The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-12-18
Good use for SRwdust,

What shall we do with the sawdust is
a question which puzzles tho economic
brain Of the man who realizes that the
utilization of the fast depicting forests is
accompanied with an amount of absolute
wastefulness simply appalling. snake it
into railroad car wheels" says an unthusl-
astic inventor Of Chicago, who has dig
| covered means Of COMPRISING sawdust,
bran, tea, and kindred bulky substances
| into from one cnth to one-thlrd of their
| original bulk. The L,1N1bernaan some
weeks since spoke of this invention in
terms somewhat of disparagcment, which
1t subsequently modified OH seeing speci-
mems of sawdust and bran compressed into
remarkably small compass. Its credu-
lily is further shaken on being shown a
model Of a car wheel consisting of an iron
rim of seven inches outward diameter by
one-half inch thick, fitted with well pro-
portioned hub, the space between the hub
and rim filled with pine sawdust, pressed
IN 80 solidly that we are ready TO believe
| the, assertion that, resting the irCn RIM
upon bearings, pressure equal to % tons
applied to the hub failed to develop any
signs Of weakness. We hesitate II. these
days OF progress to assert that anything Is
impossible, and we begin to think that even
onwdust pUssesses clciicnls or value NTH.
erto unsupported, and that tho day may
come when the filed grounds adjacent to
all saw mills may be seen to have great
value In the mechanical development and
utilization of the now useless debris placed
upon them to get it out of the way. Saw
dust car wheels, sawdusI brick, sawdust
fence posts, railroad ties, and even saw
dust window and door frames, wainscoting
and mouldings, begin to appear among the
possibilities of the immediate future. Saw
dust hair pins, watch chains or cases, and
sawdust knives and forks, or sawdust
| shovels, pitch forks, or hoes, will probably
| not be urged upon this generation, which
will :emain satisfied with utilizing saw
dust IN place of the more expensive bass
wood in the manufacture of hams and
| cakes of soap, but tho field of possibilities
| Is still large enough to utilize vast amount
Of this valueless material. Seriously, how
ever, the compression of bran and oats
into one-tenth of their original bulk, with
| out injury to the substance, means cheaper
| transportation, which will enable their
shipment to foreign lands at profit which
their bulk has rendered impossible, while
with the freight on tea from China, cost
Ing about $25 per ton ON account of tho
space 1t occupies, compression into one
| third it's bulk would mean a saving cf
from three-qua-ters of a cent. to ono cent
pound on freight and labor of handling.
1t is not by any means impossible that wc
may buy 'brick of tea" IN the near
future which VIC can carry home iii our
vest pocket; or that the housewife may
keep her truant husband at home evenings
to saw the coffee up into thimblefuls suit
able for tho preparation Of tho morning
draught. Verify 1t would seem that with the
recent discoveries of the Rip Van Winkle
Of the press, who after being absent from
home for year had to have pilot to
show him about the city of his former resi-
dcncc, and who in his absence developed
a sixty year stock of pine On the Memo
minee, and about as large supply through.
out tho State of Michigan, there is no
danger after oil Of timber famine, at
least so long as the sawdust holds out.