, 1884-12-05
RAGS AND WASTE.
Wealth in the outter--Piokins Up
Riches in the Street.
A Business Despised Of msn That
Turns on Five nEfuions n Year
Rag. and Their
Value.



Notwithstanding some ~drnwbacks and 90
c~asional periods Of stagnation, the rag buzt-
ness OF the United States, particularly Of The
west, appears TO DO iiourishfng, and has
reached wonderful proportions both as 70
quantities handled and In value. The
miserable creature with bag or basket in
hand collecting hat can DO found In the
alleyTay does not seem much In the worlds
concerns but TO the wholesale dealer the
ragged, bent old collector Is a much more
important item In the business community
than many might suspect. In these days Of
vast figures we are not apt to BE- very much
surprised when we hear Of n Wholesale dry
goods OF hardware firm doing a business
~aggregating $1,000, 600 a year, but that .
mere dealer In rags and WASTES could under
any circumstances reach that figure does
seem a little startling.
There Is ono firm OF rag and waste dealers
IN this city doing n business amounting to
100000 a year. and the business Is con
stantly increasing. There Is another firm or
paper manufacturer in this city whose bust
ness, exclusive OF what It supplies to its own
mills In Wisconsin,, exceeds t5O0, 900 annu-
ally. 1hore are several houses dealing ex-
clusively In ragA, whose business ranges from
100000 to 100000 a year, while there arc
several smaller ones whose custom il by no
means contemplate, but, on the contrary, in
most cases quite up to the average volume
reached by the more assuming retail
dry goods, hardware, boot and shoe,
clothing and grocery stores, and a great
many OF which think they arc doing remark
ably well II they have a business OF from
81. 900 to t50,000 a year. There is not a rag
dealer in the city, and there are thirty-six of
them, according to the directory, that does
not control n business Of from e.. 600 to
$4,000 a year, and a noteworthy peculiar ity
Of the trade, they claim, il that there Is
hardly ever, II ever, any one in IL whs fails
or compels a compromise with cheated cred
itors, although they have to pay cash for
their goods every time, carry a stock rang
ing from 81 900 TO $780, 900 or more, and sell
on two, three. four and six months's credit.
IL Is estimated the total amount Of this
business done in this city exceeds q, 200, 600
annually, even at the unusually low figures
at which some grades Of rags are hold in the
market at present The number Of hands
employed is not less than 5000, including
1000 set aside as the quota engaged bag or
basket In hand, gathering up what they can
and where they can throughout thu city and
It's suburbs. This estimate OF employees,
which Is doubtless correct, furnishes an ex-
cellent illustration Of the utter unreliabflity
Of some OF the tenth census statistics, ae-
cording 10 which the number employed In
N80 aNAAN| ~ - NAoNI kgahAAI N vi NJ
2,206 including both sexes Some OF thess
employees in the city are men and women OF
families. Their lot Is a hard one. The most
these people can make at any time, either in
side or outside, male or female, as admitted
by q dealer, Is from 80 TO IS, so and ~ each
per week. "Still,H said a dealer, "even
ut this low wages, when a man and his wife
work together steadily for a long, long time,
they sometimes save up something and go
into business for themselves.n Instead Of
2.206, 1t is thought the total number en-
ployed in and obtaining their living from
this business, including those engaged In mill
rag departments, must be somewhere In the
neighborhood OF 100, 600.
The quantity and value OF the matter ham
died by the rag dealing interest throughout
the United States are well nigh fabulous,
considered IN tho light In which ths out
slider has been accustomed to regard the
business There are no statistics OF any kind
as to the actual quantity or value, either
gathered or consumed in the United States,
but IL is estlm lted by the trade that each
one Of tho $4,000, 900 or more composing the
population throws away twenty pounds OF
sive Of what Is made In various work.
shops and establishments. such as
clothing, tailoring, sh~irt-mahng, un-
derwear-making, corsstmaking, dress
making, sail-making, book-binding, and
numerous others The quantity obtained
from this source Is not so accurate esti-
mated as the other, but Is thought TO be at
least 800, 900, 900 pounds. This figure is. in a
measure, confirmed by the extent OF these
industries -shoddy. rag carpet and mattress
m~aking-into which wooden rags, a consider
able element Of the stuff obtained this way,
are largely used. This would give a grand
total Of 1900, 600, 900 pounds. A third OF
this is classed by the dealers as wooden rags;
the rest as common paper stock. But q
third would seem much too large a proper
ton, and 200, 600, 900 pounds seems TO L. the
most reasonable figure according 10 the light
At hand
According TO the best information the
value Of the common stock Il, 100, 600. 900
pounds) Is ~ cents per pound, u total OF
$40, 250, coo, and OF the wooden stock GOO, 000.-
600 pounds az cents, amounting to 90, 500
000-a grand total Of SIS, $50, 00o. In addi-
tion TO this there were reported from Europe
during the fiscal year ending June, 80, 2y5,-
000,0 900 pounds common stock, valued at
Is, 0S3, 647, and ,S16. 0ss pounds wooden stock,
valued at 1854, 694. This brings up
the estimated total annual supply
and consumption OF this commodity to the
enormous figure Of 1885, 3l6, 0s3 pounds,
reaching nearly $4,000. 600 in value. Or
this quantity nearly all but the woolsn stock
goes TO the paper makers Wooden rags are
chiefly used by the shoddy. rag carpet and
mattress makers, the best grades going to
the two former and the cheaper grades to
the latter, who mako what Is known as
wool mattresses out OF them. This win
probably be news to a great many, as fully
nine out Of every ten who buy and use
wool" mattresses do 80 under the impression
that they are really made from wool Every
ono OF them is made from cheap wooden
rags.