Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-09

broken crutch. the remains of a chatting
dish. one boxing glove and an antique bon
net.
On pile of debris near the Benning
road was an oldfashioned cradle. such as
were used many years ago. The driver
who brought 1t to the dump volunteered the
Information that between its rough wooden
sides the babies of three generations had
been rocked to sleep 1t was found In
lot of rubbish in Georgetown. One of the
first babies to listen to the ancient lullabies
while being gently rocked in the old cradle
died several years ago at the advanced age
of ninetythree years.
A Curious Traffic.
The traffic of the dumps forms an inter
esting study of the mercantile methods or
''the other half" Many of the pickers live
on the dumps In queer little huts construct
ed of old roof tin and other waste material.
They gather from the rubbish piles iron.
brass. copper. lead. zinc, rags Of every de-
scription. bones. bottles. barrels, boxes and
many other things. These are sorted and
placed in separate piles. Once each week
the Benning road dump is visited by the
buyers, who are mfddlemen between the
ptckers and the junk houses. These buyers
have wagons and purchase from the delv-
ers their Accommodations. which are In turn
sold by them to the junk dealers at fair
profit all around.
Every Friday the dump Is visited by an
agent of the District Bottlers' Association.
He purchases from the pickers all beer,
soda water and other bottles which are
stamped with the names of members of the
organization. For these he pays 3R cents
per dozen Second hand furniture dealers
also occasionally pay visit to the DUMP
Ing ground and buy old lounges, sofas. bed
steads, chairs, baby carriages and other
articles of household utility which can be
repaired, renovated and made salable.
In some of the northern cities the many
thousands of tin tomato and other yege-
hX-t FOL.
gatherers and SOLD to companies who melt
and mold them into window weights and
other similar articles Several months ago
a Washington man of Speculat tive turn
or mind had the myriads of tin cans gath
cred from the dump near Benning These he
shipped to factory in Baltimore But
when the Washington man computed the
cost of hauling the cans to the railroad
yards. the freight charges over the rail
road and the haulage in Baltimore he
found he had engaged in a losing game
which he promptly abandoned. Since that
time the tin cans are only useful as filing
material In the waste places along the
Eastern branch.
Rubber boots, gum shoes and other SINH
lar manufactures are gathered by the pick
ers and bring good figure They are p,ir-
chased by agents and shipped to the rubber
factories in the north.
The dump in the rear of the base ball
park in Northeast Washington is also an
interesting place for the student of human
nature and the struggle for existence
among the poor. This dumping place is
known as the old brickyard by its deni-
zenS. 1t Is in charge of Superintendent J.
w. Cherry. Only ashes. bricks, earth and
other solid matter are allowed to be depos-
tied there. The purpose of this dump is the
filling of lake-like body of water which
was originally about one thousand yards in
length. This lake or pond was supplied
with water by rainfalls and the drainage
from the contiguous hills. 1t has been the
scene of several drownings during recent
years and has always been regarded as a
menace.
Formerly the big pond was the home OF
thousands of frogs. and boys and men made
much money by engaging in frog fishing.
selling their product to local dealers and
reStaurateurs. The lake. although much re-
duced in size by constant filling in, still has
a fair-sized population of frogs and the
residents of that neighborhood are treated
on these spring nights to a continuous
after shutdown concert of basso profundi
and baritone frog songs
An Interesting Place.
This dump receives many loads of ashes
from points about town, and during the
coal famine last winter it proved a God
send to the Door colored families in the
eastern section of the city. The pickers at
the old brickyard dump are provided with
ash sleeves. and the cinders they gather
in piles are either used by their families
or sold to other needy persons. The ma
jority of pickers on this dumping ground
are children, and they provided with a
variety of vehicles, great and small, in
which the cinders are carried away.
The loads of waste paper collected about
the city are sent to the crematory at the
foot of South Capitol street. There it is
sorted and such as can be sold is baled
and shipped to paper factories in various