Year: 1879

| can content themselves with leading such :
! life. Ragpickers do not confine themselve.


entirely to gathering rags. They collect ole


hats, paper, boots, bottles, cut glass. iron


brass and quantity of other goods. which


to majority of people, in spite of old JOIN


Smiths adage, Everything is useful ap


pear utterly worthless. The work of col


lection is not a small portion Of the rag


picker's labor. When he arrives at hi.


haunt all these articles are assorted, the


bottles and rags are washed, the white and


colored rags and paper separated, and each


kind of material arranged, ready for sale al


The nearest junk. Very often the ragpicker
| finds more valuable articles than those he


starts in search of, and he often profits by


the servants carelessness, which frequently


causes the ashes tc yield silver spoon,
| some garment that only requires cleaning
| to be made saleable, or articles of glassware


or crockery with neither break nor blemish
| upon them. In addition TO these bonnes


bouches of the business, his quick eye de-


tects the coin or bit of jewelry which has


been lost the evening previous, and the find


er seldom troubles himself as to the owner
ship of these goods, but disposes of them at
the nearest pawnbroker's as quickly as pos
sible. The ragpickers could not live by
their occupation only for the junk stores,


and the latter would do little business with
out the ragpickers. The junk stores serve
the same purpose 10 the ragpicker that the
stock exchange does to the broker, with the
advantage in favor of the junk store that no
fee for membership is required. Here, dur
Ing the afternoon, the ragpickers assemble
10 dispose of the goods collected during the


orenoon, to discuss the probabilities of a
rise in their particular line of goods, to
gather the latest scandal that may be circu-
lating relative to some of their number, or
to settle disputes which may have arisen in
the morning on the street, but which could
not be settled there owing to the presence
OF their natural enemy, the policeman. The
junk stores in the low haunts of the city at
such times form a most interesting study,
and they rank among the sights of the me
tropolis. Men, women, and in some cases
children, gather the cast-Otf wealth of the
metropolis, and here daily they may be seen
at their best and worst. The proprietor of
the mart for old rags, iron, brass, rope, bot
ties, etc, is one of the busiest of men about
this time, for none of his customers are over
honest, and he well knows from past ex-
periencc that they will increase the weight
Of the articles sold, even If they have to
add to them some of the articles which he
has just bought and paid for. Then the
labor of paying for the merchandise is no
small task, more especially if the customers
have failed to cheat the buyer during the
weighing process. Quarrels often arise,
and among the Italians a cent is sometimes
OF sufficient value in their eyes 10 outweigh
mans life, and when once their murder
ous-loOking knives are drawn a place of
safety is most desirable The ragplckers,
in some instances, exc out good living
Some have retired rich from their findings
other have opened junk stores and given up
the hook and bag for rOre profitable and
less uncertain business. The average earn
ings of a ragpicker are for an adult two
dollars day, and often this sum is material
ly increased by finding money or other
valuables. On this amount they not only
live, but save money. The Italian rag
ri-l.e-s spend little money on food or
clothes, and live on the cheapest and COM
mOnest goods the market affords. All
nationalities help to make up the army of
hut the Italians make the most
money, and many save money enough to
return Ia their homes in Italy. The dwell
ings of some of the Italian ragpickers well
repay one for visit, even if the disagree
able and disgusting scenes witnessed are
taken into consideration