Evening star., 1925-10-04
Hunt for Chimney-Sweeper Fails
AS OCCUPATION Passes in District

agreeabIy to the regulations herein
prescribed; and after such contract
shall have been made and announced,
no other person or persons employed
by him shall sweep chimneys. under
the penalty of 500 for each and every
offense, which penalty said contractor
is hereby authorized to prosecute for
| and receive. one-half for his use and
the other half to be for the use of the
corporation"
THE Washington law was quite SINH
- lar. For many years chimney
sweeping had been performed in the
| National Capital on an independent
and indiScriminate basis. Dozens of
sweepers maintained establishments.
| and under the conditions of lack of
| proper authority and different prices
| for services the business was attend
ed with a number of evils. Misun
derstandings and lawsuits multiplied
| SO rapidly and fires from wood-burn-
| ing CRATES We're so numerous that the
! District Commissioners took the situ-
alton in hand and included it in their
system of local government. An ordi-
nance passed June 3, 1853. and amend
| ed October II, 1865, created two SUI
| perintendents of chimney-sweepers
who furnished $500 bond each for the
| faithful performance of their con-
| tracts with the city. BY this arrange
| ment, the chimney owners received
satisfaction, the superintendent and
their helpers got a good living and
| the municipality added to its revenue.
One superintendent had authority
over all the chimneys in the first, sec
! ond and third wards, another over
| the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh
| wards. Neither could sweep on the
| territory of the other; II he did so, he
! was liable to a fine of So for each
| offense. A ''chimneysweepers' trust"
| was virtually set up, because nobody
else had authority to sweep: if an
/ outsider swept a chimney, he was
! fined $50. Quite possibly an owner
| could not sweep his own chimney,
although this point was not covered
| in the ordinance.
The Superintendents were required
| to visit all the inhabited houses once
a month between November 1 and
| May / of each IL months. and once
| every months the balance of the
| year. to see that the chimneys were
| clean. Failure to execute this duty
| was punishable with a S. fine upon
| the sweeper. Occupants paid S. when
| they persistently refused to have
| chimneys swept, unless their refusal
was due to illness or death III the
! family. If flues bIazed from the top
earlier than the time set for the next
| sweeping, the superintendent paid a
| fine Of $40. All fines were collected
| like any other dues of the district
| corporation.
Occupants were forbidden to burn
| hay, straw. shavings or other COM
| bustible materials, because of the fire
| danger and the belief that this task
| should be performed by the regularly
appointed sweeper. However. if CHM
| neys were too narrow to admit a small
| man or boy, 1t was permissible to
burn OUT in this manner. Sweeps"
had the privilege of a priority in
claims on household goods and chat
| tells attached by other parties. in the
event chimney owners failed or re-
| fused to pay bills for sweeping and
| when they went into court they could
| count on strong support from the ad
| ministration.
| One Of the purposes of the ordi-
nance was to protect the health Of
boys, who in many cases under the
! old order had been sent too young
I into the chimneys, and had taken as
! much SCOT inside as out: but the age
was not fixed and apparently was left
to mutual understanding. For that
matter, chimney-sweepers of what
ever age seemed to enjoy the most
robust health and were we'll informed
| and pleasant companions wherever
| met up with.
| Stunted growth was an asset in the
game of sweeping out thousands of
Washington chimneys every month.
Most Of the chimneys were too small
| to admit the body of a man, except
that he be sharply restricted in size. so
boys usually entered the f1ues. ThiA
suited the circumstances, because the
| man was needed to make the arrange.
ments with the household, to stop up
the base of the flue with paper or
crocus sacks, SO that the contents
would be confined as nearly as posi-
BILE to the fireplace; also to handle the
ladder by which the boy gained access
to the roof to begin his downward
climb, and finally to assist the youth
full sweeper in the event he got in
distress in any way.
| y X X *
| "A MOTHER duty of the superintend.
ent was to recover the brush or
| scrape in the event it slipped from the
hand Of the boy to the bottom; like
wise to minimize damage due to the
collapse OF the paper under an un-
expectedly heavy load Of SCOT and
| mortar dust.
| Quite frequently. when an accident
OF this kind happened. and the bed
| spread or table cloth received a
shower from the chimney, the occu-
pant not only refused to pay tho bill,
but sought to make the master
sweeper smart in damages. Such oc-
currences were infrequent, however,
and relations We're pleasant, particu-
! larly since newspapers or cloths were
| spread through the house for the
| superintendent to walk upon.
| Obi i,,r,
was simply this: The boy climbed in
at the top. armed with scrape and
brush, while the man waited at the
bottom. The man peered into the