New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-11

OF settlement between the owners and the in
surance companies In some instances where
by the terms OF the settlement the goods or
what is left OF them, become the property of the
insurance companies, they turned over to
the salvage company which wrecks the goods
and sells them for the account OF the insurance
companies that had paid the former owners for
tOtaI loss, the usual process being to take out,
restore, house and sell the goods for a certain
percentage Of the amount realized
THE COMPANY BEGINS WORK
The operation OF making goods which have
gone through fire salahlc involves quick. skill
ful handling. and must be supervised by men
VINO are thoroughly convcrsant with the line
or goods which has been damaged II tho fire
was a large one the stock Will he found in the
water-soakcd cellar, covered with heaps Of pIas-
ter stones, charrcd beams and all sorts Of rub
bish The salvage company finds the goods no
matter what condition they may be in carts
them away 10 stores or warehouses rented for
that purpose and there undertake : the opera
tons by which they may be restored as nearly
as possible to what they were before the fire 50
mat they may be converted into money. For
drygocds clothing and merchandise of that class
quick-dryinE plants must be provided and as
dry they are put into the hands Of the clean
ers and rcnOvators. New labels bands. boxes
and ornamental wrappers are oyidcd. and in
Tome instances goods which looked too badly
damaged to pay FOR carting them away are
sent to the auction-room looking as good as new
When silks, cloths or dress goods have been SO
damaged that they become useless because no
long pieces can be saved, the goods are trimmed
for bc Of
facturers Of covered buttons. neckwear CATERS.
cloth slippers, caps and many other lines Of
goods where short pieces useful.
one Of the most difficult stocks to handle is
clothing. and the man who takes charge OF
the work for salvage company must know the
business in every detail The garments, after
being dried, must be gone over by experienced
tailors, who work diligently to obliterate the
Signs Of damage by fire and water. Garments
are changed in style and size to destroy the fire
marks, and in order to sell two garments third
one must frequently be made.
whole stock Of coats may have occupied
such place in the fire that a sleeve from each
coat would be burned away, but that would
not make the coats a total loss to the salvage
men. The coats would be doctored in some way
that they would bring a price at the fire
sale" which ends the service of the salvage com
panN AT thcSr sales goods which were miles
away from the scene Of the fire are often run
in for IN, purpose az averaging the stock and
to make them look Ike wrecked goods they are
sometimes treaiod to 4 bath just before the
sale.
THE BUTTONS WE'RE IN IT. ANYWAY
At one of these auctions which took place re-
Gently a buyer examined lot of coats, and
said that they looked remarkably clean and
new to have been through q fire. Yes" said
tn nan for whose benefit the sale was going
on you see they found the buttons in the
runs and made the coats to put them on"
Hardware and cutlery are difficult articles to
hand, because rust makes the goods unsala-
bic Finely uo,ishod steel. guns. reviewers and
plated ware look useless and worthy OF the
ecrauheap when they are thrown from burned
out store into packing-casos and carted to the
rooms where tn salvage company takes them
in hand There. hy means Of polishing bI1S'
er,rdsf ones acid baths and Furnishing TOOLS t"e
,pc,al ie made t. look fresh and new, old hanuitS
aro d.strnVcd and new horn. ivory rubber ana
celuloid handles are put on the various aIu-
clee Thcn the small stuff is fastened on 'dIuS
and hacked IN new boxes The STOCK which ID