OCR Text |
Show MAKE PLAY OF THEIR WORK Little Darkles with the Spirit of "Befo' de Wan." In a Fulton street shoo store, not far from tho Kaglo building, two col-orcd col-orcd boys nro employed to glvo freo shines to shoes that have been purchased pur-chased there. Although I havo worn Btich shoes for two months nnd havo had them polished from threo to four times each week, I havo never yet escaped es-caped voluntarily paying tho boys. .Their two chairs nro sldo by sldo on a raised platform and It both aro busy nt onco their performance is doubly interesting, though ono alono can mako It worth more than the ordinary prlco of a shine. Sometimes ono will softly hum a negro melody In a low, mellow tono whllo both execute ex-ecute a most fantastic ragtime accompaniment, accom-paniment, with their brushes nnd pol-lulling pol-lulling clotliB on the customer's shoes. No bnnjo duetlsts ever kept truer tlmo than theso shiners do. Hut tho most nttrnctlvo feature of It all Is tho keen enjoyment that tho boys get out of it. They are real darkles, with all that tho words used to Imply Im-ply in tho old plantation days, when ono of their kind would dance ns long as anybody would pnt for him, anil they have applied that lovo of rhythm to what otherwise would bo hard, prosaic pro-saic toll. In short, they aro philosophers phil-osophers who mnko play of their work. I could get a shine a mora shine nt tho corner half a block away for 5 cents, but I prefer to pay double prlco to theso happy darkey boyB, who not only shlno my shoes well, but refresh re-fresh my spirit nnd send mo about my work with a renewed feeling that It 1b fun. Brooklyn Eagle. 7L1 I |