Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-07-11

tion and Their Work.
NJ Rouff, a dealer in diamonds, lost a fine
large pearl, weighing 125 grains and valued
at 5000. He immediately put posters up OF
all the walls of Paris offering handsome re
ward for its recovery. Several weeks elapsed
when poor woman called on the commissa,'y
of police in the Rue Montmartre and handed
the lost pearl to that official Her name wa.
Gautier. She was q chiffonniere, or. femal,
ragpicker, by trade, and had found the pear
in heap of rubbish in the Rue Laffitte She
lived in a small wooden shanty in the Rue dl
Ruisseau, poorly tenanted street belonging
to a quarter known as Les Grandes Carrieres
so named from, the large quarries" on tht
northern slopes of Montmartre, where tn,
city formerly got much of its fine limestone
for building
The new law that forbids housekecper,
placing their rubbish in the streets over night
has been sad blow to the corporation t.
which this poor, honest woman belongs
Some compensation has, it is true, been of
fered them by the tolerance of the police
who close their eyes TO the infringement Of
the regulations in the narrow streets which
are lined with shops and warehouses. They
have each their own concierge, who permits
bish brought down by the servants from up
stairs.
They have a longer days work now. For
merly they started out at 10 mt night, and al
or 5 in the morning, when the carts mad,
their rounds, they had disappeared from th,
streets. Now they must remain until the
scavengers appear on the scene, or at leasI
until the boxes of rubbish have been emptied
int hxa nnfs n.
the curb by each concierge
They have the work of sorting to do wher
they get back from their early morning tasl
of collecting the refuse Some sell it to q
boss or trieur tsorter), as he is called, who
stays at home and does nothing else. He sits
in his room like gentleman, and there quiet
ly assemblies, examines and separates the diff
ferent articles picked up by his work people
He then sells the material to buyers of vari
Gus sorts.
The business is anything bnt a lucrative
one. Parisians, however, throw away every
year more than 3J0,0 600 tons of stuff, which
the ragpickers collect and sell for upward OF
25,0O0,O0O francs, or nearly S5000,000 The
daily returns amount in all to more than 90
600 francs (S14 900, but there are 40 900 men
and women to share the sum between them
L
csntimes, or less than 35 cents Two hundred
pounds of waste paper cannot be sold fol-
more than a couple of francs, wooden rags
are only worth 5 cents a pound, cotton /:
cents, and bones at best fetch franc S5 cen.
times, or 81 cents, per hundred weight.
A man working steadily all night-for they
still ply their trade on small scale, despite
the edict of the prefect-may earn, if he has
q Poi, 1e
sixty cents, but not more. silver spoon
does occasionally turn up in the rubbish, but
a pearl of purest orient hue-well, so te
speak, never. Besides, every member of the
corporation of ragpickers is bound under
severe penalties to deposit any valuable he
may find at tine nearest police Office Each
has a card or ticket with number inscribed
and a number corresponding with that OF
the card is fastened to the hottie or basket
Ragpickers, moreover. have always beer
noted for their industry and honesty
The new law" have alluded to was de.
cree enacted by M. Poubelle, prefect of th.
Seine, requiring every concierge TO provide
box for the rubbish of the tenants, and tx
have it ready for the dust carts on their
morning rounds. 1t came into force Jan Is
1884. The evident effect, if not the object
"a AhiS adS " Cilcth lEe cnlII On
nier's occupation, and to give the dust con
tractor a monopoly of the refuse. On sani
tary grounds the prefect may have beer
right, but policy required moderation ever
in a question where the health of so large 1
city as Paris is concerned. The fact of sud
denly reducing so large a crowd of homes
servants to downright beggary was a mis-
take.
Public opinion, which in France, as il
other countries Of similar high degree o.
civilization, is the supreme ruler, spoke up il
favor of the ragpicker and against tha
minor sovereign known as the prefect O.
the Seine. Many deputies also humanel,
Joined in the protest, so that the now immor
tai NJ. Poubelle was constrained to offer mar
tial excuses for his action in the matter. apt
promised that the utmost tolerance should b,
exercised by the authorities in behalf of thi
particular and-as he admitted-'' hon
orable" industry. The ragpickers were il
future to be allowed to turn out the new dus
boxes, so as to be able to rake over the con
tents
/ will conclude this article about rag
pickers by relating the story of a pool
woman, Nine. Vanard, who arrived at com
potency by. collecting orange peel. ans
occupation to others. She became a rici
person, a great patroness of art and a regu
lar habitue of the opera. Her husband wa
in business as distiller of spirits and es
sences, such as are used by perfumers apt
dealers in liqueurs. She gave him as mucl
assistance as she could. He, however, died
whereupon she tried for some time to carry
on the distillery alone, but without success.
TQllInu 10, 81 -.
keeper of a restaurant where she used to tax,
ner dinner, she was much struck with a re
mark that he made, to the effect that ther,
was fortune to be realized by some clever
person in the orange and lemon peel which
was daily thrown away by the garcons o.
the cafes.
She took the hint and pondered over it
The next thing she did was to sell her stool
in trade and become a sort of amateur chif
fonniere, with this difference-that the oh
Ject OF her quest was orange and lemon pee
only. She struck up business nelations witt
the limonadiers and the various waters who
well, you know how men arel-were glac
to help young and, as she was then, good
looking woman. They all, in fact, watched
her pe1tnre in this new line With consider
able interest.
She had a tiresome task at first but soor
as she got to be known matters went OIL more
sraoothly. The peel idea proved success
In fact, she prospered SO rapidly that she wa.
ere long able to employ other hands to do the
dirty work of collecting the material from
the streets, as also from the theatres for the
sweepings of which she contracted
She presided herself over some thirty young
women IN her orange aud lemon peel ware
house, all of whom were btsily occupied il
cleaning, pressing and packing the peel as il
arrived, an operation which she christened
10y the word "zester.n Vast quantities OF
zeste were daily sent away to ali parts ol
France and abroad to form the basis ol
Dutch curacao, orangeade citropade and the
many kinds of light drinks and aperients
which are met with over the.continent Sh,
has nov retired from business, and enjoy.
the hard earned fruits OF her former ,abor.
Mrs. Ftank Leslie in Detroit News
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