Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-05-03
THE SEWER YIELDS ITS TREASURES.
Workmen Find "a Number III Coins and
Other Valuable Articles in , Drain.

Other VALUABLE Articles in u Drain.
\ party of sewer cleaners Of the de.
partment of public works struck IA bo.
nanAi las; week in the sewer drilt and
sediment of "A sewer IN West Fifteenth
street. An examination showed that
there was a layer al sediment nearly a
foot deep on the bottom ol the drain.
aud indicated that the sewer had not
been cleaned out for years and proba.
bly, moi since the war.
The sewer is about fifteen feet under
the center of the street, Ii has "A Oh.
amcter of nearly five feet, and nan
holes are placed al every few hundred
feet. The brickwork was found To be
solid and in excellent condition, but
the air IN the drain was 81 bad that
the maulolc covers had Ia be left open
for several hours before "A workman
could venture la enter them. In some
parts. he said, the air was 81 bad that
even the sewer rats could not live in II,
but in other sections of the sewer they
We're found in droves. A party of six
men, underline direction of "A foreman,
began the work of cleaning the drain
early last week.
Two Of the men were lowered into
adjoining manholes and worked
through the sewer toward each other,
removing the sediment in buckets un.
til they met The buckets when filled
were drawn up by the men at the
manholes aud emptied on the street to
await removal. The first bucketful
showed a mass OF black sand and
coarse gravel. which looked like coal.
When the first bucketful was emptied
into the street the workmen uttered
an exclamation, and one of them be-
gan Ia spread out the contents with hi,
shovel. while the other carefully ex.
amined the black mass, picking uI
every foreign object that appeared IN
the gravel. Even the foreman became
interested when, OF poking through
the stuff with a stick, he iisiied out q
part OF a brass, copper or gold watch
chain.
\ group oil spectators gathered
around the manhole Ia watch the OPP
erations, but the workmen would moi
allow any II else Ia delve in the sed
iment. \. great number of bits Of oil,
brass keys We're scattered through
every bucketful Of the stuff, with other
bits of metal. But those received littl,
attention from the workmen. VIII,
searched for bits of jewelry and fol
coins. The number Of pieces Of none,
was remarkable. Every turn Of III,
shovel as the bucket was emptiet
would show up an old copper cent. OF
some other com, which the workmei
seemed 10 detect at "A glance. AS fasI
as they were picked up the article
were handed over TO one man. VIII,
placed them in "A bag which he carried
Occasionally a ring or a bracelet or
piece of m Dr. the other was found
and when a special coin which looked
like gold or silver was turned up tin,
foreman examined it himself befor
handing ii over To the bag.
Yes, lie remarked rather reluc
family. "a good many pennies tim,
their way into the sewers with rubbish
and they sink to the bottom and ar,
not carried far. The men in thei
work always find a few dollars wortl
of stuff, which, they divide equally
Most Of the articles are washed in from
the cutters, but some come from tn,
houses. | have known watches to b
! found, but they don't amount to mucl
after their stay in this filth. Their
are some pieces of bone in that load
you see. You cant tell what they ma,
have come from. Everything sof
rots, you see, or the rats eat it. SO W
don't find many pocketbooks. Thi
W hasn't been cleaned out for S.
long that there are a good many pen
MES in il. but it takes a good many O
them to count for much"
The man with a bag had a goo,
sized load u carry at the close of hi
days work. No attention was paid L
the old brass keys. but the carts tina
removed the sediment were followe,
closely 10 the dump by several ltal
ian ragpickers who lowered aroun'
the scene of operations. There wer
rumors Of some good finds by tin
~workmen. but they declared that tn
contents Of the bag are not worth NOR
than q few dollars. New York Trit
une.