2 THE WORLD'S LUMBER ROOM. 



He might look at "bones and ashes" and tell you 

 that he saw " golden corn ; " at old rags, and say, " from 

 cast-off clothes come bitter beer and early cauliflowers." 



In fact, he might go through the whole list and prove 

 to you that, so far from it all being rubbish, none of it is 

 rubbish, when it gets into its right place, and that every 

 single item has a more or less wonderful future before it ; 

 for, where man's ingenuity fails, Nature comes to the rescue, 

 and she is intolerant of all waste. 



Then again, if archaeologically inclined, he might look 

 at the dust and think of the ancient dust-heaps discovered 

 or disinterred in various parts of the world, which tell in 

 such plain language of the habits and manner of life 

 of races long since passed away from the earth, and he 

 might speculate upon the possibility of one of these modern 

 dust-heaps being buried and preserved to become an in- 

 teresting historical record, telling future generations what 

 the ancient Englishman lived upon, what fruits and vege- 

 tables he cultivated, and what he imported, what fabrics 

 he wore, what perfection he had attained in the arts of 

 pottery and of glass- and paper-making, what an extensive 

 trade he must have had with all parts of the world, and 

 many other things besides too numerous to mention. 



To the dustman everything which finds its way into his 

 cart, whether it be ashes, old shoes, or an occasional silver 

 spoon all comes under the head of " dust." But, leaving 

 these for the present, we will limit our inquiries to the 

 fine powdery matter, commonly called dust, which is by 

 no means the insignificant, unimportant trifle it at first 

 sight appears. For dust has caused lawsuits, dust has 



