Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1885-10-29
RAG-PICKING.
How and By Whom This Indus
try is Carried On in Cities.

IN no class or place of human ex-
istence does the maxim that necessity
is the mother of invention" appear as
a more striking truth than among the
poor of great cities. 10 them intel
lec:ual, or social or political problems
are as nothing; there is an intenser
problem always confronting them
'.How to get bread" Their problem
is much harder one, being practical,
and to be worked over and over again,
and solved anew, every weary day of
their lives. The motley professions of
the poor are an interesting object of
study, and if the poor are not them
selves philosophers, they are excellent
subjects for phi losophical dissection.
How characteristic of each city, too.
are the little trades peculiar to each!
There are many trades common to all.
and many only to be found in one In
Paris. to supply the gourmands with
bread crumbs for their hams and cut
lets. the bread-pickers e in wait near
the schools, and wheedle the bread out
of the boys which they have brought
for their noon lunch. Carts 90 round
to the back doors every morning and
gather the debris of the Partisan feasts,
carry it home. separate the conglomer-
ated mixtures, pick out the bread.
roast and grind it up and the diners
at the fashionable restaurants have it
nice and brown, upon the meats so
-daintily set before them.
New York has its share of the desti-
tute and the desperate. The metropolis
inherits the scourge of the older cap
itals; and though there are many
marked differences to be found be-
tween the lowest classes in the Ameri-
can and in the European cities. the
same broad fact of extremes and too
often criminal poverty displays itself in
both. The most noticeable and in
structive difference between the New
York poor and the Partisan poor is the
peculiar variegated form of it. Another
difference is that the poor of New York
are not spread over so large a surface,
but are more concentrated in part cular
quarters. The dangerous classes do
not tend to become fixed as in many
European cites. The constant hustle
and change of American life. the met
-amorphoses in individual as in the ag-
gregate life. the rapidity and ease with
which one passes from one phase to
another of existence. the coming on
top Of poor people and the descending
netherward of the rich. have a ten
dency to disturb the status and to alter
the cond.tio of all classes continu-
ally: reachi e down in their effects to
the lowest. and not leaving the highest
this bubbl.ng and whirlpool are the
cause. The poor are thus not eternally
poor; one generation grovels in the
dust, the next mounts to fortune and
the father is sOt, beg
gar. g-picker-maybe thief and burg
lar-the son is book-keeper, merchant.
lawyer, perhaps clergyman. The same
family do not remain long in the
same houses or the same quar-
tiers. The husband leaves the
wife. the wife the husband; the children
abandon the disagleeable home, or are
up and trained by the various
Chart able and educat onal associat ons;
some member of the family is continu-
ally rising TO op,lence and respectable
ity. The fam lies of the paupers and
beggars and criminals are constantly
be nc broken up.
The rag-p cker requires little capital.
so his name is legion. A basket and
ST ok with thin end are his imple-
ments. the whole vast cit his field of
opcrat ons: liberty to work his license:
the wastefulness of humanity his op-
portun tv: the ingenu ty of man (con-
vertlng almost all things seemingly
use css and so rejected. into fair arti-
cles of certain and valued use) his mar
ket; Tread and independence his re-
ward. Humble and grovel.ng as it is.
it is bv no means the worst of trades.
The rag-p ckers are divisible. as is
the case with almost every trade. great
and small. into groups. Many confine
thems elves to the mere gathering of
refuse. selling it to some one else in its
conglomerated state. Others prefer to
go through the whole operat on. from
gathering the rubbish to selling it in
separate parcels of each kind to the
who need it in this par
ticular business. To the latter the
mere collection and selling of rags is
Oul u pdIl vi IL > dNOSdtlOu. III
deed, are but incidental. but one of
many branches. Bes de them the rag
picker keeps sharp lookout for all
kinds and bits of bone. every piece of
broken glass or old iron. every old boot
or shoe or strip of leather. and every |
atom of coal. coaldust charcoal. or
wood which may serve to burn as
fuel. The rag-picker begins his |
work i'm winter, as well as summer. |
very early in the morning; some
even begin in the middle of the night
The sooner the better, for the poor |
are a multitude, and the rivalry for
dear life is bitter sharp. indeed. The
fash enables going to the parties or
balls at ten o'clock may. if they will.
see the rag-pickers already at work
VIII CHI is to last all night and return
Ing homeward at three or four in thu
morning may. if the eyes be not toe
heavy, observe new battallons OF the