Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1920-08-05

i"S SnineSe are more thrifty than
the French peasants whose thrift is SO
FAMOUS, to judge. by the folio wing ac-
count from the Philadelphia Public
Ledger OF their skill in making iss OF
things that are apparently quite worth
less:
Numerous things that are not
thought worthy of consideration by
peoples OF other countries are being
turned into use by the people in China
Their righteousness in utilizing things
OF little value is shown by scavengers
who collect peach stones in the street.
Children and women are to be seen in
the markets picking up and treasuring
the peach stones. In the months of
May, June and July the women and
children of the poorer class appear in
groups carrying baskets home when
filed.
These peach stones have several
uses, Broken into pieces and dried
in the sun, they will furnish good fuel.
But the kernel, which has a good
market value, is sold to the native
druggists for making medicine. An
other profitable use Of the peach stones
is by selling to native artists or en-
eravers, who carve them into different
forms of animals. Some Of the larger
stones, however, if round enough, are
carved into finger rings, which cost
between twenty and thirty cents each.
Out OF one full basket Of peach stones
ten or fifteen can be selected as suit
able for engravers, and they will be
sold at a cent each, thus turning the
waste materials into good profit.
During the season one may see in
the interior Of south China the hut
yards of poor people full of peach
stones drying in the sun. After hav-
ing cleaned them, groups Of small girls
and boys pick out the big stones. The
smaller ones are broken up and used
for fuel when the kernel has been
taken out. Sometimes the kernels are
sold to chemists or druggists; they
are preserved in bottles and used as
cough medicine after they are turn
ed into white powder. In many small
villages this white powder is a very
popular, convenient and cheap medicine
for the poor people as a remedy for
cough.
Another waste material put to use
by Chinese in different towns Of each
province is oyster shells. They are in .
great demand for the manufacture OF
Chinese lime. One picul of such
shells (about one hundred and thirty
three poundsl costs approximately six
ty or eighty cents. In many towns
where there are many Chinese restau-
rants one will see scavengers pack
ing shells of this kind into bamboo
cases. In me front corner of Chinese
houses in villages, especially those near
coast cities, big baskets are always
seen; they are put there by scavengers
as refuse boxes.
When the baskets are full, the men
pick out fish shells and even broken
for everything has a market
value in China. The broken bowl and
cracked pottery are broken into small
PARTICLES and afterwards sold to ma
sons for making the foundation of
strong walls after being mixed with ce-
ment. Many pretty houses in big sea-
ports such as Shanghai, Canton,
Foochow, and so forth, have the walls
made Of broken pottery mixed with &C.
ment. One hundred catties cost about
fifty cents, which means the upkeep
for two days Of poor family. In big
towns there are hundreds Of such
scavengers who make living upon the
collection OF the waste materials.
So far as the frugality OF Chinese
is concerned, nothing is wasted in
China, and even the dirt Of the street
costs money when it is carried to a
farmyard, where farmers will buy it
and turn it into fertilizer. Prices OF
dirt vary according to its kind. The
ash OF burned wood from a cooking
stove Of Chinese family has a good
value. 1t brings a good amount of tea
money to the house boy of big Chi
nese family, who sells it to gardeners
for fertilizing flower plants.
When peculiar cry is heard the
house boy seems to understand that
an ash buyer has come Immediately
a big quantity Of kitchen dirt and
stove ash, which he has stored up,
Is brought to the buyer. Thirty pounds
of waste material Of this kind is worth
about ten or fifteen cents.