Morning journal and courier., 1881-06-07

hlnRS, ana the W6SteFH ana SOuGl6rn towns
of Queens counties, will yield largely, and
season on Friday last Early cabbages have
been largely planted and are growing finely.
Beets, carrots and other small vegetables and
beans and cucumbers promise well In some
sections the parsnips have failed and the
ground had to be planted with some other
crop. Field and sweet corn have come up
well, although the season has been cold.
Among the Chimney Pots.
A Dusl<y Sweep Moarnins the Decadence
of His Profession-F1ow Chimneys are
Swept to-day and How They Used to be
Swept-A Talk with Relic OF the For
mer Chimney Sweeping Days.
[From the New York SUM-
''Waybol Waybo." shouted in sing song
young looking old colored man from the
top of a tall chimney on a Madison avenue
residence.
''Waybo!" with a strong stress on the
"way." sang out fellow from the sidewalk
opposite and four stories below, as he threw
his head back and grinned in recognition of
the man on the roof. They were chimney
sweeps. AS the man in the street went on
his way the reporter sought permission to
mount to the house top and join the man
who, as he chanted a sing-song doggerel.
swayed his body with a see saw motion, and
bobbed long line up and down the Chin
ney fue, as if fishing in the sooty depths be-
low.
''who is Waybo ?" asked the reporter, as
he scrambled on all fours along the ridge
pole of a steep slate roof
"Waybo? Wy, dats a word we sweeps
have. Wen yer holler d8t dey all recognize
each odder, and reg'lar sweep'll know yer
by dat holler."
The man continued bobbing his black line
up and down in the chimney. He was as
black as the SCOT, but his face and bald pate
shone like onyx, and the black dust from the
chimney had no other effect on him than to
dull somewhat the lustre of his complexion.
care you not dusky relic of an almost
extinct profession ?" the reporter ventured:
and when in answer to an inquiring "'Sah 2"
he had simplified his question, the sweep
abandoned his song, and, resting his arms on
the blackened chimney pot, prepared to be
sociable He said he was Frank Thompson,
the authorized chimney sweeper"
Sweeps" he went on, shaking his head a
trife sadly, 'ain't what dey was. An de old
way O. sweepin' is played out. Some young
fellers got into houses and things was missed,
and dat broke us up. But I'm known, and
de people what sweeps for alters sends for
me dey won't have any one else"
Mr.. Thompson took an evident pride In
being t'the authorized sweep" For nineteen
years, he said he had been sweeping, except
ing OF season, when he went to coaching
for gentleman in Seventeenth street.
eight years ago." he said, 'I done
much work it nigh onto killed me from in
haling the SCOT. SCOT has killed off great
many of the old sweeps"
How about sending the small boys up in
to the chimneys to clean the fues ?"
'sIt used to be de way to send up de kids,
but so many of 'em strangled in de SCOT and
lied i'll de chimbleys, and they had to set
fire to them to shrink 'em down. The old
sweeps used long rods too, but dere amt no
man could reach to the top of them chimb-
leys now, and de rods won't bend round de
bends in de f1ues My way is wild dis yere
ball and rope. De ball is heavy and rolls
down de bends and all clar to de bottom.
Brushes are fastened to de ropes, and sweep
de SCOT all down. It used to be de way to
take up all de carpets in house. l can
sweep now over de finest carpets ever was in
New York, and desc old Knickerbockers are
mighty particular, and will inquire for me
now, if happen to move. l used to sweep
for old Mr. Vanderbilt down in West Wash
ington Place. He was an old chap. He would
follow me around, and watch me to see dat
didn't drop speck on his library carpets. but
he wouldn't say muffin. But de madame"
and MIR. Frank Thompson, authorized Chin
ney sweeper shook his head expressively, as
if he said aloud all that he recollected of her
watchfulness and anxiety for the safety of
her carpets and walls when he was plying
his sooty calling about her parlors.
Use swept for Mr.. William II. Wander
bilt, too, and he used to say to me that l was
suited to, as 1 was sooted by, my perfession."
: Other families in Fifth and Madison ave-
nues Mr.. Thompson spoke of with pride as
being his regular yearly customers; and sew
eral uptown hotels were included in his list,
Once year. he said, was the rule in sweep
ing chimneys, excepting where soft coal was
burned, or in the fues of the ranges in the
hotels. In those cases semi-annual visits
were necessary.
Are there many sweeps in the city?"
''Dey is rs or 100 altogether, but some of
'em don't do muffin. But dere's plenty for
de odders although since steam is used SO
much for heating houses dere's not much
use for sweeps as twelve years ago One
thing dat has broke up de sweeps is dat
man now picks up his helpers in de streets
anywhere, and dey amt no good. You have
to watch 'em dat dey don't put dere dirty
hands on the walls. If dey get dere brushes
stuck in de bend of q chimbley dey go away
and you can't find 'em again, and de CHM
bleys won't work, and it costs S15 or $40 to
open de chimbleys and get the brushes"
''Did you ever fall on roof or meet with
any accident?"
ssOnce [ fall on de roof of de New York
Hotel. Dose is mean chimbleys. 1 slipped
dere and twisted my foot cen most off and
had to lay up fur while. Desc steep slate
roofs is bad too. 1 alters ties a rope around
de chimbleys and let myself down easy. and
have something to hold on to if L slip, as 1
might find myself on de sidewalk some fine
day widout having gone down de stairs"
s.Are the sweeps dying out and likely to
disappear from the face of the earth ?"
sNo. dey will alters be some You can't
get along without 'em unless you do without
ehimbIeys. When cooking or heating is
done wild steam or hot water sent around in
pipes to de houses den dey won't be much
use for US to live any longer. But jest as
long as dere is so many fires in defective
fues where nobody don't know how dey
ketch jest SO long will dey need de sweeps.
Lots of chimbleys get full of SCOT, an de
draught is bad an de SCOT cotches wild hot
fire an shoulders an breaks out in de
night whenever the air reaches it. In tene-
ment houses nowadays de chimbleys amt
often more'n a single brick thick, an
sometimes de mortar dries up an de bricks
fall in an de fire burns through, an deres de
devil to pay"
Mr. Thompson, authorized chimney sweep
er, resumed his bobbing for SCOT, and pres
emily, hauling in his line and brushes, pre-
pared to go down from his lofty station to
take up the dislodged SCOT which had fallen
AZ ha1n