Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-26

which occupy extensive offices in sky
scrapers and employ a corps Of stenog-
raphers and office boys. In fact, 1t Is this
absence OF large expenditures, the absence
of high rents, which adds to the money
making character of the junk business.
TT junk business said a merchant
who has been in it for q quarter OF q cen
fury In Chicago, lis today one Of the best
paying industries in Chicago, or In the
whole United States, for that matter. The
old iron man whom you see trailing the
alleys Of this city for an old stove or any
castoff bit of iron, Is only a drop in tho
bucket Of the business. The real junk bust
ness concerns itself not with scraps of
iron amounting to 100 pounds or 30, but
with carload lots.
America produces more iron and steel
than any country in the world, and as a
consequence there are great quantities Of
old iron. Every building that is torn down
of railroad track that is reconstructed fur
nishes a mountain OF junk and with this
profit to the junk man. Every factory, mill
or mine, in short, every occupation, every
building, new or old, has something to dis
pose of to the junk man, some time or
another.
$50 much for the city OF Chicago. Now
for the country. Chicago is the central
market for junk dealers for all the north
western states. Daily scores OF cars loaded
with scrap iron reach this city and are
distributed to the various iron yards, which
are found In the vicinity OF the railroads.
There are thousands upon thousands OF
men scattered throughout the United States
who make it a business OF gathering up
the old iron which the farmer may have
for sale. When a machine gets old and
useless there Is a man there to buy It from
the farmers, and all these discards come
to Chicago in the end and furnish a good
revenue to the junk dealer.
Then, Of course. there is included in the
junk business all kinds Of metals, such as
brass, copper. pewter, lead and zinc. With
machinery invading every nook and corner
Of the United States. with a copper or, at
least. a copper-bottomed wash boiler as a
necessity Of every American household,
the revenue which the junk man gets from
the discarded metal which the woman IN
the country or superintendent Of a factory
in Chicago sells to the peddler. and through
him to the junk dealer Is large"
Just where the high profits coma IN IN
the junk business is hard to tell. At least
the Chicago junk dealers themselves are
shy about disclosing their trade secrets
Those, however, who are close enough 20
these men to know the ms and outs OF the
business state that the money is chiefly
made in manipulating the prices TO the
advantage Of the large dealer. The country
peddleT, 1t is said, sells his stuff more or
less mixed" and gets a certain price for
It. When his carload OF goods reaches the
junk yard in Chicago 1t is sorted. The
junk dealers here know the market for
each and every kind of old iron or metal,
and in this way are able TO get the highest
prices.
Another reason for the large profits
which the dealers make is said TO be the
fact hat the great majority Of psddlers
are generally foreigners. ignorant OF the
language and OF the customs of this ooun-
try, and miserably poor In addition. Such
people can be easily squeezed" on prices
and taken advantage Of In every direction
by the wholesale junk dealer, especially II
that dealer be lacking in scruples as to his
methods OF making money.
III you had access, to the biographies
Of some Of the best doctors, the most sue
eessful lawyers and biggest business men
Of the West Side" said a veteran West
Side resident, you would almost invaris-
bly, find that they began as junk peddleTs
just as sure as you can trace every immi-
grant from the Slavic countries Of eastern
Europe today TO the steel mills or mines,
or the Italians 70 the railroad camps.
In spits Of the fact however. that the