that was truly appalling, alike from its extent, its bitterness, and the consequences that might have ensued from it. Under the outburst of the jointstock mania, the ship-building trade of the Thames rose to an unparalleled state of briskGreat yards were opened all along the banks, and tens of thousands of "hands" were attracted to the district by high rates of wages. For a little while all went on gloriously, but soon the trade began to fall off, and by the end of 1866 it had utterly collapsed. Many of the mechanics were able to follow the departed trade to the Tyne and the Clyde, but some of them, and thousands of unskilled labourers, were left to starve, as 'the unemployed." To add to their misery came the terribly severe weather of the open-second-hand umbrellas about the streets; the ing months of 1867.

ness.

When the funds for the relief of this special distress came in, the charity-hunters rushed to the front, and numbers of others who had never before sought charity, and who, though suffering more or less directly from the collapse of the ship-building trade, were really not in want of it, now also boldly attempted to obtain a share. Under these circumstances it was necessary for the distributors of the funds to act with the greatest caution. It being pretty generally known how I stood in the matter, I was frequently stopped in the street by people anxious to press their claims. They were mostly persons I did not know; but one day to my surprise, and I must add to my indignation, I was stopped by a man who in the popular phrase, I knew (by sight and reputation) much better than I respected. His name was Jack H--, but he was usually spoken of as "Ginghams," or "The Slogger;" the first nickname having reference to the fact of his gaining a livelihood by selling

other to his having in his younger days been a pugilist of some local note. He was now about five-and-forty, stood six feet, was largely built, and with coarse red hair, high checkbones, small sunken eyes, a broken nose, and a face deeply pitted with the small-pox. Wearing a great hairy cap on his head, he certainly looked a rather fearsome customer as he approached me with a short black pipe in his mouth.

"Day, guv'nor," he said gruffly, and jerking out his words as though he were forcing himself to speak.

I returned his good day; and I suppose that either my tone or looks expressed the astonishment which I felt at his addressing me, for in the same gruff tone he went on

"I see you're took aback at me a-speaking

3

to you; but I don't mind that; I knew you want you to lend a helping hand to old Jimmy would be, for I ain't none of yer creepin' or Parker. You may lay your life on it you cantin' sort. If I'm a rough customer, I'm couldn't give to one as stands more in need open, and I don't care for nobody as don't of it. He's in awfully low water; reg'lar broke care for me, and never asts nobody for down altogether; bad health, no trade doing, nothink 'cepting it's a glass of beer of a pal no money to the good, clothes up the spout when I'm hard up, which I'm always good-pawned, yer know-neither bit nor sup in to stand a glass if a mate asts me, if I've his cupboard, and not so much as a handful got the browns and he hasn't; howsumever, of firin' to keep his old bones warm. that's neither here nor there, and ain't what bears it patient; but I tell you it would drive I want to speak to you about." most men to do summat wrong.'

"Well, that's straight hittin' anyhow," he said, "but I ain't got anything to say against it, so here goes to come to the point." He paused for a moment, as if to arrange his thoughts, and then abruptly exclaimed, "Look here, guv'nor, ain't you one on 'em as has got the givin' of the tickets for this" The celebrated medicated cough lozenges," 'ere relief fund, as they calls it?"

old Jimmy it'll be a case of 'Live old horse, and you'll get grass,' as the saying is."

He paused for a moment, looking me hard in the face, as if anxious to judge from my countenance whether or not I understood what he was driving at. I believed that I did. My impression was that he wanted me to advance a loaf on account, so to speak, and I was about to volunteer to do so, when, to my surprise, he went on

"I'll tell you what I'll do, if you like; I'm

dare say I can muster up something or other
as I can raise a shilling on, and I'll do it, and
give it to the old man to keep him a-going
while you are a-making your inquiries, if
you'll pay it me back if you find it's all right
as I've been sayin'.
In fact, as I see
nothing else for it, I shall do that whether
you promise to pay me agen or not-on'y, as
I tell yer, I've got no money, and I hardly
know where the next is to come from. Poor
folks hereabouts can't go in much for um-
brellars nowadays, there ain't a great many of
my class of customers got any clothes left as
they're afraid o' the rain spilin', as the pawn-
brokers will tell you.
What do you say?

"Well, I dare say they would," answered the Slogger promptly; "in fact, as far as that goes, I suppose they'd be bound too; but then, you see, 'circumstances alter cases,' as the sayin' is. Old Jimmy is dreadfully poor, but at the same time he's dreadfully independent as to asking for charity. Perhaps he oughtn't to be, but he is, and sometimes yer must take things as you find 'em, right or wrong. He's been persuaded to try the parish, but he won't; he's one of the sort as would sooner lie down and die than beg-dead cleaned out o' money just now, but I or steal, as I tell you many a feller would if they were as hard druv as he is. Though I wouldn't bear it as quietly as he does, I respects him for it, and that's why I spoke to you. I thought how as if you would drop in as if it was promiscuous-like, you might help him without hurtin' his feelin's. Yer ought'r, guv'nor, for he's a downright good old cove, though I say it, as ain't much of a judge of them things. He ain't much of a | go-to-meetinger; but for all that, he's always the man to say the thing he thinks is right without fear or favour, and to do a kind or neighbourly act if it's in his power. Many a time he's called me to order for swearin', and things of that sort, when he didn't know but what he would get a clip under the ear for his pains; but many a time too he's shared his meal with me, when I've been cleaned out, and that when none of my reg'lar pals had thought enough to ask me whether I'd a mouth on me or not. I thinks of that sort of thing, rough as I am; and though he bears everything patient, just readin' of his Bible and sayin' how as it's the Lord's will, and the like, I won't see him starve, I'll help him if I go to the mill for it-on'y I thought as how I would ast you first."

While the Slogger had been speaking, I had been thinking; and, coming to the conclusion that if what he had told me was true, Jimmy Parker's was a really deserving case, I asked

"Where does the man live?"
"Number 4, F's Rents," was the ready

answer.

"Very well, then," I said, "I'll make some inquiries, and if the result is satisfactory I'll

call."

"But, look here, guv'nor, just another minute!" exclaimed the Slogger as I was turning away: "I don't want to say anything agen you making inquiries, that's on'y right, and yer bis'ness, for, as I said, yer can't always be supposed to tell who is tryin' to come the old soldier over you and who isn't; on'y don't yer see, guv'nor, with

66

Do you think it's a fair offer?"
"If all that you have been saying is cor-
rect," I answered, "it is a generous offer."
Oh, that's neither here nor there," he said,
in an off-hand tone, and then in a more
earnest manner he added, "If you do call,
guv'nor, will you call promiscuous, just as if
you were on a round, and spotted him by
chance."

"Oh, yes," I said, "I'll manage that if I find all else right;" and then I left the Slogger, and certainly entertained a much more favourable opinion of him at parting than I did on our meeting.

Later in the day I called upon the relieving-officer of the district, and asked him"Do you know anything of one Jimmy Parker?"

"What! of Gutter Merchants' Buildings?" "No; of 4, F's Rents," I answered. "Well, that is Gutter Merchants' Buildings," said he. "Of those who know it at all you'll hear a score call it by that name for one that will speak of it as F- -'s Rents."

"But why, in the name of all that's curious, is it so called ?" I asked.

"Well, simply because it is principally inhabited by gutter merchants," answered the relieving officer, smiling at my evident surprise.

36

Oh, dear, no," answered the officer, the smile on his face broadening; "they are nothing very grand, certainly, but still they would tell you that they are several cuts Who christened them above rag-pickers. gutter merchants, I don't know, but they are the street sellers of the 'any-article-on-theboard-for-a-penny' class; the men who sell the 'strong leather laces,' the twelve rows of pins for a penny, and the like."

Ah, now I see!" I said; "and I suppose their title will be founded upon the fact of their taking up their stand in the gutters."

Yes, I expect that's the idea," said the officer. "They are a decent, struggling class as a rule, and in their way work very hard to earn a poor living; and old Jimmy is one of the most respectable of them; I believe he is a quiet, sober, God-fearing old man."

This was satisfactory; and, having inquired the exact locality of Gutter Merchants' Buildings, I set out to make my promised call on old Cough-no-more.

The Buildings consisted of a court of twelve houses, and, like a number of similar courts in the district, was let out in floors It was, and rooms by the superior landlord. consequently, densely inhabited, averaging Knowing quite three families per house. nothing of the place, you might have gone into it without noticing anything particular about it; but, aware that it was Gutter Merchants' Buildings, you were at once struck with sundry characteristic indications of the special class dwelling in it. Some of the gutter merchants manufactured as well as sold their articles, and from their homes proceeded peculiar sounds and smells, the odour of glue, paint, and varnish largely predominating in the latter; for with these three things manufacturing gutter merchants cover a multitude of sins in the way of "scamped" workmanship. In other homes, surplus, or for the time being unsaleable stock, was turned into account for purposes of domestic ornament or utility. In one window there was a profuse display of coloured-bead baskets, in no less than three houses ornamental stove-papers were serving as window-blinds; while a number of children running about the court were amusing themselves with some damaged specimens of the paste-board noses, horse-hair moustaches, and paper plumes, for which gutter merchants find a sale among the outdoor holiday-makers in the Easter and Whitsuntide weeks.

It was Thursday afternoon when I made this first visit to the place, and, as I after

wards learned, that was a time when gutter merchants are, as a rule, at home.

"You see, sir," said the man who first enlightened me upon this point, "our customers ain't got much to spend, and towards the end of the week the generality of them haven't got even a penny to spare for odds and ends, which our goods mostly is. Friday used to be a dead day with us as well as Thursday, but now that many masters pay on that day, it's generally a pretty good evening for us, though Saturdays and Mondays is when we make our harvest, such as it is. On Tuesdays you may pick up a few stray pence, and on Wednesdays you go out because you haven't much else to do, and only hoping, not expecting, to turn in a little; and, as the Scripture says, blessed On Thursdays are them as expects nothink, for very often nothink is what you gets. plenty of them as walks about in the evening having a shop-window fuddle, as they calls it, would come and listen to you' pattering,' just to while away time, but they ain't got no money to buy with, so you may as well save yer shoe leather and breath, and stay at home pottering about among yer stock, and making ready for the busier nights."

This position of affairs, in relation to the gutter trade, accounted for my finding most of the merchants idling at home. In the first house-I dropped in at several houses in order that my visit to Cough-no-more might, in the phrase of the Slogger, appear promiscuous-like"-I found the gentlemen who dealt exclusively in what he termed the "six article lot ;" the six articles in question being-" the broad belcher ring, the chased keeper-ring, the solid wedding ring, the Chinese puzzle, the Indian scent-satchel, and the sheet of songs-all for a penny." In the same house resided the vendor and (selfalleged) inventor of "the everlasting crystal cement, for china, glass, crockery, and wood, guaranteed to restore broken articles to more than their original strength, and sold at a penny a packet, each packet containing enough to repair twenty dozen articles." In the next house were the " pattering" vendors of "the magic plate-polish for silvering brass and copper goods,"" the grease and stain removing, gloss-restoring soap tablets," and "the penny pocket camera-obscura, or private detector, by means of which you can In other houses see any one approaching from behind, and look nine ways at once." were dealers in similar odd wares, as well as a number of those who dealt in such ordinary goods as toasting-forks, salt, and

soap-boxes, toys, dog-collars, boot-laces, and braces. Gutter merchants generally bear the reputation of being "cheeky," and given to chaff; but this idea respecting them is founded upon their professional manner, which, undoubtedly, does savour largely of both cheek and chaff; those two things being the chief elements of that "patter" upon which gutter merchants mainly rely for "pushing trade." Those of them who deal in the more out-of-the-way kind of articles will tell you that, without patter, they might as well shut-up shop, their customers being, as a rule, people who come to hear, and remain to buy. But though loud, slangy, and self-assured professionally, they are civil and quiet in private life, and are, upon the whole, an industrious and sober class. Such, at least, was my experience among the representative division of them resident in my district; an experience gathered not only from this first visit, but from many subsequent visits made in better times, when there could be no possible grounds for suspecting that any special "'umbleness" or civility of manner was put on, with a view to obtaining relief tickets. I found that I knew most of them by sight, and in the same way most of them appeared to know me, as they received me with familiar "good day's," and "howdo's, sir," and, without inquiring my business, proceeded to remark, in a very significant manner, upon the exceptional badness of the times, and the "blessed thing that this relief fund was to poor folks," though only in two instances did they directly ask if there "was any chance of a ticket."

and the clothes he had on were anything but seasonable, for they were thin and much worn, and altogether a great deal more suitable for midsummer wear than for the bitterly cold weather that prevailed at the time. So much I took in at a glance while his back was towards me, for it was not until he heard the sound of my voice greeting him with a "good day," that he turned round. Then he started to his feet with all the suddenness of surprise, and stammered out

"I really beg your pardon, sir, for not rising to open the door; I thought it was the Slogger or some of the other people in the house. Will you be seated, sir," he went on, speaking in a calmer tone, and pushing the chair a little way back from the fenderless hearthstone as he spoke; "you see I have only the one chair to offer you."

No, no," I said, replying to his offer, and at the same time advancing and pushing the chair to its former position, for I could see that he was so weak as not to be able to move it without considerable effort; "sit down again yourself; don't let me disturb you, I can see you are ill."

"Well, I am certainly not well, sir," he said; "and to tell you the truth, I feel all of a shiver now; so if you don't object, I think I will try and keep the fire warm again," and smiling feebly, he sank into the chair, and, leaning forward, crouched over the bit of fire so closely that his knees and hands were almost touching the bars. He presented a sad picture. It was hard to imagine such a man out of a sick-bed; the hand of death seemed visibly upon him. His frame was worn and I made my round in such a manner that attenuated. His face was pinched and drawn Number 4 was the last house but one in and colourless, save for a bright feverish red the Buildings at which I had to call. Cough- spot on either cheek bone, and the dry hard no-more, I had ascertained, occupied a back brightness of the deeply sunken eyes was also apartment on the second floor, and going of an unmistakably feverish character. He straight to this room I knocked at the door, drew his breath in long shivering sighs, and and was answered by a cry of "Come in," -bitter irony on the name by which he was uttered in a tone in which it was easy to popularly known-he was tormented by a detect the effects of physical weakness. racking cough. When he had recovered from Obeying the call, I turned the handle and a fit of coughing that attacked him just as he stepped into the apartment, which, together had resumed his seat, I commenced a conwith its tenant, presented a woefully poverty-versation by observing that I had been stricken appearance. A chair bedstead, on "doing a round of the Buildings in connecwhich-in its chair form-he was seated, tion with the relief fund." crouching over a miserable fire in the bottom of the grate, was literally the only article of furniture in the room, unless indeed an old paper-covered trunk, and a battered and blackened beer-can, which had evidently done heavy service as a kettle and general cooking utensil, could be considered furniture. The man himself was without a coat,

"Well, there are some in the Buildings that stand much in need of relief," he said, "and from no fault of their own. Of course, none of us here are shipbuilders, but as we were dependent upon those that were, it comes to much the same thing. Their living was our loaf, and they've been taken away together. Those in the Buildings who have