Arizona weekly citizen., 1884-12-06
RAGS AND RAG PACKERS. How They Arc Gathered. and by WhOm---Wagcs of Pickers
 and SOrtcrS

How They Are Gathered. and by Whom---Wagcs of Pickers | and SOrtcrS.
 Ordinarily when We think of racs we think of something that is utterly worthless and ccntempii1le. of some | thing that be~garS are clothed in. or perhaps that beggars have thrown away. Hamlet could think of no more cOntemptuous appellatiOn of his uncle than that of ''a king of shreds and patches"--a king made of rags-and Lear says:
 Plate sin with gold
 And the strong lance of iustee hurtless Clothe il in rags. aplgmy's straw doth pierce
 it.
 But as Lord Palmerston defined dirt as matter in the wrong place" so rags are only rags when they are scattered about. Collected together. sorted out, and baled. they become merchandise of great and yearly increasing value. By the census of 1880 there were in the United States 692 paper mills with an aggregate capital Of nearly $50. 900. GOO. They employ 35. 900 hancs, third of whom are women, and pay in wages nearly nine millions of dollars. They use in the manufacture of the best qualities of paper 20O.O0 tons of cot ton and linen rags. 75,0U f)ns O1 which are imported. the remainder being gathered in this country. The value of these 100000 tons of rags is over twenty millions of dollars. The begin nings of this vast wealth may be seen by those who .brush the dew of the early morn from the sidewalks or Chicago, in those prowling women and children who. with bag and basket, carefully search the streets and gutters for the iiotsam and jetsam of the pre- ceding day. The next grade above these are the itinerants in wagons, who go from house 10 house with the cry ''rags to buy.'
 Seeking information in the interest of the Herald readers the reporter called on one of the most extensive rag deal- CTS in the city. "The-e is fully a mill ion dollars invested in the rag business in this ely. There are seventy-iive or eighty places. large and small. where rags are bought, sorted out and sold to the paper makers or the wooden mills. There are at least 1,5OO men. women and children who search the streets OF go from house tO house for rags and paper. We buy from them, paying a cent T pOuni for paper and from II to 2I cents pound for rags. We send these rags to our sorting room, where we employ wOr;en tO sort out the diff ferent kinds and qualities. The linen is the best quality. Then come every kind of white cottonS. then the colOred. Those that are mixed goods of woolen and silk with cotton are separated. Silk is of no use whatever. One would sup pose that would be the most valuable. but the reverse k the case. No means has vet been discovered of working silk over tO any purpose. The wooden rags we sell to the wooden mills, where they are ground up and made into shoddy. The cotton and linen rags and the paper we sell to the paper mills. We pay our women for sorting 2 cent pound. and they earn from Sl tO & day. Ten dollars week is q good average for them. The rag pick CTS and gatherers make about e dollar q day, but in such timas as these. when people arc moving, good deal more. This is a harvest time for them, for people throw away vast quantities of paper and old rags.
 1.-The rag picAers manage to save good deal of money. Many of them bring in their collection every day, but draw no money until Saturday. then, if their account don't amount to SlO. they will bring money enough with them and get Us tO pay them $10 bill, giving Us the difference. They like tO get hold of a ten or a twenty dollar bill. They are very saving.
 ''1Ou will see, too, if you look at it right. that they are very valuable members of the community. They produce wealth. Out of mere rubbish and refuse on the streets they pick out very nearly if not quite Sl.OO0 of value every day. That no small matter. Or course they pick up other things besides rags. Many Is the silver coin that they find. and you may be sure that theS wouldn't pass pocketboOk by. Bus they gather iron. copper. glass, bones. old rubber shoes. and everything that is not in state of positive decay, all of which we buy of them except bones- Those they sell to the fertilizing faatO- ries.
 ''The people engaged in this way are mostly Poles, BOhemians. Italians. and some Canadians. Altogether there are at least 10000 people in Chicago de- pendent directly or indirectly for a liv- ing on the rag business. That IS 10 say, that many people are supported. and more than supported, by what most people call rubbish. and which is generally thrown away. It might be q very good text for the preachers; it cer- tainly is for the economist.
 Then, too. you must remember that this rag rubbish is transformed into pure, white paper. and is made the means of disseminating and preserving the wisdom of man. l think there can be no doubt. sir. that the rag picker is valuable member of society. Good day. ChicdgO HrGid.