The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-19
CITY BACK YARDS.
A Source OF Revenue to Many People OF
Many and Diverse Trades.


If one should look abroad just casually
upon any range Of back yards, say, for ex-
ample, upon such range as that In view
from my study window" said Prof. Won
Joggleby. very probably 1t would seem
to him, seeing them as he might when they
were all in a state OF perfect peace and
quietude, that they were just simply back
yards, and that that was all there was to IL.
It certainly never would occur to him that
they could ever be a source Of revenue 70
anybody But. as matter OF fact. these
same back yards, that may look 80 quiet
now, do first and last furnish employment for
many men in many and diverse trades, who
draw in the 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 and trims
the vines and cleans up around generally.
He gets a days work out OF 1t, at least,
Then comes the stone, or the concrete
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 will
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 to 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 n 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 any
where for a rake-of 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
cats away And the hardware man gets
also something for the clothes poles used
in those same back yards, which he like
wise sells
Not the least among those who derive
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 pro-
vides new boards and panels in place OF
broken ones, and puts on new coping strips,
and incidentally replaces or repairs the
crossbeaus resting on the fence tops, be-
tween which the clothes lines are drawn.
Not the poorest or least productive back
yard Job of the lot, that of the carpenter.
After him comes, to cover over the new
work and it may be the whole fence, the
painter, who finds many job waiting for
him in IA many back yards.
And it may even be that the plumber
finds some revenue in back yards In clear
ing ohoked UP drains. And in winter.
when the yards are covered with snow,
and it would seem as though all work must
he suspended. along comes a man Who'll
knows better the man who goes from
house TO house seeking jobs at shovelling
snow, who knows that the sidewalks are
not the only places to be shovelled who
knows thar on Mondays they want paths
shovelled in the back yard 50 that they can
hang out the clothes. .....
ITO sse the back yards as they appear
say on a summer day, with 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 II: but in reality there
is. first and last a lot to do in the lack
yards. They are constant source OF
revenue to many people in many and
diverse trades"