<<Scavenger is what it sounds like. Collects what other people throw away, & makes it pay by sorting it into real rubbish & sellable stuff. Rags had value. Used in paper-making, for example. Scrap metal, broken glass, paper - all sellable. Recycling isn't a new idea.>> I believe in the nineteenth century scavenger was the word used to describe a street cleaner. Some scavengers were direct employees of the local government, others were contractors who paid for the privilege of doing it (because the refuse they collected was valuable - think of all the horse droppings, which could be sold as fertilizer). Matt Tompkins Leics