A MYSTERY OF THE MONEY MARKET.

Dunstan Times, Issue 926, 16 January 1880, Page 3

A MYSTERY OF THE MONEY M ARKET.

One of the minor mysteries of London is involved in the fact tliatthe favourite saleplace for the most frivolous class of toys flimsy inventions of the moment, and mere catch pmny tritios that even a child would scarcely uestow a second thought oil—is in the midst of the very busiest haunts of men engaged in money-making— not in ordinary trade, and by the simple process of rendering moneys worth for money, but iu the hot pursuit of mam non, that golden buttei llv, and in eager eo iflict to Caleb it as it Hies—as it flits and Hatters, and now, seemingly weary of flirtation, disposed to settle down for awhile to be dealt with at leisure, and then, phit ; off and away again into the opposite hear garden, or bull garden, as may happen, and all the worry and panting toil to be gone through once more. Men “on ’Change” know what this means, as do the hundreds who daily throng the byeways and narrow avenues abutting on the great centre of operations —loitering with nervous lips, and eyes fathoms deep in mental arithmetic—hurrying along hungry of visage as men invited to the feast, and sniffing good things afar off, an 1 fearful lest they may he too late —sauntering complacently arm-in-arm, with countenance betokening almost content, and indicating an unexpected stroke of good hick, or the successful consummation of a well planned “ waiting game.” One might well imagine that the very last place to which toy vendors would carry their wares would he amongst men who seem to have not a thought or a look to waste on anything beyond the immediate ami all-absorbing business in hand, and yet. in and about I'lirea hieedle street, and all about the Hank, in Lombard street an I Broad street, one is sure to find the earliest productions in nonsense toys the squeaking mouse, ih - ' e nuio spider, the clockwork cobbler, the hj liry fac-id hideous j.uk-iuthe-box, I be invest ‘•Punch Call,” the late-t inveute I cup and ball, the jumping frog, or scent sqnirter. An I lie sure the shoeless relabels of such things make no mistake in their market Tii re is no nonsense about them, th nigh there may be about their toys. They come there to sell for bread’s sake, and they seldom go away disappointed. But then comes the qU'Sii m, “ What on earth will induce the haggard an 1 anxious money-grubber Co buy stupid penny toys ? To ne is no on ■ else to purchase them so they must; but can it be possible that an elderly stoikj mber a nuses himself in private with a emu o spi lor, or takes delight in pinching the tail of a cardboard mouse *o make it squeak ? Does he find it refreshing, in the height and fever of business, to retire to his rlism or, and for awhile take down the .olden oiif from

its pedestal and stick up for his contemplation tho clockwork cobbler instead ? If ho lias a bugbear in the shape of a possibly bad bargain haunting him, does he proomo a goblin jack-in-the-box, and while he manipulates the monster derive comfort and reassurance from the reflection that the ugliest things when fearlessly approached may prove to he quite harmless ? These, however, are but vague guesses and speculations. The mystery still remains unsolved. —Graphic.