Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-12-10
DEATH DOES NOT END ALL
THAT is, WHEN YOU ARE CONSIDER
ING THE USES OF THE HORSE.

Details of Common Occurrence which
Shows How the Hide. Hoofs and Car
cass of the Noble Steed Is utilized by
Man-Ground Up to Make Fertilizer
Ii was a very melancholy looking horse.
With consumptive aspect presumably en-
gendered by long periods of semi-starvation.
and when 1t fell dead suddenly in the shafts
II an ash wagon opposite the patent office
'arly yesterday morning, the colored man
who drove the cart did not eyince any mark
I'd surprise. A policeman who was passing
stopped for moment to inspect the corpse
and then went into a shop ON the corner to
ring up a telephone Ten minutes few by,
and a man with businesslike air and large
wart on his nose made his way through the
little crowd that surrounded the dead ami
NAL
The ash man he addressed briefly in a whis-
per, and presently handed him five silver dol
lars After cycling the money for a few sec
onds with the air OF one consoled for mis-
fortune, the ash man put it in his pocket and
walked off, probably To borrow another horse
for the purpose of dragging the wagon home.
As the crowd broke up philanthropic pedes-
trian remarked, with a sigh, to the person
with wart ON his nose that the poor beast
was to be congratulated upon having finished
his career of usefulness in this world The
man with the wart grinned, and replied that
.he unfortunate creatures usefulness, far
from being finished, had only begun.
THE DRAY WITH BIG LETTERS
The phllanthropic citizen did not under
stand the meaning of this response, but he
WnulH haCa lali 10 Iat. -, 1
waited a minute or so more, at the end of
which heavy dray was driven up alongside
the pavement, and two men, with an inclined
plane of boards and rope tackle, pulled the
dead horse upon the vehicle and drove away
with 1t. The bystanders noticed that the
dray was marked in big letters with the
name of such and such firm, manufacturers
Of superior fertilizers"
This, then, was TO be the destiny of the de-
ceased quadruped. Unlike the eggthat chirps
at breakfast, it had not survived the period
of its usefulness. 1t would live again in the
fruits and flowers and waving grain to which
1t might contribute the elements of growth
After awhile the dray came TO a stop in
front of an ugly looking building on the Po-
tomac bank at the other end of Georgetown.
The men did not hold their noses, but that
was because they were used TO the very un-
pleasant smells which thicken the atmosphere
Of the locality. The carcass was unloaded.
and having been conveyed into the building
was hoisted TO the second floor. There an
expert operator set to work upon it With a
keen knife and quickly removed the entire
skin, the portion covering the head and tail
included. The flayed animal was then cut
up into SIX parts, which were thrown into a
big iron kettle with a steam jacket and boiled
four hours. At the end OF this time the big
bones, loosened from the flesh by cooking,
were separated from the mass of meat with
rakes for subsequent grinding up into bone
fertilizer, which is very expensive, but CON
tains elements that restore the nutritive
power to the soil in a wonderful manner. For
" whereas fertilizers made of flesh produce a
good effect which is merely temporary, the
ground bone supplies the appetite of the
hungry loam in a way that really lasts. Nj
trogen, carbon and lime, which it so largely
contains, are marvellous growth producers.
GRINDING HIM TO POWDER
But, as was about to be said, the flesh and
little bones, after the big bones had been
taken out, were put under powerful press,
big enough to accommodate half ton, and
squeezed until nearly every particle of water
Then the mass was placed in steam drier
with two jackets, beneath which steam was
continually flowing around, and after a while
1t came out dry as a chip. Not bit of grease
or moisture in which the elements of decom-
position are propagated, remained, and the
residue, after being ground up fine in a sort
Of mill, resembled Lone Jack tobacco more
than anything else. 1t had no offensive
smell and fha fpf l~k.
would last indefinitely without exhibiting a
sign of decay or change. In this form, put
up in bags, it was ready for the farmer-an
excellent fertilizer, though by no means
equal to ground bone. 1t Is much cheaper,
however.
And now, presumably, you are under the
impression that you know all about the post
mortem history Of a horse By NO means.
You have not yet been told that his skin goes
to Philadelphia or New York and is made into
baseball covers. Nothing 50 tough as horse
hide, and, therefore, so well adapted TO that
purpose, has yet been discovered The hair
of the name and the tail Is the best possible
material for a curled hair mattress. The
hoofs are ground up into the finest gardeners
fertilizer known, and the most costly of all
fertilizers, owing to the difficulty Of grinding
them. The result Is called "hoof meal" and
its value from the gardeners point Of lew is
largely owing to the presence in it Of great
percentage Of ammonia Very likely, how
ever, the hoofs may be utilized in the manu-
facture OF an excellent quality of glue, or it
may be that the chemist will adapt them to
the various uses Of his own, among others to
the making of that exquisite color of Persian
blue. Besides, the hair may be used for hair
cloth and fish lines and the bones for animal
charcoal and buttons w Washington Star