IV A S TE-PA PER. 283 



ink, but still no doubt far more is consumed by cook and 

 housemaid in the lighting of fires than is at all necessary. 

 A whole newspaper seems to be considered a by no 

 means extravagant allowance for one fire by some people, 

 though it would light much better with one fourth the 

 quantity, or even less. There are many shops where news- 

 papers are bought at the rate of a penny a pound, which 

 seems to be a protest against waste. 



But it must be confessed that there is not much en- 

 couragement to people to save their waste-paper at present, 

 in spite of the alluring advertisements offering to buy it 

 up. In the country, where space is less valuable, room 

 may be found for two or three sacks, perhaps, in an out- 

 house, and then it may be worth while to send them pe- 

 riodically to paper-mills, or other buyers. But in London 

 one sack is about as much as most people can accom- 

 modate, and for this, two or three shillings, repayable when 

 the sack is returned, have to be deposited ; it takes a 

 long time really to fill a sack, and when filled and fetched 

 away it not unfrequently happens that a note is received 

 saying that the value of the paper just balances the expense 

 of fetching it, and this, even when the distance is less 

 than a ten minutes' walk. People who have had such an 

 experience as this, which is not uncommon, will certainly 

 not care to take the trouble of making another collection, 

 or to give up the space needed for the sack ; but no doubt 

 many would be glad to give away the accumulations from 

 their waste-paper baskets, &c., if only some one would call 

 for them periodically. 



Meanwhile, however, large quantities of waste-paper do 



