The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-09-19
A Profitable Industry.

There is an enterprise carried on in
Detroit which is not generally known
ana never appears in the statement
OF the city's varied prosperous indus
tries. Its novelty is such thai it has
never as yet attained the dignity of
IA name. 1t is carried on " hen ma.
Jorlty of citizens are asleep. Those
engaged in it prosper upon the care
leSsnesS and misfortunes of others.
Their income defieS definite preGic-
ton, but can be depended on for a
handsome return on the capital in
vested. The few engaged in this in
dustry might be termed Fighters ,
The pioneers in the business were
ga5-lighteIs. Scarcely one of their
number, who has been engaged with
the craft for any considerable length
Of time, has failed to find one or more
articles which afforded a handsome
addition to his regular income. Al
most every night there WAS a Yalu,
able find or two, and as a KNOWLEDGE
OF the fact came to a few who were
waiting for something to turn uu,
they saw in it golden opportunity,
and are now laying up treasures from
what they can find.
One of these individuals lives in
Closes alley and is a negro. AT the
very peep Of day he may be seen
abroad, travelling at a good round
space, scanning the sidewalk and
doorWays, and swooping down ON
anything Of sufficient value to repay
the loss of a minute or so. There are
also three men who travel together,
their rounds generally beginning
about midnight and continuing un-
til daylight, They walk breast, talk
ing in the sidewalk, scanning it as
they go, the center man carrying
bulI's-eye lantern attached to the
front of his coat. They go as rapidly
as is consistent with their business,
and nothing of value escapes their
notice. a basket is the receptacle for
many articles, money goes into their
pockets, and heavier finds sometimes
npcessitate the sending of a detail of
one or two for assistance or a wagon.
What they pick up comprises almost
every movable commodity worn or
carried upon the streets. They secure
hats, handkerchief5 without number,
coats, money, umbrellas, feathers of
value, occasionally valuable watch
dropped by some night marauder,
purses, rings, breastpins, canes, chains
bracelets, keys, letters, gloves, furs,
skirts, and even hoes, dropped by
some luckIesS adventures. An in
voice of these findings would show
an immense annual aggregate. A
plume picked up not long since net
ted eight dollars to tie finder. A
watch was quietly disposed of for
fifty dollars, and the purchaser had
bargain. Much of the jewelry is
sent to a distant market. Ready
money is tucked away and tells no
tales.
Curious finds are also made. An
old lamp-lighter said to a reporter:
81 have picked up two bushels Of
potatoes when they were worth
dollar and a half per busheI. and no
one even called for the bags"
Another had found a new suit of
clothes, neatly done up, and found
them good fit without the change
of a button. Some disciple Of Bacchus
tucked twenty-dOllar bill outside
his vest pocket and the eagle-eyed
finder gathered it in. Purses con-
tanning several times that amount
have been picked up. and the busi-
ness is said by those informed to be
lucrative one,
A peculiar case is that of an aged
negro who is found around the mar.
ket building at an early hour during
the hot weather. He gathers up the
heads and feet of chickens. declaring
when questioned: "Boss, dem am
de quintessence OBJ de fOwel. De
possum am de only bird dat obber-
rates desc fOh regalah ole-time soup"
He never misses a squash, bunch Of
vegetables, or some other bit of diet.