Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-05-07
LONDON RUBBISH.
How It Is Brought Again Into
i Useful Channels.

How It Is Brought Again Into
Useful Channels.
If any of our readers arc in the habit
of passing a contractors or towns
yard. dc will, perhaps, remember per-
ceiying. alongside the outer walls, a
busy scene going on, which he can not
exactly make out. A crowd of women
toiiing and moiling amid heaps of rub
ibish. two or three bargcs laden with
vegetable refuse, he can distinguish
plainly enough. but il is not until he
sees a.string of d~ustcarts slowly wcnd-
ing their way towards the distant
wharf, that the thought flashes upon
his mind that the busy human ants he
has been watching NC scavengcrs.
sorting and arranging the refuse Of the
great towns and cities. There is moth
ing particularly attractive in a scaven-
gers yard: neither the sights nor the
smells arc pleasant; nevertheless, the
ascene. that here meets his eye, rcpellant
as it is. could not exist in any other
than aiigh state of civilization. When
we, think of it, the dust bin is the tomb
of the householder; it is the grave into
which all domestic surroundings
iincyitably sink. OF old, in the ruder
states Of society. this dust and refuse
found its final rest in mother earth;
bat with us, its removal by the scaven-
ger is only the first stage of it's eleva-
ton TO q higher existence, if we may
so speak. In detail, as it exists in
every household, it is u nuisance to be
got rid of; in the aggregate. it becomes
a valuable commodity, to be re-im-
ported into our arts and manufactures.
As the great numbering carts arrive
in a dust-contractor's yard, their con-
tents arc cmpticd into isolated heaps.
No sooner docs this take place. than.
they are each in detail attacked by
grimy men. who remove all the larger
articles, such rs vegetable matter. old
c~oal-scuttlcs. old crinolincs-or rather
crinolcttes-old hats and old garments.
This isa>Eind of rough Sitting which
prepares the heap for the attacks of
the women, who instantly settle upon
every heap like a flock of crows that
may happen to spy any carrion in a
field. Each woman as she settles upon
the heap comcs sieve in hand and
spreads around her a number of bas-
kets; the. man now fills the sieve and
gthe process OF separating the dust-heap
into its clements begins. The first few
Snakes Of the sieve throw down all the
fine ashes and the coal dust. This de-
nritass becomes a very valuable COM
Z modify ,syhea collected and put to. its
right use. II is used by brick-makers
to mix,wih the clay, and docs it's part
in the ultimate baking of the Brick.
In the seeighborhood Of most Of Qua
railways our readers may have noticed
vastahcaps of fine black dust burning
with IL slow combustion and with mlacl
= smoke. These heaps consist Of bricks
which arc being. baked. They are
placed in rows a little apart, and theil
intcrstices arc filled with the flint
breeze as the coal-ashes are termed
q light is set below, an
gradually the whole mass fire
20 a dull rcd heat, the breeze
ultimately mixed with the clay helpin!
to bake. the inside of the brick in TIL
most perfect manner without vitrlfy
ing it. The breeze is the most valu
able portion OF the dust, and it rise
or falls in value according to til
amount of building going on and t
She rate of its production; in the sun
naer but little, comparatively, is made
Coa1-dust, it must be remembered,
entirely a distinct refuse from roa(
dust, which also possesses a certai
value, as we shall show by-and-bJ
When all the finer refuse has passe
through The sieve, the larger an
coarscr articles remain upon the TOT
There glisten some pieces OF broke
glass; this, Of course, only requires
he remclted to be put once more int
circulation in the world. Considcrin
the brittle nature OF this material ar
the enormous quantities of it employee
1t is fortunate that it is almost ind
.s%truciblc. When we break q windo
xWeaoniy alter the arrangement OF j
,oar4;cles. Broken into a thousar
,pieces, il remains as good glass
,eyc. Eime will not touch it. The rel
mants of glass that are found amor
dtae Roman remains that have bet
living in the ground for two thousal
wears, arc as fit for the glass-pot
Enough it had been made yesterda
phials and old bottles are rarely cy'
Clipped. hence they are merely wash
and they pass again into the drawc
of tltc chemist or a~pothecary.
Bones form another constant cont
button TO the sieve, and q valual
item they are to the d~ust-contracto
There is y grand tussle going on
their possession both by the manufa'
urcr and the agriculturist. The larg
bones are first boiled, in order to {
t,act all their fat and gclat!ne. L
purposes the former article is put
are too numerous to be mentioned;
good deal of the finer kind goes
make pomatum and soap; the gclatl
=. .uala.lt Mt .lc1l aS tho buQiY