The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1884-08-20
Utilizing Street Refuse.

From an experiment now being made
it would seem that large portion of the
refuse of our city streets can be turned
to good account 1t is we'll known that
numbers of Italians get their living, a
meagre one no doubt by collecting
portions of the refuse found in the ash
barrels. 1t has occurred to one thought
full mind that the ragpicker might be
displaced by machinery, and almost six
months since a company was organized,
with Mr.. James X. Price as president, tc
make the experiment. The company
based its hopes of success upon an analy-
sis which showed that load of garbage
contained upon an average about 300
pounds of good coal, and enough rags,
paper, glass, tin, old shoes, and other
merchantable junk to make it worth
while to work it over Systematically. 1t
was necessary to success upon large
scale to have a machine which could
treat the garbage as fast as the carts
brought it to the dumps. Gigantic sieves
were found to clog after few loads.
Finally a box or hopper was constructed,
the floor of which was composed of NOV
able Stats like an ordinary window
blind. The hopper had an oscillating
movement which allowed the fine ashes
to fall through, and turned and shook
up the mass of other stuff, so that rags,
paper, glass, tin, bones, and other matter
of any value could be fshed out by
watchers. The mass was moved with q
regular motion toward one end of the
apparatus, where it tumbled at last into
a tank of water. The good coal sank to
the bottom and was brought up by buck
cts attached to an endless chain, while
the floating garbage was brushed off into
the scow.
At present not enough garbage has
been brought to the Jackson street
dumping place, where the machine has
been placed, to supply its capabilities,
but this can probably be remedied. The
president of the company says that two
hundred loads could be handled with
ease every day, whereas only forty loads
had been obtained to experiment upon.
Enough had been shown, however, to
prove that it paid to treat street refuse
in this way, and the next sitter which
would be placed at dump where more
business was done would be upon still
larger scale. The money received fol
the bones, rags, etc., found in each load
is of course a small sum, but in the ag.
gregate it is sufficient to pay a reasonable
profit upon the capital employed.
The uses to which the material saved
from the dumps is put are many, and
new ways are found every day of utiltiz
ing stuff which has always been regard
ed as of no possible value. The fine
ashes are sold to brick makers, who use
them for hollow light bricks. The rag.
and paper go to the paper mills. The
bones are worth $50 ton to the suga
refners, who, after using the bone -blacl
to clarity their sugar, sell it as fertil
lizer. The glass is worth something
and the old shoes go to the fertilizer fac
tory, The tin cans are subjected to hea
till the solder runs off into molds to b,
used over again, and the plates of til
are rolled out and sold to trunk-makers
who use them to strengthen their bag.
and trunks. The coal burns we'll and i
srld to manufacturers. Only abou
twenty-five per cent. of the loads wer
rejec ted as worthless and sent to sea
Ultimately the company hope to burr
even this refuse of garbage and max
manure out of it.-NelD York Observer