The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1853-10-27
RAGS.


That the rag trade is indispensable to the
great business world is proved BY the I'M
nense consumption OF paper in our estab'
lishnent alone. We have shown that, to
SIMPLY the paper used in the printing OF
the Herald, over three million pounds OF
rags are required every year, the cost Of
I which, at an average of five cents pound,
d about one hundred and fifty thousand dol
lars. When we consider the Importance Of
u the rag trade in relation TO the interests Of
all departments Of business, we will be less
4 likely to think meanly OF even the poorest Of
those employed in IT,
Light as we may esteem it, there are
1 very few branches VI business oil more i'm
portance than the rag trade Last year
the imports Of rags OF all kinds into the
/ United States amounted to l3,275,438
pou IDS aud 81 thes 100 ,652 pounds wee
from Italy alone. England sent Us 1915
80; the Hanse Towns, lO5S,Gj3; Turkey
L want, &c, I,4ij 62l aud Tteste and
other Austrian ports, 2.i6l,92S pounds.
4 NJ other country in tho world, strange t.
say, is more dependent upon rags than the
United States, and this is IN great measure
attributable t. the immense eOnsumg tion Of
Il paper in the publication OF newspapers,
i magazines, and works Of all kinds, besides
what is used for commercial and mercantile
purposes.
These facts will incline US TO look with
moe respect on the ehiii'anniars whom we
see daily in our streets picking up the scraps
OF paper and rags which are thrown out
every morning with the sSecpings of the
stores. They are at the basis Of this great
trade, and supply an immense proportion OF
the material ram which hit indispensable
article, paper, Is m lde. About twelve Vi
fifteen years az the rag trade was confined
to A few G rm4ns and Itish, many of whom
have acquired larg. fortunes, and are still III
the business, Tuey are employed in its
h CHER Branches, however, and are now e
n h.L by the appel!ation Of rag merchants
Dur ag tie las. eight or ten yeas the lug
i1.ux u elnig.ants has gieai,y increased tn
number o. rag pickses, tnI thy arr nJa es-
timated at :b Ut five thousand. o. these
alb ,ut fve-sixths are G ftnan and The re-
maindar arr I,ish. TnsiheiuI 5 on,y ii ,se
who pick up rags in the streets, and who g
round the city with bell eArts, g., buyog
them or giving china anl Other JtH ments
in exchange Tor them. The street pi ektrs
are also called hookefs from the little iron
hoak with which they are always armed.
These pick UP rag, bones, metal, India
rubber, Old boots md shoes, and, in fact,
anything that can b. sold or converted to
any uselul purpose. There are also paper
pickers, ssh, pick " the papers swept from
the stores and sh ps. and the dealers. who
&C, u kim OF middle men, purchasing rom
the Tag pickr-s and other and selling at a
certain per eeqtage u the rag m 'fehants.
I There are ms f4g deaI.s VIII buy only
the clipping u tail1rs, shirt and cap II tkefs,
and others engaged in the Manufacture Il
the various articles ut dress. A portion q
the rags or remnants wh'h III Y puryh tsl
i made int rag carpets Tas il an exceed
inrly ucratv. branch OF ,hc business and
large t1rtnres have been realized BY s9me
In j. We heard of one mIa %h1 engtg d
in it ab, III tNo years ago, upon or dit, auG
who is nUg worth oF..r ia TIA 3us hi 1 Jltdrs.
Some years ago il required less PrdcE &c
than II does now, in consequence of the
greater cheapasss OF the clippings, but then
there were very few engaged in it. Nearly
ali the German dealers engaged in 1t al
n present began some years ago with lew
4 dollars. These are in comfortable and In
dependent circumstances, and, unlike those
in the old rag trade, who 1--we in the midst
Of filth, they dwell in well furnished houses.
There are some dealers who are extern
sivcly engaged in the purchase OF tailor's
n clipping, and who buy principally from
the various clothing stores through ut the
N CITY They empty from tWyufy t. three
q hundred hands, t-., w@m ~ attf9m twa.ve
n sh.ling- to twenty per week, fur SORT :
u their rags 5 ne are paid hy tn .uni.et
pnnis ior this had ol work, Ia y SORT
Il III clippings acctrd,rg t. their qu4n y, a
q lafge proportion 0: the wJ3en rugs m1He
Il into a kind of cloth called "sdyddy." Tn
II preplrati II a the : gs tor the manufacture
Il OF shoddy is both Curl Us and inter sting
NJ The rags OF which it is made are reduced
3 by means Of machinery to their ofig nat IN.
n manufactured state--they are, in fact liter
81 ally torn into wool. This wool, after some
n preparatory cleaning process, and mixed
4 with new wool, Is made into all kinds OF
n cloth. OF course there are varieties of this
q cloth, some OF. which is said to be nearly as
y durable as that made from new wool, but il
u is generally interior.
n Immense uuantitcs are obtained from
n \ " Jers V, PeAnsg!v Tia, n " York. Con-
u Il t cut, aud % a ii parts OF the Union,
by tn pager manufacturers Of this State.
ivy x iI14 s4ibP q ''i'aS fN't N''NN~t
the rags from the inhabitants and collects
NJ tn, nj Tor the rng merchant, who has his
II az nts travelling. over the country. In this
u Wy millions 81 pounds are 1iected yearly
N in addition to what IS gathered By the cJun-
a Try and city p d!lrs and the rag pi.kers.
n Ia r. are 5 ma paper makers @no consume
n each SIX million POINTS o! rags every year,
III the value OF which, al an average oi five
4 cents per pound, is three hundred thousand
y dollars. In the printing ii tn HERALD we
u use one nlttlt0n nine hundred ana SGD Hty-oHe
a thousand pounds Of faper erary year, or n ny
n hundred and eight, five tons dno a h!li. IL
the manufacture u this amount OF paper
4 three uas7i0n tro hundred and eiyty.fc1 poHnds
a OF rags are regu red. i we estimate the
Y value Of this, rigs at one hundred and II ~
a thousand d)liAfs, it will be found that 10
Il less than five hundred rag pickers, earning
y six dollars a week, are dependent on the
n publication Of the HERALD tor support.
Some idea may BIZ formed of the value OF
81 tn, paper picked np in the streets when we
III inform our readers that it amounts in the
III az. regite to about fifty tons week I'm
mcnsc quantities are sold by bnokbinders,
u bdndboa makers, and others engaged in the
extensive consumption Of paper. Tne best
II kind of this refuse paper is manufactured
into DO * and general printing paper, while