The sun., 1897-10-24
ATTHE CITY PICKING YARD.
TONS OF REFUSE IRE SORTED DAILT
AND MOST OF 1T rs SOLD.
The Largest Yield IL or Fnper-NeHt is the Ras
Depo.it-oid unts Arc Sold for Two Cents
np,cce-A Picturesque Hut Dusty Field for
IN. uuprcs.lonist-Money In city Rubbish.

n.no,,, oid unts Arc Sold for Two Cents
Apicce-A picturesque Hut Duaty Field for
tho eIuprcsslonist-Money In city Rubbish.
Away over in East Eighteenth street there is
n subject for an artist. This hint is not for tho
man who has enough subjects for his immediate
usc II is for the man who Is 80 hard up for a
thing to mint that he won't mind working with
his lungs half full OF dust and his nostrils
prey to odors unlike those OF Arahy the blost.
The picking yard is one OF Col. Warnings pets.
A few more ricking yards and tho street clean.
ing isn't going to cost the city enc sent. still
fow more. perhaps and thero may be an annual
Christmas present for every child In town.
There ia no telling. At present the Eighteenth
street ward is tho only one in active operation.
Rut two more yards will shortly bo added unto
A. and in tho course of time we shall all wear
diamonds.
Under the old order of street cleaning every.
thinr went to the scows-evory hing, that is,
which the ragpickcrs did not pIlfcr from tho
barrels on the sidewalk. tndCr the present sys.
tcm it is possible to collect separately the refuse
which would not go in with tho garbage or with
the ashes 1t is this refuse. from certain dis
trict which goes TO the picking yard. The dis.
trict CLEANED by the Eighteenth street yard OK.
tends. roughly speaking, from Ninth street and
Broadway north to Twenty.third street and
Sixth avenue and cnst to the river.
This is not considered the most valuable source
OF pickings. The chief returns from this district
come from few large dry goods houses. For.
merly ono of these houses paid to have the
refuse paper and scraps taken away. Now the
city's carts call twice day and take the stuff
away for nothing, and there is profit in 1t. too.
The refuse is almost entirely paper of good
grades and quito clean. The dry goods houses
bale 1t loosely or stuff it into immense sacks. SO
that it is easily handled.
AS said before, this district does not yield the
best possible returns The uptown residence
localities the most profitable. The things
thrown away there are Of better quality and
can easily be returned into circulation.
More than half the yard at Eighteenth street
is under cover, but the shed thus formed is open
at the sides except where tho high fence shuts
it Off rom the street The place was at its busiest
one sunny afternoon last week. At one corner
of the yard the great crcmatory putfed and
painted, An iron stack Mt ono side stretched
100 fee up into tho air and then emitted
out clouds of white steam.
In the Cpen yard were heaps Of old iron, stacks
of barrels, bins full of empty bottles, and other
classified debris Under the great roof were
bales OF paper, bits Of scarlet and blue and
shadows were dim heaps of rags, rolls OF old
carpet, and medley OF ailupidated apparel,
roof which stretches from one end of the yard to
the crematory. An occasional ray Of sunshine
found its way through the roof. and the pari.
looked almost like solid substance. Under this
long roof ran what: at first glance looked like
table about three, feet wide. The sides were Of
wood, but the middle was wide canvas belt
which travelled on rollers. Twenty-Five men
and boys stood along it, poking and turning over
the stun as it was carried By, and recovering
from it some particular variety OF refuse.
At the end T.. fnrthest from the cremstory a man
threw spadcfuls of refuse upon the belt. After
the stuff had run the gauntlet and the articles
OF some value had been cleaned the rest OF it
fInf hot lDlt into =, tt,n
crematory and was consumed. The furnace
feeds itself and al so generates steam. At the
foot of the tall smokestack was a heap of fine,
dusty ash. 1t was al! that remained of the burned
refuse of the day before. Occasionally a small
for the most part everything which goes into
the furnace is reduced TO fine ASH and very
little OF that.
Each man who watches the moving belt with
its heap of rubbish is on the alert for one thing.
or one class of things. AS there is moro paper
than anyt ming else. one man will look out Tor
single grade OF paper. Hats. shoes, brushes. and
bottles not being SO common one man can get
them ALL The paper men are re- those at the be- DC,
other things. Next come the rag gatherers. and
finally the bottles and shoes and heavier things
All the stuff recovered is classified and is sold
at a fixed rate. For instance. the paper Is
msns and The RAGS
as woollen, white. black. and mi Ned. Under
this head aso come wns and ,bsEsrg White
bring only 20 cents, and mixed ones bring 80
cents Carpets are elGssled as sof basS
back carpets bring S2..65 hundredwcight All
wool ones bring SI.25. Barrels are sold at
The inferior ones sell at IL cents hundred
weight and are made into fertilizer. The better
There 1rhs an TSHs Yield of bottles bu the
demand does not equal the supply. There are
$4,000 now stored at the yard They are CLASH.
fed as lager, soda, quarts. siphonS. and milk
bottles. They average cent apiece; but milk
bottles bring . cents; Cured hair is sold at .
4 cents n pouEd). white talso at 4 ccntsl. and
medium lat 3 ccnts). Old iron brings 81 a ton.
zinc at ~ cents. lead AT ga cents. and pewter
at 10 cents. The pewter crop comes mainly
old casters find their way sometimes to the yard.
Tin cans sell at ~ Loaf. They are sold TO
people who extract the solder. combine the tin
With pig iron and make it into sash weights.
Old hats are Jumped at cents apiece. brushes
bring or cents apiece. Excelsior sells ut =
During ono week recently the yard sold 2.32O
pounds Of paper 5000 pounds OF rags, 75 hun.
dredwcisht OF carpet 5000 pounds of shoes. 10
pairs at cents a pair. li.s7l bottles. 100
hats. and 200 barrels This does not include all
what is recovered at that one yard.
the course of week, but very few things are
all OF them in excellent condition. Out in the
shed are bales OF books, m my of them showing
dust which settles everywhcrc A great many
letters come in. and The inspectors occasionally
PICK up one ana read H. llcy 0ttcn flnh aInuse-
ment in these stray cpistle7. but they cousign
the leaves TO the bales or the crcmatory.
Hanging on one OF tho posts was an
old.fas shioned photograph Of two children
The dresses and the oval gilt frame We're OF
the type of thirty years ago. On another
post was n mirror without n crack. Two baby
shoes. not 90 far gone to have lost their charm,
were Sc, at one side. A registration card flut'
tered ont at III" reporters feet. Beside it lay
scrap of letter. Only one line. or rather part
of u line. was visible. 1t said: PIE use remit
Mt once" A long ribbon from the ticker was
tangled in with the heap. "Ncgot iations pend
ing for The sale OF heavy securities, tran; then
lost itself in the folds OF an Old apron.
Close to the travelling belt are tho presses.
When the men have gathered certain quantity
Of paper the belt il stopped, the presses AFRO
filled, and the contents quickly baled About
thirty-siX bales of paper are recovered every day
Meanwhile the other refuse is carried to tho
various heaps An occasional cart comes for II
load of barrels or for kindling wood for the sec
tion stations. At the other gate the carts bring
in the loads they have gathered. Ono OF the
dry goods houses alone sends twenty immense
! sacks of paper and rags every day. Another
item OF receipt is the tobacco stems from tho
cigar and cigarette factories. These come scpa
rately, so that they do not have to be sorted
Thcy are. shipped South, where they are used
for fcrtiliang.
The dust seemed 10 grow worse and worse
The city inspector the place il now run by u
ontractor) said that he did not mind il. how