The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-02-20
WHAT is DONE IN A HOSPITAL
FOR LOST BOTTLES.
(continued from Fourth Page.l


1t employs eagle-eyed inspectors to
see that no black sheep of the trade
eovets or desires his neighbours goods,
and that all bottles found at marine
stores are promptly sent to the Ex-
chars e-and to the Exchange they
come in their thousands and ten of
thousands from morning till night.
Vestries and dust-contractors also
join in the arrangement, and the num-
| Der of empties sent in by their en-
ployes is legion.
The dumping grounds for London
dust are we'll known to the willy bottle
seeker, and his search is so thorough
that nothing escapes him. The harvest
| is always a plentiful one, and during
last year over a million bottles reached
Holland street from this source alone.
The collectors receive twopence per doz-
en- for all bottles sent in.
| Naturally, thousands of bottles are
returned intact to the manufacturer by
the retail dealers; but very frequently
the manufacturer finds himself in pos
session of bottles belonging to another
| firm. These he Immediately returns to
the Exchange, without any remunera-
ton beyond the fact of knowing that
his own missing ones will reach him in
good time.
In the yard of the Bottle Exchange
huge piles of "empties'' are stacked; y
| tiers of boxes rise on every hand. 1t is
a common occurrence for the Exchange
to have three or four thousand gross of
| bottles on the premises at one time, the
majority Of these being orphans res
cued from dust-heaps, cellars, empty
shops and houses, marine stores and
plots of waste land where rubbish may
be deposited. smart sorter can deal
with seven or eight thousand bottles in
a day; and one of them told the writer
that on merely picking up bottle he
could tell to what box it belonged al
most by instinct
The sorting is done by boys, and as
may be imagined it is no light task.
The sorting-room is well lighted, and
contains bewildering array of slant
ing racks, on which a still more bewil-
dering array of names is painted. On
these racks boxes are placed under each
name, and are quickly filled. The box
es are then removed to the Storeroom,
to be sent to their owners. All bottles
without names are either destroyed or
sold to manufacturers to be sandblast-
ed with their own names and trade
marks.
Many consignments of bottles reach
the Exchange by the ship from the col
onies, and dare say some of us have
refreshed ourselves out of bottles that
have voyaged to midas coral strand, to
the Cape, or to New Zealand
Probably few people are aware that
to break a mineral water bottle is a
criminal offence, and that on more than
one occasion adults have been fined and
juveniles birched for having done so
A certain portion of the public appears
to ignore the fact that mineral water
bottles are private property, and that
it is quite as reprehensible to break one
of them as it is to break a mans win
dow
Still, the fact that since the farthing
deposit was placed on bottles the losses
have steadily diminished proves that
the public is learning that bottles have
some value after all.
The Bottle Exchange has about three
hundred members, and is governed by a
board chosen from these, with Mr.. Wal
ter. Davenport as manager and secreta-
ry. 1t speaks well for the growth of
temperance in this country that over
thirty million pounds worth of capital
is sunk in the mineral trade in
England, and that considerably over
one hundred thousand people are EN-
ployed in it.
During 1894 the Exchange had "busi-
: ! 49,
lion empty bottles, and also acted the
"gcod Samaritan" toward thirty three
thousand wandering boxes. thirteer
thousand homeless syphons, and about
six hundred casks, which had lost theil
; way.
| Many of the bottles which reach the
Exchange-and probably ninety nine
PEI cent. of those thrown away dc
! reach it-appear to the casual observer
to be in such a state Of CRIME that any
attempt to cleanse them would be {
/ hopeless task. Were hand labor en-
ployed the game would not be wortl
the proverbial candle, but the bottle
: washing machines quickly restore then
. to their pristine condition of cleanli
/ ness.
f The Exchange confines its dealing
I solely to bottles which have contained
mineral waters, and few doubtful char
t acters in the shape of beer, whiskey O
, wine bottles are allowed to find ref
!. uga in this home of temperance.
Brewers and brewers bottlers, it APP
: pears, charge full value-two shilling
sixpence to three shillings per 1ozen-
!, for their bottles, and to distillers, il
conlr arison with the value of the liquor
the price of the bottle is bagatelle.-
= Answers.