Show GATHERED rouin RAVES A colored buya ftp wire framm gritl seila them asala the wire frames in two thirds of the floral designs that are placed on graves in the chicago cemeteries have been used on graves before and home of them ten times before this statement says the chicago tribune was made by a wholesale manufacturer of frames said he some years ago there was a colored barber who had a shop at rosehill business was dull and he began to look for a new job in his ramble through the cemetery he w as struck with the number of floral offerings placed on the graves and also with the fact that after they were withered they were gathered up by the workmen and thrown into a pile as useless rubbish K occurred to him that the wire frames of these designs were nearly as good as ever and ought to be worth a good deal of money he inquired of some one employed about the place on aliat he could get possession of this rubbish and it was not long before he made a contract to take it all the year round at five dollars a wagon load the barber then gave up his barber shop and rented a place on division street where he established a depot for the storing renovation and sale of these goods in tome cases the moss is retained in the frames and sold with them but it is always necessary to paint the wire whether it has been painted before or not after being revamped they are hawked aroun and sold to the small florist establishments for probably one fourth a much as new frames would cost the barber s new trade is not now confined to rosehill Eose hill but takes in all the large cemeteries in the city the rates being different at different cemeteries one of them charges five cents for each design largo or small when you understand that these wire frames cost all the way from a few cents up to seventy five dollars you will easily see that this may be a profitable business in fact it is profitable and the barber is getting rich up to the present time so I 1 am informed he has a monopoly of the business meanwhile his business is death to mine I 1 suppose if it were not for this barber and the cemetery employed emp loyes who stand in with him my business and the business of the other manufacturers of these goods would be three times a large as it is but you see frames that I 1 made a year ago have been in use on first one grave and then another ever since I 1 made them |