The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1869-01-23


convenience"
Rivalship and aristocracy exist among
rag,pickers in forms as marked as is the
case in other walks Of society. They
cherish bitter resentment at any infringe
ment upon their fright Of way, and are
Jealous Of superior ability or good fortune
among their number.
" A large majority Of the rag.pickers Of
New York are Germans, who, having
landed here poor, were compelled to do
something for a livelihood, and accepted
this as last resort, rather than starvation
or dependence. Your committee found q
small colony of this class in Willett street,
consisting of one hundred and six families,
and comprising four hundred and fifty
two persons. These people live In clean,
comfortable homes, send their chill
dren to school, put money In the savings
bank, and at the first Opportunity leave
the trade andmigrate to the farms of the
West. ~,
"There is another colony of rag,pick-
ers nearly equal in number west Of the
Central Park, who live in shanties, but
these seem to have no ambition beyond
providing for the necessities Of the day.
"These two colonies comprise the larger
part Of the rag,pickers Of the city, although
others were found, Isolated from their
companions in the business, in various of
the downtown streets.
From the best evidence your commit
tee has been able to gather, the number
of rag. pickers in New York city, is about
1900 Of all grades, little more than one
half being women.
In this vocation women have equal
opportunities with men, TO the fullest ex-
tent claimed by the staunohest advocates
Of that doctrine
The report hardly attempts to trace
the disposition Of the articles Of regard
which the rag-picker collects, but gives
few details as follows:
The old rags and paper find their way
through the Junk dealers to the paper
manufacturer, and finally return to the
breakfast table In the shape Of the daily
newspaper.
"The old bones--some Of them-which
the rag-picker rescues from the garbage
box are transformed into parasol handles,
or were before wooden handles became
fashionable because bones were scarce,
and consequently expensive They are
also made into tooth.brushes, buttons and
various other articles of trade. s
"The bits Of broken glass are worked
4 up by the glass manufacturers and re-
turned in new forms 10 those who cast
them into the streets.
The scraps Of old iron follow the same
general course, and since panniers have
come to be worn and the Greoian bend
has become a fashionable epidemic, it is
not beyond the bounds of probability that
the bits OF old iron the rag pickers gather
in the streets, find their way from the
gutter to the boudoir.
4" AS in any other human occupation,
the carvings Of the rag pickers depend
mainly on their own industry and thrift
but somewhat also on what they call full
barrels But behind even these circum-
stances, law Is at work which not only
controls the rag-pickers, but ramidei
every department of trade and when
applied to the State or nation, i stead ol
4 single class of workers, is found to
form the basis of political economy, and
TO control the accumulation and distribu
& ton of wealth. The distance seems to be
great between the rag picker and the Wal
street gold gambler, but the committed
has found more than one instance in
which the same person has occupied botf
positions and in one case both aVoca
tions were filed at the same time-tht
one occupying one portion, the othel
another portion Of the same day. BY the
one, our rag-picker earned an homes
livelihood; by the other, II is to be feared
he turned very dishonest penny
} The rag. picker refuses nothing. 9th
ers refuse; be only accepts. He is pick
er-up of unconsidered trifles. Nothing
is small or worthless TO him. Hesees life
! home, children, schools, a farm in tn
West, In the dim prospective; and all tn
health, hope and happiness Of his life Ii
{ about him, represented in the refuse o
the world. Millions Of dollars escape hin
in the search he makes, and he knows II
] BE regrets it, perhaps, as who would not
but he saves from the general wreck wha
} he can.
Nothing to him Is mean or filthy, say
that which he cannot find nothing is to
| smallfor his notice; nothing unworth
! his attention, though it be a bone gnawe
i by cur in the street, OF the bit of pape
} that fits by him on the wings Of the winC
. Sheer at him asthey may, he dignifes Il
J Dor by his industry, his economy and hi
independence, and is living perepateti
sermon from the text which teaches US I
Z despise not the day of small things