The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1888-05-18
THE RAG BUSINESS.
FIVE CLASSES OF PEOPLE Identified
WITH THE INDUSTRY.

Rag Pickers, Junk Dealers, Cleaners, Con-
tractors and Importers - Scene In q
Dealers warehouse-Toung Girls Work
ing in q Sitting Atmosphere.
There are five groups Of classifications Of
labor Inc handling in connection with rags
and their utilization: "m"-. %#"#"@@
l. The r%agpickers, nearly all Italians, who
gather the refuse Of the street and the shops.
2. The dealers i'll rags, papers INC old junk.
of whom there are about 500 in the city.
These are in the main small dealers, and en-
pIoy individually but a few hands, the major
portion of whom are girls and boys. It is
difficult to ascertain the entire force, but a
fair estimate will not exceed 1850.
5. The rag cleaners form the next group.
They are also small dealers, as a rule, who
buy from the rag and junk shops tho rudely
assorted rags and go over them again, divid-
ing them into wooden and cotton goods.
These dealers are self employers, have from
two to four men in their employ and some
younger bands. The entire force SO used may
be estimated at about l 1000.
4. The wholesale or large buyers and con-
tractors form this group. These houses en-
ploy from SO to 200 hands, Of whom three
fifths are girls, many being Of tender years.
There are some thirty largo dealers in the
city, about ten being handlers only of wooden
rags, bought directly from t~ailors, clothiers,
wooden and dry goods houses, etc. Probably
there are 900 hands employed.
5. This group comprises the agents of the
paper shoddy mills and the importers Of rags
of which there are a considerable number in
the city. The business to them is a profitable
one.
A STIRLING ATMOSPHERE.
On Pike street, q little east side thorough
fare near the river and down town, which is
probably not known to the great majority Of
New Workers, is q dealer i'll WOODEN rags
almost entirely. He is u busy dealer, keep
ing four large trucks constantly moving and
having a working force Of about 100, of
whom forty-nine are girls. TIL age Of at
least one-half of these may be questioned.
They do not look, as a rule, over IL years
old, though in reply to questions they de-
clared themselves to be Is or more.
h premises are dirty in the extreme.
Flow can they help being so i'll such a bust
ness? The two houses are occupied from
basement to garnet. The floors are cold and
cherries; the cir is choking, full Of dust and
dirt Of all kinds; it is thick enough to cut
with a knife. Down there in the basement
. ten dirty, slippery steps lead to it-there are
fourteen girls at work amid a Sitting atmos-
phere. The floor is boarded, but the walls
are damp. Under the Sidewalk is a stove, and
this is the source of all the heat in the shop.
The upper floors are a little better, but the
place is unwholesome and filthy beyond, it
would seem, what is unavoidable in such a
business. The wages paid are: For the
women and girls from So so to s. per week,
the larger portion receiving from So to $3.50.
The hours Of work are ten; a half hour is
allowed for dinner, which the girls generally
get at home, as they mostly live in the
vicinity. The wages Of the men average 81
ceiving more.
In this place, which is typical, the rags are
received direct from workshops and stores of
all kinds engaged in the manufacture of
clothing and handling Of dress goods. They
come in bags packed closely and weighing
frcm 800 to 500 pounds each. The Pike street
mans dealings range from Brooklyn to
Newark. The men handle and empty the
bags on large tables with heavy frames and
stout network of wire, having orifices of half
an inch or SO. Over this network the rags
are moved by hand SO that the dirt. ETC., falls
W Uu0 AOO1 l SlCdU ClOuuS NulSll iii VIC eyes,
ears, mouth and lungs.
ON THE SORTING TABLES.
The rags are sorted on these tables and
divided into wooden, mixed and cotton goods,
each being placed in separate barrels. The
colors and quality are also noted in sorting.
and when again bagged are arranged there
by. The cotton and silk goods are sold for
paper stock and the wooden and mixed to the
wooden mills, chiefly in New England, where
they are manufactured into shoddy. Mixed
wooden and cotton goods are not in demand,
but when used the cotton is burned out by
some process.
It was not a pleasant place, this Pike street
warehouse, with its squalor, dirt and dust.
Even less inviting were the hands employed.
The men naturally were rough; sturdy,
ragged; the girls and women-the latter be-
ing mostly elderly-are generally Irish
Americans of the poorest type, with a few
Jews among them. The Italians keep out Of
the warehouses. They content themselves
with the work Of gathering and live while
engaged in the open air. The dealers among
them are controllers Of labor-padrones in
fact; or they have got into the city swim
and contract to handle it's refuse. But the
little ones at the Pike street warehouse, be-
erlmed, ragged, rough, hollow eyed, plnched
of feature, dirty of course, all coughing
more or less from the constant irritation Of
the lungs. ..~.MM.MM. NJ. m"
The cleansing shops Gro no more inviting
to the eye Or n~ostrils, but the dust is not as
intolerable. The rags are bought from the
junk and rag dealers, who buy direct from
tho Italians, or they ere gathered direct
from small shops end factories. The rags
are placed in great pans and washed by
stirring until the worst filth is removed,
when they are sorted and divided roughly
by material, colors n quality, and when
dried are again disposed Of to the wholesale
dealers.-Ncw York Graphic.
\ Largo sum. ~ @@# .7
1t is said that the French cook whom Mr..
Vanderbilt has engaged at e salary Of s10,-
600 a wear, does not know how to make a
mince pic. Perhaps this explains why he is
HA AsH n