The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-08-15
Court Gossip of Interesting
Events on THO Continents

former times. but they drive In their own
! carts to their field of operation or their
allotted quarter. The modern ragpickers
OF Paris work their districts by mutual
agreement The difference OF locality
means a great difference in profits.
A big hotel is the best, II one can &C.
Guire the monopoly. because OF the valua-
BILE things that rich and hurried traveller 5
throw away.
In the morning these "chironnier"
carts return to the suburbs laden with
the "spoils'' Of the night. On the piled
up sacks the drowsy ragpickers (men
and women are doing. while one of
them acts as a driver. These people
dwell chiefly in groups or colonies, a
few miles from the city, such as Co
lumbes, Gennevilliers, and St Ouen.
They are frequently owners of their
tumble-down dwellings and adjacent
yards filled with the most miscellaneous
collection Of articles imaginable.
1t is here that the real work Of the
'chiffonnier' begins who knows his
trade. 1t is called in the language of
these people ''lettriquage," a corruption
Of the French word ''triage (sorting
work.. In parts OF Paris where a group
Of ragpickers ransack a district in COM
mon, they may be seen dividing the re-
suit OF the nights work among them be-
fore separating. Most OF the chiffon
niers operations are carried out by the
understanding with the "concierges''
Canitors) of the private houses and no.
tells, but it is later on that the "boueux''
or municipal scavengers go round with
their carts and empty the dustbins or
''poubelles" OF refuse matter rejected by
the ''chiffonniers."
This is carted to St Ouen especially.
where great mounds of refuse of Paris
are being piled. Women work on their
knees. sorting and separating with their
hands the component parts Of the rub
bish heaps. In that part of st. Ouen near
the Seine, which is called Les Docks"
there are works where great quantities
of the waste and debris Of Paris are
treated by various processes and utilized
for agricultural purposes.
The modern "chiffonniers" in their turn
are doomed to disappear. and the whole
of the cleaning and removing of the city's
refuse matter will be carried on by the
municipality.
Curiosity impelled a Partisan scribe to
take a glimpse at a "chifonniers home
near Gennevilliers. 1t was the feast OF
St. John. the birthday of the ragpicker
who went by the nickname of "Pere
Coquillage" because he had decorated
his shack with shells). The neighboring
ragpickers Joined this feast, to drink the
health of the "doyen'' of their tribe. The
yard was swept clean in the middle.
Then the younger "chiffonniers' and
their sweethearts danced to the music Of
the mandolin and the flute player Michel.
This artist comes from the Pyrenees
and wanders about in and around Paris
with his flock of grey goats. who follow
him as he plays his Basque ditties on his
little reed The young folks danced al
ternately the 'ronde" and the fantastic
chaloupes waltz of the "Barriere." In
the fraternity Of the "chiffonniers" It is
believed that Pere Coquillage possesses
about 1.5oo,0 600 francs hidden away in some
corner of his rickety old hut
FLANEUR