Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-09-25
STREET SCAVENGERS.
HOW CITY ASH BARRELS FURNISH A
LIVELIHOOD TO THOUSANDS.

sion OF Shantytcwn ny Ragmen-People
Who Make Good Incomes But Live in
Squalor.
While 1t might be stretching point to
| assume that all ragmen are milliOnaires
in disguise il Is nevertheless true that
you may find on the books Of the saving
institutions in this city the names Of
hundreds of them who are worth from
5000 to $1,000 apiece. To one who has
maze no study of the life and habits OF
the ragpicking fraternity, the statement
that even much larger sums are honestly
amassed in the business may seem an eX-
aggeration. The secret of these accumu-
lations is not that ragpicking is an excep-
tionally Temunefative occupation, but
tnat those who engage in it are often to
the last degree economical and save
almost their entire in come. And this is
enlarged by contributions from every
member of the family down to the 5-year-
old baby Of business, who sells papers or
matches or perhaps devotes himself to
rescuing cigar st jumps from the gutter.
TWO CLASSES OF RAGPICKERS.
Be it known that there are in New
York at least two classes of ragplckers.
One has a semi official standing, and the
other is composed of the independent,
irresponsible guerillas of the streets. The
official pickers are comparatively recent
institution, and gained their status
through the street cleaning department.
The ashbsrrels and the cutters are the
chief source to which the ragpickers look
for living and possible fortune, and
these are within the domain of the depart
ment under Commissioner Coleman, who
has made many changes in the old system
of street cleaning. The whole island is
divided into districts, 10 each of which is
attached a dumping station. On the
North river side there are six of these
dumps" The carts of the department
collect in the course Of each day from the
thoroughfares, the side streets, the alleys
and the courts about $500 loads of gar
bage and ashes ard dump them into the
scows.
The dump-pickers are really but small
portion of the city scavengers and are not
held in particularly high esteem by the
more independent spirits who roam about
on their own responsibility. 1t is not gen
orally known that the latter district and
CLEAN the city and suburbs almost as sys-
tematically as the street cleaning depart
ment itself At the Brooklyn bridge
about 6 o'clock any morning you will find
a small army of the manual tOilers of the
two great cities fastening to their work.
From Brooklyn, always by the footpath,
comes a great procession of mechanics,
porters and laborers. But there is also a
current of humanity setting towards the
City of Churches. Many of these are Ital
ians, Germans, Frenchmen aud other
foreigners, hurrying down with pick and
shovel from the tenement house districts
on their way to daily toll in the streets
and suburbs of Brooklyn. In these groups
may be seen not a few Italians who carry
hooks and bags instead Of picks and SHOW
els. They are the early birds among the
city scavengers, and hardly an ash barrel
or likely gutter N all the city Of Brook
lyn will escapC their attention, while
some will pl ~eecute their search In the
remoter towns Of Long Island Before
the morning is well advanced 200 or more
of them will pass over the bridge A
similar exodus OF these emerge tic and
business-like rag gatherers may be noted
at the Pennsylvania and Erie ferries.
Jersey City ranks high in their estimation
as fertile field of operations. Still other
sets of ragmen make their way TO the up
per part OF Manhattan island and branch
out into the annexed district.
THE REASONS FOR SYSTEM.
Much of the apparent system OF these
daily pilgrimages is accounted for by the
fact that some of the ragpickers Of an
ambitious turn Of nina have risen to the
dignity of junk dealers, and, laying aside
the bag and hooks themselves, have gath
cred about them a considerable body OF
compatriots as dependents. They have ap-
preciated the necessity Of system in order
10 increase the profits of the business,
and so by arrangement with other junk
and rag dealers have districted the city
and suburbs. Two dealers cover Jersey
City with their men. Two or three others
devote themselves particularly to Brook
lyn and Long Island. The east and west
sides aud the upper wards are likewise
subdivided. Aside from this districting,
however, there is considerable competi-
ton in the favorite localities, and many
of the ragpickers are too shiftless to en-
ter into any combination, preferring to
work when and where they please.
An agile and industrious ragpicker
gathers from fifty to 100 pounds Of spoils a
day, and he makes from 81 to - ano
sometimes more, according to the quality
very incompetent ragpicker who can not
average 81 80 per day. His expenses are
usually very light and sometimes nothing
at all Unless he is foraging in a very
remote district he pays no fares, but
brings his load home on his shoulders or
in some instances in q handcart His
lunch consists of piece Of hard bread
and cold meat, which he carries wrapped
in a paper at the bottom Of his bag. II
business is prospering he sometimes in
dulges in the luxury Of an after-lunch
glass of beer IL is his own fault IL he
has not picked up enough cigar stumps
to enable him to finish his monday re-
past with pipe.
The dens of the ragpickers are n bad
condition. The wretchedness and pest
breeding qualities of these rookeries are
much aggravated by the fact that the
corners and closets are freque ntly used
for the storing of old bones and garbage,
which after few days give forth an odor
quite the reverse of agreeable and GER
tainly not of a sanitary nature. Why
these people, who, according TO their own
accounts, make a very fair income, and
some of whom have goodly balances in
the savings bank, persist in living in such
unhealthy novels is difficult of explana-
ton. Possibly their occupation renders
them so accustomed TO rags and garbage
and dirt that they have come to regard
everything else as abnormal-New York
World.