The morning news., 1889-03-16
RAGPICKERS OF PARIS.
A LITTLE JOLLITY EVEN IN THE
MOST sQUALID HOMES.

ArlSLOCTablC SS4ACE5b WAGI 4 WI w u6Sl
Carts Loaded with Baskets of Rags
Scenes in the Dismal Rooms Where
children Are Born in Poverty's
Darkest Shadow.
From the Ner0 York Press.
PARIS, FOB. 27.-It turns out that was
mistaken when l said the other day that the
cbiffonniers of this city were all miserable
creatures living almost in state of starva-
tion. Perhaps a large majority of the
pickers are having pretty tough time of
il but it would be untrue to depict this
particular class of society as in the dismal
cutter of existence. Misery does not reign
supreme in the local haunts of the Parisian
"bifins" any more than it does in the
shanty towns of certain class in New York
and Chicago.
OF course there are some wretched sights
to be seen in the ragpickers' quarter, but
there are also some jolly folks among them
who are not yet halfway inclined to die Of
starvation. Their ''cities' are rarely ex.
plored by travellers or visitors to the capi-
tal. and as | have trudged afoot day time
and night among the streets and alleys
wherein they live, consider myself some
what competent to describe things as they
really exist among Paris ragpickers. First
of all let me say there are big bugs" IN
this calling just as there are swells in other
callngs and professions. Very recently
saw in an American paper an article which
said that everything was dismal misery,
and that only awful distress was found
among the chiffonnlers. This was an ex-
treme view of the real state of affairs.
1t is true that since the prefect of police
issued certain order as regards the deposit
of house refuse, there has been greater dis
tress among ragpickers than there was be-
fore, but it is not true that all of them are
on the verge of starvation. The police or
der reads that a zinc, iron or wooden box
must be placed in front of the house and all
refuse be thrown into it. Then it is to be
taken off by scavengers. The worst of it is
these boxes are drawing the attention of the
rats, and their audacious appearance in
dwellings comedies in proportion to the
quantity OF refuse they thus obtain for food.
While the rats are thus getting plenty to
eat. the ragpickers are having worse time
OF it than i'll years gone by.
No one seems to know exactly how mauy
chiffonniers there are in Paris, but the gen
eral idea is that they number 40, 900. Nearly
all of these go out at night seeking in the
rubbish and refuse, in the sweepings of the
lady's chamber, i'll the cast off of the cooks
kitchen, in the debris that hospitals no
longer need, and that the restaurants
throw away, their daily bread for them
selves and their families, and also those ar
ticles of value which legend has told them
lie hidden in the boxes or in the gutter, 1t
IS human mass, carrying "hottes"
and "crooks" and little lanterns,
that finds its way through ali
our alleys, streets, avenues and bou-
levards, and that helps night soavengers
to clean the town. The 'hotten of the rag
picker is basket sort of affair, constructed
SO that it will sit well against his back, and
it is held in place by means of straps pass
ing over and on his shoulders, very much
al after the fashion OF the army knapSack.
The ''crook" is not exactly crooked; it is a
long stick tipped with sharp nail. The
lantern hangs low from his hand by strip
or bit of iron; it is inclosed on three sides.
and holds lighted candle. These are the
implements of the poorest ragpicker. The
big bugs" of the profession have carts and
horses, sacks and boxes, in which they carry
away all the refuse thus picked up.
There are three or four categories of rag
pickers, and the "placiers" are quite "bour-
geois;n that is to say, they are respectable.
well-to-do individuals. They not only work
on their own account and get the highest
market value for their wares, but they en-
ploy others to help them in their nightly
labor. They are independent persons who
might be called ladies and gentlemen, at
the mercy OF no hard task master, un-
less it be the project of police, whose or
der troubles them as much in proportion as
it does the poorer classes engaged in
this calling. The second class are those
who dispose of their findings at so much
per pound, the good with the bad, to the
'placiers" or brokers. The lowest of them
all are the ragged, almost barefooted per-
sons Of both sexes that 60 about with
"hotte" on back and raking stick, con
stantly looking for a bit to eat or rag
worth picking up. They have to cover
many miles of Improbable pavement, and,
that, too, in all sorts Of weather, to earn a
small pittance.
The better way to see Paris chiffonn iers
when you come to France is to ask some
one at police headquarters to accompany
you into their districts The chiffonniers
themselves are not a dangerous lot, but
there is In those parts Of the town a miser-
able population just as thieving and as
sneaklng as any you will find in the new
world should not be afraid to go in the
midst OF the most notorious of these alleys,
called Cities" provided | had some one
with me, but should not care to go alone;
not That am nervous man, but because
IL IS prudent to keep out of danger, and
danger always turks in those neighborhoods
"nere drunken rascals and thieves abound
Some OF these "cities," however, have a
very agreeable appearance, and such is the
one which was established some years ago
by the Femme Culotte.n She was a
woman, thus called because she always
wore masculine attire. She is dead now,
out when she lived she ruled ragpickers as
IL she was their queen, and it Is said she left
considerable fortune behind her. There
are 4UO to 500 tenants in the "Culotte cityn
uIstrlct, and.rents are higher there than
elsewhere.
These 'placiers" are impor tant function
aries In the rag picking trade. For a none
Iary consideration they make arrangements
WIN housekeepers aud concierges so that
tne pans can be visited before the arrival of
the scavengers' carts, and thus thew obtain
tne il hrst pick. 1t is they also who pay the |
highest market prices and who are the most |
Iuuependent in the business went inside |
one OF these brokers' houses and he showed |
tne se the soup his wife was preparing |
loI @ thelr dinner. On the stove stood an |
eai "a itnen pot, or petite marmite," and in |
eIls was stewed mess that did not have a |
peasant odor. | wondered what it was, |
esIu @ was shown that it consisted of potatoes, |
eGthe oIi tew leeks, bit Of pork, part OF |
S.l ST.uicKen, cabbage leaves and lump OF gar
nc nc IN the corner of the room lay a "hotte," |
VI VI professional basket, full OF paper and |
many Kinds Of rubbish, while on a shelf |
asaihst the wall was such curious collec
tloH OF articles that | might have been led
70 suppose that the broker was collec-
soI OF broken glasses. There were de-
caqhters with the tops Off, pieces Of lamp
eSooes' eS mirrors, and multitude of disabled