University of Virginia Library

CHEMICAL.

Street-Sellers of Blacking.

There are at present 230 vendors
of blacking in the London streets,
210 of these sell cake and liquid
blacking, each taking 6s. weekly,
while the 20 others "work" the
Mews with a superior kind of black-
ing, taking 15s. each; thus there is a
yearly expenditure in the sale of
blacking in the streets of...4,056 0 0

Street-Sellers of Black-Lead.

There are, I am informed, 100 to
150 persons selling and hawking
black-lead in the streets; it may
be estimated that they take 4s. each
weekly (the adults selling other small
articles with the black-lead); thus
we find — averaging the number of
sellers at 125 — that there is ex-
pended yearly in the street-sale of
this article...1,300 0 0

Street-Sellers of French Polish.

The French-polish-Sellers, I am as-
sured by a man familiar with the
business, take 2s. a day each; the
2s. leaves a profit of 10d. The street
expenditure is, therefore (reckoning
five regular sellers) annually..156 0 0

Street-Sellers of Grease-removing Composition.

Calculating that 7 grease-removers
carry on the sale of the article 3 days
each week, and clear 1s. 6d. per day,
we find a yearly expenditure on this
commodity equal to...81 18 0

Street-Sellers of Plating-Balls.

Reckoning that 4 men are engaged
in selling plating-balls 3 days in each
week, and that each take 2s. a day,
we find there is an annual outlay on
the sale of this article of...62 8 0

Street-Sellers of Corn Salve.

Calculating that 8 of these traders
take 10s. weekly, we find there is
expended in the streets on this salve 208 0 0

Street-Sellers of Glass and China-Cement.

There are at present 4 men vending
this article in the streets of London,
and if each seller take 5s. weekly (of
which 4s. may be profit), we find
there is expended yearly by street
customers in this cement...52 0 0

Street-Sellers of Razor Paste.

Calculating that 6 men "work"
the metropolis daily, taking 2s. each
per day (with 1s. 2d. profit), we find
the amount of the street outlay to be
upwards of...187 0 0

Street-Sellers of Crackers and Detonating-Balls.

I am assured that for a few days
last November, from 50 to 60 men £ s. d. and women were selling crackers in
the streets. The most intelligent man
that I met with, acquainted, as he
called it, "with all the ins and outs
of the trade," calculated that during
the month of November and at Christ-
mas, 100l. at least was expended in
the streets in these combustibles, and
another 100l. at other times of the
year, thus giving altogether a yearly
outlay of...200 0 0

Street-Sellers of Lucifer-Matches.

Supposing that each of the 200
traders take, on lucifers alone, but
4s. weekly, selling nine dozen (with
a profit to the seller of from 1s. 9d. to
2s. 6d.), we find on lucifer-matches
bought in the streets an annual outlay
of...2,080 0 0

Street-Sellers of Cigar-Lights or Fuzees.

It will, I believe, be accurate to
state that in the streets there are
generally 100 persons subsisting, or
endeavouring to subsist, on the sale of
fuzees alone. It may be estimated
also that each of these traders ave-
rages a receipt of 10d. a day (with a
profit exceeding 6d.), so that the sum
yearly laid out in the streets in this
way amounts to...1,300 0 0

Street-Sellers of Gutta-Percha Heads, &c.

There are at present, I am in-
formed, 30 persons selling gutta-
percha heads in the streets, some of
them confining their business solely
to those articles. Their average re-
ceipts, I am assured, do not exceed
5s. a week each, for, though some
may take 15s. a week, others, and
generally the stationary head-sellers,
do not take 1s. The profit to the
street retailer is one-third of his
receipts. From this calculation it
appears, that if the present rate of
sale continue, the sum spent yearly in
these street toys is...390 0 0

Street-Sellers of Fly-Papers and Beetle-Wafers.

Last summer, I was informed, there
were 50 or 60 persons selling fly-
papers and beetle-wafers in the
streets; some of them boys, and all
of them of the general class of street-
sellers, who "take" to any trade for
which 1s. suffices as capital. Their
average earnings may be estimated at
2s. 6d. a day, about one-half being
profit. This gives a street outlay, for
a "season" of ten weeks, of..375 0 0

Street-Sellers of Poison for Rats.

Calculating 25 sellers of rat-poison,
and each taking on an average 1s. daily for the sale of their article, we
find that the sum annually expended
upon this commodity amounts to. 390 0 0