The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-03-09
TO PUSH THE CREMATORY
THE CONTRACT TO BE LET AND
WORK TO BEGIN AT ONCE.

of Gwinnett Street and to Be in
Operation Before Summer-WhatI It
Will Cost to Burn the City's Gar
| System.
Since the adoption Of the Hughes crema-
tory by the city council, active steps are
being taken toward getting it built and in
operation. Alderman Harris, chairman of
the health and cemetery committee, tele-
graphed the United States Gas and Fuel
Company Of Philadelphia the action of
council and requested that the company
send its representative here at once to close
the contract and establish the crematory
| No reply has been received. but it is pre-
sumed that the contract will be closed and
work begun next week.
| The matter will be vigorously pushed DIR.
| Harris said, until the crematory is com
pleted, which he thought will be before
June. The crematory will be located on
one of the ctys lots on the Spring
| field plantation, at the foot of Gwin-
nett street. The building will be
erected at the foot of an incline, so that
scavengers can drive their carts upon the
| top platform of the crematory, and dump
the hopper" without extra time or labor.
THE CREMAToRY ITSELF.
The crematory itself will be about 80 feet
/ long and from Is feet to 20 feet wide. The
main body Of the kiln or furnace is vertical
| shaft built of brick At its base will be two
| hydro-carbon burners Upper and lower
| triangular fiues extend across tine middle OF
the shaft, and also an upper and lower set of
battles or side wings, which are connected
by means of wall passages or hues. Under
meath these is shelf, forming a retort in
flames from the burners. Flues
are provided for the return of the
gases arising from the incineration to a
smokestack at the side of the shaft. A
| hydro-carbon burner is placed at the bot
| tom of the shaft, conveying the gases to
the chimney, which deodordizes them before
| they pass out into the air. Perforated
steam pipes are located over the top drop
| shelf Of the shaft, connecting the burner
with the boiler so that the fluids may be
carried off
THE PLAN OF WORKING.
The operation of the crematory is simple
| When the furnace is brought to the re-
quired degree of heat load of the material
| to be burned is emptied into the top of the
shaft. 1t falls on the first drop shelf. After
suitable period this shelf is dropped and
INC mass Oh material ID allowed TO Idll
on the second shelf and a second is
dumped into the kiln. After another interval
the second drop CRATE is allowed to fall and
the material is thrown upon the battles and
fues below, from whence the reslduum
finally drops down into the ashpit at the
bottom of the shaft.
Alderman Harris said that the capacity
of the crematory will be fifty tons Of
garbage per day. II will be erected at a
Cnst Of about Z O00 NJ bila the amount Of
garbage from the city will be less than fifty
tons per day, DIR. Harris said, considering
the rapid increase Of population, the capac-
ity of the crematory will be none too great
after few years.
NOT OVER THIRTY TONS DAY.
The present amount of garbage from the
city does not exceed thirty tons per day,
including night soil, but this will be in
| creased when the pail system" is put into
operation. If the regulations relating to
garbage were properly enforced, the amount
would be much greater than it is The or
| dinance provides that each family shall
have barrel, or tub, or some vessel, in
which to deposit waste matter, and that il
shall be placed where the scavenger can get
it on his daily trips around the city. Some
comply with the regulations aud a great
many do not. Instead of providing them
selves with barrels or vessels or depositing
the waste in them. the matter is conveyed
10 the sewer pipes through the water closet.
DR.. Harris is of the opinion, however, that
whom the crematory is in operation the
rule will be more closely observed.
A number Of English cities have prac-
ticed this method of destroying refuse for
some years, but it Is Of very recent impor-
tation to American shores.
THE FIRST IN THE COUNTRY.
A miniature crematory, erected at Gov
T.Io
years ago, was the pioneer of the movement
in this country. A more extensive plant
sprang into being in Montreal little later,
and now the idea has become so popular
from financial as well as a sanitary stand
point, that it is believed they will before
long be in very general use throughout the
land.
The cost of operating garbage crema-
tory is not large. In Montreal it costs Just
$4,000 to destroy by fire a years mis-
cellaneous refuse, and 5000 additional for
the burning of its night soil. The destruc-
ton of the latter costs rs cents per ton, and
Of the former 25 cents per ton. In Mime
apolis it is estimated that Is to 90 cents per
ton Of refuse pays for the labor employed
and the fuel used. Within five
consisted Of 81 horses saa,0 50 S's hossi
l03 barrels of hotel and cotnmission-house
refuse, twelve loads of market offal and
seventy loads of manure. The aggregate
weight was 200 tons, but the ashes deposited
in the course Of consumption weighed con-
siderably less than 1000 pounds. The total
cost of labor and fuel for this five days
period was $3S p.
THE COST OF CREMATIHG.
The cost of cremating in Savannah will
be between Is cents and 20 cents per ton
d.. Harris thinks it is not likely that all Of
the garbage will be so thoroughly incinsr-
ated as to reduce it TO ashes state. II is
then called poudrette, and in this
condition it is more valuable as fertilizer
than when burned to ashes. 1t is perfectly
odorless and entirely free from innocuous
gases. 1t is in this condition that several
Of the northern firms, operating cremato-
ries dispose OF the matter at from $35 to
$50 per ton. Alderman Harris favors
the placing Of a man in charge of the fer
tilizer alone. He anticipates no trouble in
being able to dispose of the material as
rapidly as it can be decomposed by the
crematory process. IL will be the most
valuable fertilizer which can be possibly
secured by the farmers. DR.. Harris in
tends to have the crematory in full blast by
summer.
Seventy Years Old.
The Hlbernian Society will celebrate its
NH anniversary Monday, March ls The