The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-04-29
RIJERsTDE TNJEs TIGITIONs.
Whence the Offensive Smells TINT have been
Subject OF Complaint.


Whence the Offensive smell. TINT have been
Subject OF Complaint.
Saturday, warm. muggy, wet. and close,
favored our investigation Of stenches. re-
porter for THE SITS went out. therefore. to YER
ify the re- ont avcrmens concerning the smell
producing establishments In the four blocks
bounded by Forty.thrd street Forty-seventh
street. First avenue. and the East river. The
establishments are slaughter houses. oiTal
grease and refuse factories. and manure yards.
OF the first there are twenty-onc. OF which six
are for the slaughter Of sheep. three Of calves
and the others OF cattle mainly. In
tho butchcrcs. the work OF slaughtering was
going on: consequently they were in their most
offensive conditions but there were no nnuseat-
ing SMELLS The air was full inside the estab-
lishment-. OF the odors Of blood. grease. and
fresh meat but not to such degree ms to be
pcrccplbe In the middle Of the street. and
great care was taken in employing preventive
measures to utilize all the refuse Of the pro-
rrsars ~ hut 'hpry. 50 as at once 10 secure the
greatest profit and in 40 doing give the least OIL
fence ~ the oliartorlrs.
/, should be understood primarily that every
ounce ~ an animal condemned 10 slaughter has
market value. WHste j. loss. SecQudnrly.
the ~ shcsi profit from all that mnicrial Is de-
rived from is utilization at tnn earliest pratt
cRhlc moment, while It ~ perfectly fresh. The
most powerful argumcnt-thnt y pcrunary in
t"rcst-is therefore, in direct antagunism To tho
accumulation ot carriou and the cultivation Of
IN offensive atmosphere. The butchers have
learned this fact Ia late years. Their business
IL not what II was fifteen years ago. New ways
uf dispu~ug Of what WAS formerly waste have
been devised, amt superior progresses OF rlau9h-
teriug have com" iatp vogue. Hence. IN oil the
establishments complained Of. the fact Is that
they ARE krli as cl.nnly and as inniicnsivcy as
seem pOs-ihl" In this business. Water II used
everywhere without stint, and every atom Of re.
fuse that can he cached il either disposed Of
for prn tral utilization, or swept into the sewer
nnd down into the river This applies not
merely 20 one. but L. all.
The secpud-class II establishments are con-
Germs for the utilization uf the hides grease
homes olfal blood and intnstines There nre
two ~ these. Srhwarz. 'hild Sulzhergers, IN
Eorty-llnh street, aud Rafferty, WillAms's. in
each firm cures hides hy sailing. aud ut this
season. ~ lenst. IN" process DEVELOPS no Offrn-
it, olors. when compared with III" swamp. IS
prcially when South American hides ure being
r"reivcd IN thc latter region. There is M
nhomiunhle stencil hanging about S'hwar1'hild
Hui2hergrr- place. and a hasty or in
cautious Investigator might attribute It
t. their processes OF manufacture. But upon
penetrating their establishment throughout
nnd smiling the various olorS in IL YOU find
that III" mos, in~uil"ral.e Of them come from
The open windows. and are produced by the
manure yard behind the factory when the
boiling tanks are opened there Is smell that
noone would care to bottle fora private 10Y.
but u is small IN volume. merely local not even
reaching the street. and quickly passes away.
All the finest. rl-anrst selected TAT IL worked
M mere INTO vleomarearine Tile remninder IL
melted into tnllow according To It's grade. The
worNmcn IN the factory say TINT all the grease
that they hnndle j. first thoroughly washed in
tie slaughter houses aud that none Of it IS
ever twelve hours ont Of the live animal before
goin. into the rendering tanks Thoy deny
that thcy use sluige acid III any Of their pro-
cc~~rs.
The second concern bran led as stencil
factory that g! Rafferty, i Williams. would
s'em "a "iicr even greater opportunities
Tor poisoning the atmosphere than tue
pre,cdin- since Il Is ,mnr9 larser and
into patent feriiizng substances. But although
al us departments were IN iull blast ~ the time
OF the reporters visit. there was nothing 10 in
feet the atmosphere of that part Of the city. The
firm ships all II, iallow and bone greas" prod
ucts 10 Europe. where il mas established a reuu-
ttiun, aud 10 keep that reputation must
necessarily employ nAne but the sweetest
and freshest material, The grease they use Is
made into tallow within SIX hours after IL
has noen part Of the living animal As for
the blood, that must De worked up very
raridiy, ese i spoils. Hcnce as i is
poured into II great tank in which strainers
separate the thick. cl1tted blood and any for
rlsn matter that may be- in IT, from the thin
barrels bunl.d up ant sent III To- the sugar
r.cnneries, The thick r.9ri IS put into H. dry
grease has been boiled from them. From. these
Turks IL is not possible Tor any Odors to escape
except very little. and that only in the slightest
dr-rrr olrn-lNc when they are opened. Al all
other times their vapors are carried by n,pes
iu,O huge rDnt' 'llscrS. aud thence down into the
river. tnrty ioci below low water mark
The Processes II making ierlli,ing com
pounds are tree from o'l" tlon. The worst Of
them was conducted beneath the reporter nose.
AMI developed Simply smell, something like
that 81 Eunpowd'r smoke and small in quantity
Dried animal matter mineral phosphat ;. pot
ash, refuse bone black from tho sugar r"llue-
ri,s. and dilute suluhnric acid are liiNnd, and
evolve u little SteHm wlch smells VI sulphur
,ous ga,. That Is all there Is 81 I, and
with. and what Is used flr dislnfectns
houses ~ which contagious diseases have bean.
The proprirtors offer forfeit OF 81 uUD II IL
can he shown that they have ever used u pound
OF siudee acld toll Of Sltrlol ioulrd with petro-
hum reinsrl IN their factory even Tor purposes
With respect to the third class Of concerns
spoken of, the manure yards, Il may he said
that TIA" two at the foot of Forty-llth street are
terror. Hundreds ~ tons Of manure ar piled
th"rr. and the smell that goes W Is solid and
enormous.
The reporter visited the factories and slauch-
ter houses nrNrihc y nth river. between Thirty
eighth and Furly-nr-t streets. In the Agon-
uuih. hulk, lying iu IN" slip al Ihlr} ninth
street fertilizers are made from the hlOld.
bones. and refuse and Nth gathered from the
slaughter HOUSES. In what Respects the pro-
crss employed Varied from those in other
establishments Of like interests the Reporter did
not ascertain, Us the stencil near the hulk was
50 foul No To deter him from going on board,
Clouds Of strnn were discharsrd from vent
pipes in the Algonqulu's sides, and one Win Ut
that steam discounted all the stem rising
from the larsr load Il rotten manure opposite.
The noXlou8 VupOrs from the drying aud steam
lng lnhks are discharged mt" the 1pen ar IN
stead of BEN. ralrlcd through cundens"rs into
the liver. ON. dock. visible from the pier, WIS
noarly covered with dried animal matter, nppH-
rrnlly sim hot from the drying tank, and Kept
warm by the engine. which It surrounded.
There are several iAt.rrndrriug. tallOW- max %
Ing, und oil pressing concerns near ny. each II
Wnich contributes It's small quota toward the
general volume 81 stencil.
DISCHiRGING ms DERRINGER