Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-28
A BOTTLE EXCHANGE
CURIOUS UNDERTAKING OF THE
LOCAL CLEARING HOUSE.
More Than a Million Recovered in q
Year and Returned to Their
Proper Owners.

A sign on the building at 818 ~ street
southwest indicates to the public that the
building is used as the headquarters of the
Bottlers' Protective Association. Few peo-
pie not connected with the establishment
have an idea of the character of the work
done there and Of the vast amount of
money that is saved each year to the sew
enteen members of the organization. The
place is by no means junk shop, as its
appearance might indicate, but is merely
clearing house for the people who are en-
gagged in the business Of bottling beer The
local association is only one of many SIM
liar organizations in the United States.
Then there is national organization made
up of the various city associations.
During recent years the question of re-
covering their bottles formed a problem
which the dealers found a difficult one to
solve. improvements have been made in
the service from time to time until the
system has been almost perfected. In order
to bring about the present conditions the
detectives and other agents engaged In the
service experienced some hard struggles
and court experiences and made many enc
mics. Most of the smaller dealers who OPP
posed the methods at first were afterward
brought to realize that there was law
to give them the same protection that was
and still is enjoyed by the members of the
Saving Their Stock.
With the association it is not question
of buying and selling bottles, but merely
one of saving the stock that has already
been purchased. While it is true that it is
sometimes necessary to pay out a few
pennies for labor there Is no offer held out
for bottles at SO much a dozen. Under the
laws of the District people who engage in
the traffic of bottling beer are afforded a
certain protection in the matter OF the
uses to which their bottles may be put All
that is necessary Is for the owner to have
his bottles properly stamped and registered
in the office of the clerk of the court. This
registration establishes a legal ownership
and renders the prosecution or persons
using them possible. 1t is because of this
law that the association is able TO exist ano
protect its members.
Charles e. Flinders is the detective who
has charge of the work OF the local asso-
citation. He has been with the association
a number of years and had no trouble In
building up the work in q short time be-
cause Of his wide experience before he ac-
copied the position. When he took charge
of the work he found that thousands of the
bottles had ben used in private families.
Some people used them as milk bottles
and others put up catsup in them. This
was all In violation of law, but the fam
lilies were not prosecuted. Many of them
were compelled to empty their catsup and
milk and turn over the bottles to the de-
tective. Dealers who used bottles belong
ing to others were warned, but the warn
1ngS did not nave the desired eUect ana
prosecutions followed.
No Easy Task.
During the early days of the associa-
tion," said Detective Flinders to Star
reporter, "there was not much smooth sail
ing. Everybody was on the warpath and
objected to our visits. We knew they had
the bottles, however, and they had to be
obtained In some way 1 remember one
iv,cto ", rryhy oh ~ Qvoa ru n
climb a back fence and when the yard
was reached a bull dog was turned loose.
The occupant of the premises also threat
ened to kill the first man who touched
ward one of the best friends the assoc1a-
ton had
Several times it has become necessary
for the detective Of the local association
to go to other cities and look Cor bottles
belonging to local dealers. That was be-
fore the clearinghouse system was made
to include the organizations OF the different
Cities Now they are expressed from one
city to another and only the actual cost
of collecting and shipping has to be paid
by the owner. Last year there passed
of 1,Os5 1928 bottles. These bottles were
recovered principally from dumps and pri-
vate houses.
Back to the Clearing House.
"Beer bottles" the detective remarked,
ARE treated ve,y much the same as boxes
in which fried oysters are taken home.
AS soon as the box is done with it is
thrown to one side to find the ash heap
and finally the dump. The same is true
with beer bottles. Many a man will take
home bottle or two of beer with his
box of oysters and when the bottle Is emp
tied. 1t is thrown out with the oyster bnx.
No more attention is given the bottle until
1t reaches the dump and then it finds
its way to barrel and eventually reaches
the clearing house. Few people seem to
realize the value Of such bottles"
In the headquarters of the association the
bottles are piled about structure and as
sorted. One man can assert as many as
10000 bottles during an ordinary working
day. The bottles are then put in big
cases and their owners send for them
when enough of them accumulate to make
a wagon load. Thousands of the bottles
are gathered from the dumps every month
and as many more are recovered from pri-
vate houses, fats and apartment houses.
Domestics in these places assist the de-
tective and the bottles collected during the
course of a year mean saving of many
thousand dollars to the dealers