Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-07-07

having. lie Is, however merely tno
middlcman. and Juso Cicarilla, au
Italian, is the real contractors lilo
pays to Roach. or his equivalent,
,onus ol so week Tor hs contract,
and hires II sufficient number OF his
countrymcn at from - to - week to
do the work. At present his stan em-
braces ninety -four men, whose duty
it is to sort over and trim daily scow-
load of refuse at each dump, exclusive
of the waste o-papcr gathcrcrs, who form
sort OF skirmtshing lino ut the dumps,
helping little, and receiving PIT
lance of ~ or II 30 week from the
sub-Contractor. aud all the waste paper
thcy eau find The aggregate amount
of money paid to this army OF scnvon-
gers in the course of the year by their
boss is between $4,000 and $4,000.
Some of them live under the dumps.
others in cheap tCncmcnts, all III slua-
lor and misery,
Rngs and bones are the principal
sources of revenue of the ash-hcaps.
Some rags are much more valuable
than others, but tak"n rs whole,
they bring | cents n pound. The loss
in weight is caused by the new order
to wash them before they are packed
ia bags and sent to the junkshops, and
the extra pay Of tho four men who are
needed to handle the baskets are more
than made up for by the greater yield
since the police began their systematic
raid on the ash-barrcl ragplckors.
Though hooks are piled slightly. yet in
every street change has already been
worked. Seventy five or eighty rag
pickers have been locked up in station
cells for disobcyug the law, and in
Little Italy it is beginning 10 bo UNDER
stood that the health officers mean
business.
Bones, that stand next upon the list
and are scrupulously saved by the del
vcrs, bring 90 cents a barrel rs mater
ial for bone e-back, knife-haudlcs, and
| buttons. They are exported in close
wagons, principally to Crow Hill,
across the river, where the charcoal
factories are. Whole bottles are quoted
at 80 cents a barrel and broken clear
| glass at quarter "A barrel. Until
recently tin cans were an important
| source OF revenue, at the rate of Sc or
- big load, the supply being uniimi-
| ted. But now they are a drug in the
market, and are left 10 the stale beer
workers. They have had their day.
The East-sidcr, Il present resident Of
| First avenue, who first saw visions OF
wealth in the tin and solder of empty
preserve cans realized his dream. He
has retired with snug fortune The
waste paper, too, is dcspiscd by the
| trimmcrS. and is left to the skirmishers,
who sell it for what they can get.
just now is Clrarilla's harvest time.
At moving-timc and when people pre-
| pare to 90 To the country or are COM
ing back, lots Of things 90 into the ash
barrel that have no value to the owner,
but help TO make trade brisk for the
boss trimmer. Old boots, passable
hoop-skirls, and thousand odds and
ends, all OF use, turn up at the dumps
then with heaps of rags. Sometimes
lost valuablcS turn mp, or silver spoons
thrown into the ash-barrcl with the
| kitchen refuse by careless servants.
Once a live baby was dumped on
cart, the hcartlcss mother having
thrown it into a barrel and covered it
with refuse; but it found its breath be-
fore the dump was reached, and
frightened the driver with its unex-
pcctcd howls.
How much Cicarilla makes by his
bargain he does not tell. When the
question is put he shrugs his shoulders
and complains Of hard times. He lives
in much better style than the mass of
his countrymcn 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, 90 out TO sea in them, and
dump their contents. Capitalists have
made propositions now and then to do
the city's strcct-c4aning, take the re-
fuse out in the bay, build an island of
it, and store and utilize it all there, but
only on condition that the city shall
give them n long contract, and pay
handsomely for having the job taken
off its hands, as it does in the matter of
removing oflal and dead animals from
the street. The propositions have never
been made in practical form.
York Sun.