Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1857-08-26
WHAT BECOMES OF THE BONES ?

1t patent to every from the number of beeves
hogs calves sheppard lambs annually slaughtered in
this city, and the immense amount of bone attached
every sroin roasting piece and chop that comes into
ones house. that unless disposition made of
them Immediately New York would in brief period
become perfect Golgotha. We see bones on our
tables and the servant them placed in the beg
CARS basket in the garbage box according to their
value or her temper at the time. 1t often puzzled
US to know what earthly use that Industrious class
of our population known Chifonniers or Rag
pickers make of those small bits of bones they so
eagerly snatch from the street gutter and garbage
box, and for which they visit the Battery and other
city I" dumping grounds, and dig and quarrel with
each other over the ashes and garbage. We were so
fortunate to ascertain yesterday what became of
the bones. While visiting the slaughter-house on
the west side of the city in company with the in
spector of saughter-houses for that district, Mr..
Greene, of many engaged in the business of col
Letting boiling and calcining bones in this city,
gave US the following information His boiling and
calcining establishment is situated on the Jersey
side of the Hudson sixteen miles up, nearly opposite
Yonkers To COLLECT the bones from the chifonniers
he employs in this city eight men, eight horses and
four carts. A lsborer invariably goes with each
driver. The largest collections are made in the
Eleventh, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-frst
Nineteenth and Twentieth Wards. They commence
their rounds as early as a. m, and by D. m. the
collections deposited in the vessel that is to
vey them from the city, The law requires all the
carts engaged in this business to be boxed
cred with canvas. The price paid for bones varies
according to quality. Thigh bones of bullOcks rank
first, as they are the only bones in an that are
fit for turner's use; they are mostly manufactured
into handles for tooth brushes the natural curve of
the bone giving the desired shape to that indspen-
sible article for the toilet. They worth from ten
TO twelve cents each. The jaw bones rank next, and
are worth Sl8 thousand. The "short" bones, as
they are termed such leave the family table, are
worth from forty to fifty cents basket. To give
some idea of the amount of money paid for bones,
when we consider the number engaged in the bust
ness of bonebOiing exclusive of the Barren Island
business we will state that Mr. G. pays for bones in
this city alone an average of 500 day. The fore
leg and hoof usually bought by manufacturers of
glue Peter Cooper being the heaviest purchaser OF
this description of offal; and when they are done
with they sold to the bone dealers at two cents
pound. The hoofs are disposed of at the rate of
$40 tun, and afterward made into horn buttons
and Prussian blue. Horse hoofs and sheep hoofs
and horns are sold for SIS per ton
On the arrival Of the bones at the factory, the
thigh and jaw bones are sawed to admit of the
removal of the marrow. They are then thrown into
a vast cauldron and boiled until all the aud
fatty substances attached to them thoroughly
tracated. The fat is then SKINNED off and placed
in coolers and the bones deposited in heaps for
assortment. The thigh bones placed in one
heap for the turner's the jaws and other bones suit
able for buttons placed in a second pile; the
bones suitable for 50 bone black" come No 3, and
the remainder ground up for phosphates and
nures.
"Bone black" is used by sugar-refners, and is
worth from q to 81 cents pound. To judge of the
amount used in this city alone of this article in the
eleven immense sugar refneries in operation here,
it is only necessary to state that 'Stuarts" and
the Grocers' "re6neries pay annually in the neigh
borhood of $40, 900 year each for "bone black"
Of classes Nos and 8 we were furnished with no |
reliable data No. is used in the manufacture of |
phosphates. No. is made into manure, and is sold |
at prices ranging from SO to So cents bushel, &C.
cordng to quality but generally averaging about so
cents delivered at the factory.
Of the amount of soap-fat produced from bone
boiling, we can only say that our informant showed
by his books that the sales Of soapat from his fac
tory from June, 1856, to June, 1857, amounted to
Sl9, 900 Of this amount 1000 was paid by one
house. and we were assured that this was but mole
ty of the amount the house annually purchased
~ Y. Tribune.