SOME OUT-OF-THE-WAY CALLINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1974, 19 September 1889, Page 31

SOME OUT-OF-THE-WAY CALLINGS.

Since the days of home handicrafts the multiplication of trades has been beyond computation. Steam power has opened up an immense number of new industrial avenues, and employments undreamed of in the old days have been found for labouring humanity. Much of this has been brought about by the astonishing discoveries that have been made in regard to the utilisation of substances and products previously neglected and much by the simple exercise of man's ingenuity upon his fellow man's weaknesses. A few samples of uncommon callings will illustrate our meaning. Turkey-leg painting is an occupation of some importance in France. The artist is employed by the poultry-dealing fraternity, and visits his customers two or three times a week. By his artistic skill the dealer is enabled to palm off a bird of patriachal age upon the misguided housewife as one of undoubted youthfulness. Old turkeys have long claws and horny-looking beaks, which the artist pares and varnishes, using a solution that remains a trade secret, and when he has concluded his operation the .turkey will fetch half as much again as it would have done in its natural condition.

Egg dyeing is another out of -the-way trade peculiar to France. The dyers buy their 'eggs direct from the wholesale dealers. The eggs are placed in coppers, 200 or 300 at a time, and left for about 10 minutes in a hot red dye, from which they emerge with all the brilliance of a red billiard ball. They are then sent to the market and sold at a penny each, the trade in them being very brisk at some periods of the year, more particularly at Easter.

One of the oddest employments of modern .times is that of " chasing the scraper," as it is called, in connection with the petroleum trade of America. Crude petroleum is run from the oil regions to the refineries, sometimes travelling as much as 300 miles in iron pipes. A great part of the way it pushes forward bj its own gravity, but over the hilly districts is forced by powerful pumps. The pipes are continually being clogged by sediment, fco ensure the removal of which an iron stem 2£f t long, to which circular steel scrapers are attached, is placed in the pipes at regular periods. This is forced along the pipes by the pressure of the oil behind it. It is necessary to keep track cf the scraper in order that its exact location may be constantly known, so that if it is stopped by any obstacle it may be readily discovered and the obstacle removed. The noise made by the scraper against the iron pipes as it moves along their interior would not be heard by the untrained ear, but the scraper chasers are able to follow it on its journey from end to end. They are stationed in relays three or four miles apart. One chaser will follow up and down mountains, across ravines, and through streams and swamps, until he reaches the end of his section, when another man takes up the pursuit, and so from section to section the chase is continued until the course of the scraper is entirely run. The. work is one of hardship and danger, oadng to the nature of the country through which the miles of pipes are laifi. If by any mishap a chaser loses the track of the scraper, and it becomes clogged before he can discover its position in the pipes, the cutting of the pipe for long distances is often necessary.

A curious calling is that originated by M. Panneivitz, who discovered a way of utilising the dead leaves of the pine trees in the Siiesian forests. Until thi3 ingenious gentleman came upon the scene these masses of dead leaves were left to decay and turn into mould. He conceived the idea, however, of converting them into what he styled "forest wool," and otarted a factory in which he was able to manipulate the leaves in a variety of ways. This " forest wool " can be curled, felted, or woven, and, mixed ' with cotton, is even used for blankets and ! wearing apparel. An ethereal oil is devolved in the preparatory processes, which has a medicinal virtue, in addition to a suitability for the more prosaic uses of domestic lamps. And when all these purposes have been served there is still a " refuse " remaining, which is compressed into blocks for firewood, and from which the resinous matter produces gas enough to light the factory. The occupations to which the Siiesian peasants have been put by the enterprise of M. Panneivitz may be considered almost unique. In connection with the ghastly deadhouse of the Paris Morgue there are one or two occupations of a rather uncommon and certainly not over-attractive kind. The people who have charge of the cloakroom of this establishment are required to keep the clothes of the dead in separate and distinct lots, and if they are not claimed within 15 days by relatives o£ the deceased, they are deposited in sacks and accumulated until a suffioierit number of sacks are in hand to make it worth while to remove them.. Then the sacks are conveyed to some works in the suburbs of the city, and there the clothes undergo cremation, being reduced to fine powder, which is afterwards sold for manure. Bread-crumb manufacturing is another

business of a rather extraordinary kind. A Frenchman named Pere Chappelier was the first to start this trade, and he made a fortune out of it. He was at one time a private soldier, and afterwards took to the calling of ragman. In the course of his " picking up of unconsidered trifles," he observed that the chiffonniers collected a great quantity of stale bread which they were unable to sell. He conceived the idea of turning these discarded crusts to account and bought them up at a cheap rate. Then he reduced them to the condition of crumbs, and roasted them and sold them to restaurants, soon building up an extensive, business. The demand for crumbs became so great that before long he had to make arrangements for a more plentiful supply of crusts than the chiffonniers were able to afford him, and began to trade with the cooks and scullions of the schools and college*? for the purchase of their crusts. Since then a large number of people have been employed in pounding, grating, and baking crumbs on this system, and establishments of a similar kind have been opened in many other large cities.

The occupation of water gilding is not a calling that many would care to follow, from the fact that it is one of the mest unhealthy branches of industry. The process of gilding, which is principally upon silver, is accomplished by the action of fire, the metal being coated with an amalgam of gold and mercury, and then exposed to the fumes of a charcoal fire, which drives off the mercury and leaves the gold adherent to the metal. During this process the fumes of the mercury are inhaled by the workman, and, indeed, deposit their metalliferous particles over the entire surface of the skin. The result is that the artisan becomes speedily afflicted with mercurial tremor, or, in the language of the workshop, he gets "a fit of the trembles." Dr Watson thus describes a patient afflicted with this ailment :—": — " He was led into the room walking with uncertain steps, his limbs trembling and dancing as though he had been hung on wires. While sitting on a chair he was comparatively quiet ; one would not suppose that he ailed anything ; but, as soon as he attempted tv rise to walk, his legs began to shake violently with a rapid movement. He could neither hold them steadily nor direct them with precision."

Some men embark in occupations of a fraudulent character which are both out-of-the-way and demand the exercise of ingenuity. --Of this class the buyers of defective horses may be singled out for special mention. They purchase showy horses possessing some serious defect which renders them worthless, but which their art enables them to disguise just lone: enough to take in their dupes. There are horses, for instance, which go dead lame in one shoulder, and these knowing fellows hide the defect by creating a similar lameness in the corresponding leg. This is done by taking off the •; shoe and inserting a bean between it and the foot. It is difficult to imagine how a double lameness should appear to make the animal go all right, but such is the case. Other horses that are simply worn out with age and useless are made to seem strong and active for ihe little time that it takes these rascals to drive a bargain. Scores of men obtain good incomes by trading in this dishonest way upon their knowledge of the animal, and even where the fraud can be traced home to them it is often difficult to convict.

Amongst uncommon occupations of a less harmful class may be instanced th3t of the " knocker up." This gentleman is a necessity in districts inhabited by the artisan classes, who are required to be at their work at an early hour of the morning. In the manufacturing towns of the North he drives a brisk trade. His duty is to rouse his clients up in time for them to get to their work at the hour of starting. He receives from 3d to 6d a week from eack client, and with a good connection is enabled to make a tidy income. Usually he carries along cane, with which he taps at the bedroom window of the person to be awakened, but if that means is not sufficient, he will rattle the door or thunder at the shutters, leaving only when he has heard some sign from the inside .that his summons has been effective.