Show EMPTY BOTTLE IDEA Row How Rowan an Old Irish Woman Made Mad Her Eer T Portage F e ehe 4 The he money with which I built those thos etwo e two houses was iv s made by selling empty empt l y bottles remarked an old woman well we known on the east side Bide of New York fc k kI city HIt It was wan a a J time ago 8 Q when I first came to this country Ill tell te LI 11 you ron about it If you J O dont print my name Not that I 1 object abject ct to having my name in the papers but Its my children I have to think of these days daS One is the president of a big bank out west another owns a barrel f factory in Jersey while my m three daughters daughter are all mar mart t r tied ed and live in fine houses up town I So S you ou see I dont want to make theta them ashamed ed of their old mothers brag 1 ging gingAs As I said it was a a long time ago for Im getting on to SO years ears of age To begin at the bottom my huband and I salted sailed saU d from Ireland the day after we were married Wed Ved heard fine tales of America and we came over to make our fortunes We had but a a few pen pennies pennies I nies when we landed and besides our bundle of clothes and the few cooking things wed used on the voyage Td rd picked up two empty empt bottles that some of the other passengers had thrown away avay We have hae bottles to throw throwaway throwaway throwaway away in the old country so it came kind of or natural natura to me not to want to see them wasted wa waTho The Tho Empty Dottle Idea My husband got a job sa as a mason and I got a place as second cook in a restaurant It made me open my eyes the way they threw things away aw y in hi that kitchen Empty bottles were hauled away way in cart loads along with the rest of the refuse until by toy and by b I got gut to picking them out and taking them home nights I was only at that place six months but during that time I saved up something like beautiful bottles Then Thea as my husbands work was steady and the pay good I came home horne to keep house for him and had time to I think of my ray bottles It seemed such a shame to throw them away yet I see what was to be done in a country here where everybody got rid of or them as I soon as they the were empty After awhile I decided to try to ell them to the places from which they were originally bought Many were wine bottles so I went to a wine ine merchant and told him of my lot He looked at me tue for awhile then he examined my bottle Dottle and said if they were Vere all as clean as that he would buy the lot but hed rather I brought him corks to sell as corks were harder to get than bottles III I delivered to him nIl all the wine bot ties I had saved then th n went around to the restaurant to see my old friend the cook He agreed to save as many corks and bottles as possible provided I would take them off ot every day So I used to go every morning and bring away way baskets full I washed the bottles and boiled the corks and once a week delivered them to the wine merchant Then I made my m trip to the savings bank where I stored away my earnings Enlarging the Business As time passed I became more am and went about to other res and to other merchants in that way wa increasing my m business I hired a a boy to fetch and carry for me and between times when attending to tomy tomy tomy my children or busy about the house I cleaned the bottles and corks This I went on until I had saved up UIl several hundred dollars The day that my 1 youngest girl was three weeks old they brought my husband home dead A scaffolding had given way Those were dark times for me ue but I had bad my children to look after All little I fellows just big enough to hold on to tomy my skirts They might have taken t ken the spirit out of some women but they gave i me heart to work and I made up my I mind to buy and sell all the empty bottles in this town And Ill tell teU you my dear I very nearly did it I bought a horse and wagon and with my ray eldest son I visited every restaurant in inthe the city and took away their bottles and corks Some of them charged us but the majority were only too glad to have them taken off Then I not only sold to wine ine met mer chants but to every ever dealer where bot hot botties bottles ties were used Druggists were good customers when we could suit them in sizes and many were willing to send for forthe the bottles instead of having me cart them Did I only have one horse Bless you no I had six when alien alas the beer and other bottling companies realizing the value of empty bottles put an end to my business by offering to buy their th ir irown own bottles back again a Qin But It was I Iwho Iwho Iwho who taught them to do it Ive always said It if I begun to save and sell mIl empty bottles that the street cleaners of New York would have haye twice as much work to do doIt doIt doit It harder work than any other business When the bottles were brought in they had to be cleaned and turned to drain then sorted as to size siz color and shape Later they were packed and delivered Having been freshly emptied the cleaning was not difficult seldom needing anything be beyond beyond yond ond hot bet soap and water My children soon learned to help and after a few years I turned the management of the horses and drivers over to my ray oldest son That is the way he got his lila busi business business business ness training When I gave gae up the business Id about educated all my children and was paying taxes on worth of or real estate Since then New York property has gone up pretty high and now people tell me my two tenement houses are worth near about ab ut They give gl e eme me a pretty fair living and a nice sum stun to lay by for my ray m grandchildren Im real sorry tho the brewers have baye broke up the trade for empty bottles was a good business for a woman who had hud a family of smart children to help her LAFAYETTE LATTE WS |