Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1905-07-20
BACKYARD REVENUE.
CITY ENCLOSURES FURNISH EN-
PLoYMENT TO WORKERS.
Rear Enclosures Of the City Afford
Employment fer Men Of Many
Different Trades 10
Work At.

4
ally upon any range of back yards.
say, for example. upon such a range
rs that in view from my study win.
dow" said Prof Won Joggleby. in the
New York Sun, very probably ii
would seem to him. seeing them as he
might when they were in a state Of
perfect peace and quietude. that they
were just simply back yards, and that
that was all there was TO il. II GER
tainly never would occur TO him that
they could ever be a source of rev.
enue to anybody But, as a matter of
fact, these same back yards, that may
look so quiet now, do first and last,
furnish employment for many men in
many and diverse trades, who draw in
fle aggregate considerable sums Of
money from them.
In the spring, for instance, comes
along the cleanup man, who rakes
up the winters debris and prunes the
shrubs mad trims the vines and cleans
up around generally. He gets days
work out of it. at least.
Then comes the stone. or the con
crete, man, who relays the flags or
repairs the concrete in the paved
walks, where they have been thrown
out of level. or cracked by the action
of the frost.
And now appears the turf seller,
the man who drives along the street
with a wagon load of turf for sale.
wherewith he win patch up worn
spots in front and back yards. making
them as good as new.
And in due time comes the grass
cutter. and the grass cutter comes,
too, at regular intervals through the
season, 10 keep the grass in order.
Among the earlier corners in the
back yard, finding there a source OF
revenue, is the gardener, who digs up
the borders and sets out plants that
have been kept in the house through
the winter, and he also may come
at intervals. To the florist the back
yard is a yearly and constant source
Of revenue, for he supplies all the
needed flowers and shrubs.
1T might not at first thought seem
that the hardware dealer would come
in anywhere for a rake-off from the
back yard, but he surely does. He
supplies the cat teaser, the strips of
wood with long, sharp spikes sticking
up through them, To be nailed along on
the fence top. TO keep the cats away.
And the hardware man gets also some
thing for the clothes poles used in
those same back yards. which he like
wise sells.
mot the least among those who de
rive some income from the back yard
is the carpenter, who makes plumb
the sagging fence, and supplies new
posts in place of such as have rotted
at the base, and provides new boards
and panels in place of broken ones,
and puts on new coping strips, and
incidentally replaces or repairs the
crossbeams resting on the fence tops,
between which the clothes lines are
drawn. Not the poorest or least pro-
ductive back yard job Of the lot. that
Of the carpenter
After him comes. to cover the new
work, and il may be the whole fence,
the painter, who finds many a Job
waiting for him in as many back yards.
And n may even be that the
plumber finds some revenue in back
yards in clearing choked up drains.
And in the winter, when the yards are
covered with snow. and II would seem
as though all work must be suspended,
along comes a man who knows better,
The man who goes from house TO
house seeking jobs at shoveling snow,
who knows that the sidewalks are not
the only places to be shoveled, who
knows that on Mondays they want
paths shoveled in the back yard, so
that they can hang out the clothes.
ITO see the back yards as they APP
pear. say on a summer day, with a
cat here and there browsing in a
shady corner, and all everywhere in
perfect peace and quiet, might make
one unfamiliar with them think that
they were always so, that they were
complete and finished, and that's all
there was about il; but in reality there
is. first and last, a lot TO do in the back
yards. They are a constant source
Of revenue to many people in many
and diverse trades"