Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-12-14
MANY USES FOR JUNK
HOW WORKOUT AND DISCARDED
METAL is UTILIZED.

Old Horseshoes May Reappear as Ra-
zors, and Battered Kitchen Stoves
May Go Up In Skyscrapers-Lucky
Finds In the Junkshops.
The other day / wandered into a
large yard containing great heaps OF
scrap iron and old metals of different
kinds Workmen were sorting out the
masses of rusty, misshapen and tan
gled metals, each of which evidently
had its particular value in the market.
i wondered what became of all the
castaway metal and what peculiar
transformations it underwent. In seek
ing some information on the point
from the proprietor of the place he
said:
This business doesn't look as if it
possessed any elements of interest, ed
ucational or romantic, and yet it has
something of both of these. Now,
there's an old horseshoe. 1t may
shave a Monaghan in China, though
what a Monaghan has to shave don't
clearly see. OF course it will be con-
verted first into a razor. L ship large
quantities of these wornout horseshoes
and wagon tires to the Celestial king
dom to be worked up into raZors,
knives and other useful domestic arti-
Giles. The Chinaman engaged in this
particular industry gets l. cents a day
for his labor. These horseshoes and
wagon tires are wrought iron and are
preferred to other forms of this metal,
because they are the most conveniently
handled.
"When you go across the bridge to
the borough of Manhattan, you proba-
bly, notice some of the new 20 or 80
story buildings going up there and the
big iron columns and Orders used in
their construction. You probably think
that those columns and Orders are all
new metal, but it is likely that they are
not. They are scrap iron, pure and
simple, or may be mixed with some
new ore in the melting and recasting
of the scrap metal in the foundry or
rolling mill where all the scrap goes.
Your discarded kitchen stove may re-
appear in one of the column or grid
ers of a skyscraper. The owners of
these lofty buildings may think they
are getting new iron material and may
pay for it, but they are probably not
getting it. Perhaps there isn't much
difference in the durability of the re-
when you are riding in trolley car,
you may reflect that the metal in the
axles of the wheels and in the railroad
tracks may have formerly served in
stove CRATES. Such are some of the
new forms and uses which scrap metal
assumes.
I'VE dealers alight upon some strange
finds among the old metal which we
gather. I have at home six solid
bronze plaques, as one of this class of
finds, which / wouldn't take S75 for.
I've also got at home an iron and
bronze aquarium, another of these pc
culiar discoveries, which 1 wouldn't
part with for $50.
at is curious to think how such valu-
able articles get into such poor COM
pany as scrap iron. Perhaps the orig
inal owners carelessly permit them to
get mixed up with some old junk
which they disposed of to the junk
man who brings his collection OF stock
to us, or perhaps they deliberately
throw them away through simple
WEAKNESS OF their possession. Then.
again, the articles may possibly be
stolen and sold to the junkman.
There are other interesting finds we
meet with in our business. Not only
the common but the finer metals, such
as jewelry and silverware, fall into our
hands. Possibly you've heard your
wife remark one day that there was a
silver spoon missing, and she might
suspect that the servant has stolen it.
But the truth is the spoon has acct
dentally gone astray and passed I'M
noticed into the ash can or garbage
tub and in the course of time, possibly,
we pick 1t up out of the dumps. Many
a spoon, knife and fork with Tiffany's
or Benedict's stamp on it 1 have
bought at Barren island after being
taken out of these dumps. Other stray
waits in this class which have gath
cred from the Barren island dumps
are silver pocketknives and match
boxes, gold and silver thimbles and
cuff buttons, gold rings and a ladies'
gold purse which 1 sold for $40 as old
gold Some time ago a ring with a
transparent stone was picked out OF
the dumps. A business rival of mine
just got ahead of me in the purchase
of the ring. which he got for $40. The
stone proved to be a genuine diamond,
and the purchaser got $3.50 for the
ring. 1t looked like a ladies' engage
ment ring and the sympathetic thought
struck me that its possibly fair owner
was at that moment suffering unim-
aginable distress at its loss.
so you see," continued the dealer.
there are a few interesting and some
what romantic features associated
with our very prosy looking business"
Brooklyn Citizen.