Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-03-06
GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
STATISTICS.
PARIS RAGPICKERS.
Their Work, Their Habits. and Their Hon.

Their Work, Their Habits. and Their Hon.
esty.
have said that ii has been decreed
tie ragpickers must go. Why? Well,
because the march of civilization has
reached that point where it finds an
economy of time and money in doing
away with their aid in the daily morn
ing work of cleansing Paris of the ac-
stimulated filth of the past twenty-four
hours. The thousands of men and
women, bent half double under the
weight of the vast baskets strapped TO
their shoulders, who have formed for
so many centuries the nasty and vet
picturesque feature of the night aspect
of the gay capital, as with lantern in
hand they, hike so many glow-worms,
wander about the streets, turning over
the dust heaps aud garbage piles with
their hooked sticks and managing to
make a living, III some cases even q
fortune, ont of the refuse Of the great
city, will soon have vanished forever.
The ragpickers are not an attractive
class of individuals. but taken as n
whole they are not so bad a lot as might
be supposed, and striking instances Of
honesty are not unfreaaentlv met with
among them. Sueh-~an' instance was
that of Celestin Collet, chief of the
ragpickers. who died only last week at
Neuilly, ut the age of 81. This par
ticular ragpicker, besile being She old
est member of the corporation and
wearing the honors of the nickname of
King Of the Chiffonniers, was, dur
ing the last twenty-five years of his
life, in receipt of pension of 1925
year from the Empress Eugene.
In 1858 the Empress lost valuable
diamond bracelet 1t was found in
dirt-heap by Collet. who, without know
ing to whom it belonged, carried it to
police eadquarters. The next morn
ing he was astonished by the receipt of
an order to present himself at tho
Tuileries and when he did so was still
more astonished to receive the public
thanks of his sovereign and the promise
of life pension of 600 francs. After
she lost her crown, the Empress con-
tinued to pay the pension to Collet out
of her private purse, and now that he
is dead, she is reported as having deter
mined to continue it to his successor In
seniority. The chiffonniers for the most
part occupy little frame huts erected in
the vacant fields lying around the
Notifications, upon which the military
authorities forbid the erection of any
permanent structures. These rag
picker villages are among the sights
which the stranq who desire to see
the dark as well the bright side of
the capital wou 10 well TO visit. It
is from these will IS that the army of
ragpickers- ar ny composed of men,
women, boys and girls of all ages
descend into the city as soon as the
gas is lighte !. Each one has his or
her special beat, and the wealthier
ones, who have several boys or girls in
their employ, indulge in the luxury of
a donkey cart, into which the baskets
are emptied as fast as they are filled.
In early morning these carts can be
seen, filled with rubbish and crowned
with two or three tired chiffonniers, fast
asleep on the top of the unsavory pile,
while the long eared philosopher be-
tween the shafts leisUreiy joys his
way out toward the Route de la Re-
vote, or Clichy, or Montmartre.
When the hut that is the home of the
ragpicker is reached the nights haul is
carefully sorted and classified In Paris
nothing is lost; the bones and half-con-
sumed vegetables, the broken glass and
china, even the very cOrks that the
night before have popped merrily from
the champagne bottles in some cabinet
particular" have value which the
chilfonnier knows how to make the most
Of The worst that can be said of tho
corporation is that its members are too
fond of the brandy bottle If they are
TO be banished from the streets, as is
talked of, the belated Partisan, whose
business or pleasure calls him out to-
ward the wee sma' hours, will miss tho
well-known glow Of thar lanterns.
which are always a pro GA against
the night providers who The streets
of the capital, and VI even the
most populous boul unsafe aft
err midnight. -C0r. ,o.t Francisco
Chronicle