The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-06-11
FORTUNES IN GARBAGE.
Money Made in Raking Over
Great City's Refuse.
An Army Of sCavengers Who Work at New
York's Dumping Grounds.

Huge wire baskets with hosting
gear of iron chains have been rugged
1t all of the fourteen dumps on the
North and East Rivers, and Italians
nay be seen every day soaking rags
n the baskets. The idea of the unique
Machine was borrowed from the dog
pound. The rig is fixed upon the end
If the pier. When the basket is full
t is let down into the water, and the
;ide is left to do the washing Every
pound of dirt washed out of the rags
represents loss of cent and quar-
;er, the average price of rags at whole
sale, and many dollar is hopelessly
sunk in the river in that way. The
Board of Health and Major Bullard,
chief of the sanitary police, who got
up the washing business. are held re-
'ponsible for this outrage.
The ash barrels of the city, before
.heir contents are finally dumped into
he sea, are made to yield quite $4,000
a year to nearly 100 Italians who han
lie the refuse at the dumps. This is
exclusive of the rag picking in the
streets which still goes on in spite of
police prohibition. The city gets its
share of the profit. The work of trim
ming the scows, or, in other words, of
packing the dirt evenly before they are
sent out to sea, is sold by the city to
one Tom Roach for 1920 a week.
Roach hires the privilege of sorting
over the refuse as the carts dump their
loads. and of picking out what is worth
having. He is, however, merely the
middleman, and Jose Cicarilla, an
Italian, is the real contractor. He
pays to Roach, or his equivalent, bo-
nus of 500 week for his contract. and
hires sufficient number of his coun-
;rymen at from S. to 81 week to do
The work. At present his s aft en-
braces "a men, whose duty it is to sort
over and trim daily scow load of
refuse at each dump. exclusive of the
waste paper gatherers, who form a sort
of skirmishing line at the dumps, help
ing little, and receiving pittance of
81 or $l.50 a week from the sub-con-
tractor, and all the waste paper they
,an find. The aggregate amount of
noney paid to this army Of scayengers
n the course of the year by their boss
between $4,000 and $4,000 Some
If them live under the dumps, others
n cheap tenements, all in squalor and
misery.
Rags and bones are tho principal
,ources of revenue of the ash heaps.
Some rags are much more valuable
han others, but, taken as a whole,
hey bring cent and quarter a
pound.
Bones, that stand next upon the list
ind are scrupulously saved by the
ielvers. bring 60 cents a barrel as ma
erial for bone black, knife handles and
buttons. They are exported in close
wagons, principally to Crow Hill,
across the river, where the charcoal
factories arc. Whole bottles are
1uoted at rs cents and broken clear
glass at a quarter a barrel. Until re-
,ently tin cans were an important
source of revenue, at the rate of six or
seven dollars a big load, the supply be-
ng unlimited. But now they are a
drug in the market, and are left to the
stale beer workers. They have had
their day. .....
The east slider, present resident
Of First avenue, who first saw visions
Of wealth in the tin and solder of empty
preserve cans realized his dream. lie
1as retired with snug fortune. The
waste paper, too, is despised by the
trimmers, and is left to the skirmish-
srs, who sell it for what they can get.
At moving time and when people
prepare to 90 to the country or are
coming back, lots of things gointo the
ash barrel that have no value to the
owner, but help to make trade brisk
for the boss trimmer. Old boots. pass
able hoop skirts, and thousand odds
and ends, all of use, turn up at the
dumps then with heaps Of rags. Some.
times lost yaluables turn up, or silver
spoons thrown into the ash barrel with
the kitchen refuse by careless servants.
Once live baby was dumped on a
cart, the heartless mother having
thrown it in a barrel and covered it
with refuse; but it found its breath
before the dump was reached and
frightened the driver with its unex-
pected howls.
How much Cicarilla makes by his
bargain he does not tell. When the
question is put he slrugs his shoulder
and complains of hard times. He lives
IN much better style than the mass OF
nis countrymen on the second floor OF
a good class Bayard street tenement.
When his scows are trimmed other
gangs of Italians, whom he hires for
the city, go out to sea in them and
Jump their contents. Capitalists have
made propositions now and then to dc
The city's street cleaning, take the
refuse out in the bay, build an island
Of it, and store and utilize it all there,
out only on condition that the city
shall give them long contract and
oay handsomely for having the job
1 aiken off its hands as il does in the