DOWN AND OUT.

Shannon News, 2 May 1924, Page 4

DOWN AND OUT.

SOLDIERS AS SANDWICH MEN. SAD FEATURE, OF GAY, STREETS,

A dilapidated figure stood huddled ,up in the gutter at the corner of a London- street (writes the “Sum” speci. al correspondent).: It was clad in a costume,of, towels, apparently disposed with the,idea of suggesting that the wearer had just left a bath. On its. head a Turkish fez reposed drunkenly over one lack-lustre eye. About its thin ankles -hung a pair of faded red socks. Its feet were thrust into old tenpis, shofis. Over the facetiouslooking headdress.. supported, by irons from the shoulders, balanced a notice board, bearing a pointing finger and in capital letters, the legend: “To the Hummums. Turkish Baths.” The attitude of, the figure was one of dejection, depression, misery. The suggestion, that he had just emerged from the invigorating process followed at the, Hummums could hardly be con. strued as an advertisement for the establishment. ' . _ . Such is. the London sandwichman at his worst; , ... . , By -police regulations compelled to avoid the footpath and make the Lest of his way in the roadway without interfering with wheeled traffic, he is condemned to pass his days in. the gut. ter either singly or in companies, advertising on the-boards, that rise above his head or are. disposed fore and ait of his. ill-conditioned body—hence the term “sandwichman” —various commodities, theatrical ventures, films, concerts, picture exhibitions, and similar events. Many such entertainments rely largely on the-sandwichman or publicity. They will on occasion send out as many as twenty men mi a long string, bearing the title of n piay spelt out letter by letter, portraits of popular artists or even reproductions of scenes or characters from a play or SiII THE: PROFESSIONAL CRAWL- ‘ The sandwichman. has. cultivated a crawl of his own, and it adds to his pathetic appearance as he shuffles along witn his threadbare, laded, and often tattered clothes, his misshapen leaky boots, none the drier for the mudi of the streets, his whole appealance listless and weary. But perhaps the perambulating sandwichman is better .off ~than the individual whose business it is to stand a whole day in one spot directing attention. to a barber’s shop up a side street og ffthe Strand, or some tea rooms which cannoti make a sufficien display to attract attention, or some sale iproceeding in a quarter that the passer-by in a hurry would not otherwise, have thrust upon his attention. Standing still, ill-clad, upon cold, wet pavements, in some of the bitter winds that* sweep through the thoroughfares at this season of the year must be very near, martyrdom. . Yet one may see the same men doing such a job for months and even years, glad most likely, to have even such a parody of work to keep the wolfi from the door.” A SMARTER TYPE. Since the war a new type of sandwichman has appeared. This is The obvi'bus ex-serviceman, who is both younger and somewhat smarter in dress, and with the stamp of the Army upon 1 him in a certain alertness of movement. Not so long ago a sensa. tioniiin the. West End-was,caused by,a playj with a distinctive military touch engaging a party of young ex-soldiers, who. shattered all the ideals ot the sandwichman by moving smartly on word of command —given by a former non-commissioned officer, and - marching jwith the correct military cadence and (Step about the streets. Among this -body several ex-officers who were out .of employment were easily conspicuous. Another type of sandwichman, and a somewhat rare one, is the individual dressed in costume. Films with some appeal to me picturesque use this may) even have a bag' full of cheap toys, into, which one may dip for a penny or twopence. But it is one of the ironies of life that the representa. means of publicity. For instance, a party of Red Indians will sometimes appear in the. ■ streets distributing handbills concerning some, production in which the redskin figures. Or one may, see some half-dozen men i'n the weird overalls of' the Ku Klux Klan, with; the pointed - headdress and the slits;for the, eyes, carrying posters relating to a film dealing with the Span, ish Inquisition. Recently in London, a very tall man in the sombrero and ,leather chaps and red shirt of the cowboy of fiction, was seen? cycling slowly down the Strand. On the back of a leather waistcoat he wore was a legend urging one to go for one’s passport photograph to a certain firm. This particular sandwichman was said to be the tallest man engaged in this humble section! of the advertising world. At Christmas time the sandwichman is converted into an example of Father Christmas, and> in scarlet gown and snovt white beard stands as am advertisement of the “children’s bazaar,” which all well-connected stores, small as, well as large, introduce to attract business. Father” Christmas’s deputy tive of the joys of Christmastide —the patron saint of a festival which is dependent/ upon the possession of money for its full enjoyment—should be a poor, devil shivering in! his clothes under a gay gaberdine, and hardly able,to keep body and, soul, together. Among the sad features of the London streets the sandwichmen are per. haps,the saddest, for these pitiful creatures, themselves the picture of misery, are always used to appeal to the crowds, to spend their money upon enjoyment or amusements.or luxuries.