The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-08-13
|ls 4 Maxim That is Well illustrated
in the Following
Article.
Professor Mapes' Strong Stats
ment About the Refuse Of
Manhattan Island.
remarkable victory Over Waste Achieved
BY MIR. Lister. In the Use Of
silk Refuse.


New York Ledger. The late Professor
Mapes, father of the brilliant and accom-
|plished lady who edits st. Nicholas, used to
|,ay that there was enough ferti3ieing ma
erial wasted on Manhattan Island to ore
ito aufaciency in every homo within its
I,ircuit. This sweeping statement was OBJ
ected to as an exaggeration because the
collection and utilization Of the waste would
10 very costly. No, said Professor
Iapes; perfect system Of utilizing thi q
kaste would not cost as much as the care
tes mode then practiced of dumping the
,Suse in the harbor.
~ pine of our holder yachtsmen occasion
Arun into one of those harbors on the
shd of st. Lawrence, where, for fifty years
one &ore, huge steam saw-mill has been
ball rting Canadian trees into lumber.
20 you may see millions of bushels
t ,'a lust slowly rotting away, to say moth
was !. vast stacks of slabs undergoing
canoHme process. These two forms of
were Rreate a third, which is the labor ex-
TheI in removing the refuse to some dis
meands SO that the mill may not be over
ford I'D by it. The saving companies are
hat Is good deal of trouble and expense
.st to avoid being buried alive in their
twn sawdust.
Then, in the anthracite region Of Penn
ylvania, the passing traveller sees great
ills of coal dust, the accumulation of fifty
ears of sitting. Many ingenious attempts
ave been made to turn these dust-hills
Jack into serviceable coal, but with only
partial success, as the expense Of the pro-
ess is too great for the value of the prod
lot. But even this crude form of waste
nay yet meet its conqueror.
The most remarkable victory over waste
Fhich has occurred in recent years was that
he refuse of silk works, long regarded as
worthless. This gentleman, about the year
1867, finding himself in London silk ware
house, happened to cast his eye upon great
heap Of this refuse, and asked what it was.
FSilk waste,'' was the answer. What do
on do With it''; The reply vas: - I'VE sell
hing else with it, But the visitor exam
ned the heap more closely, stirred it up,
urned it over, felt of it, smelt Of it. His
curiosity was greatly aroused, for he was
he man of all others in the world to deal
nth that kind of material.
Besides being himself q wool-comber, he
7as highly ingenious inventor, one of the
est inventive heads in Europe, and long
racticed in subdr lg the raw material of
abrics. It was, therefore, nothing to him
hat this heap of matter was ill-smelling,
ull of sticks, mulberry leaves, dead silk
porms, imperfect cocoons and sticky fbres,
nee q pile of dirty, rotten old rope. half
licked to pieces. He saw that considera-
le fraction Of the mass wassstha brilliant
1str strhcEIat CLEANS from the silk of
A6es' dresses, that composes the fine vel
cts and the hundred grades of plush. It
vas silk, in fact, worth shillings a pound,
nd the only question was, whether it was
Iithin the resources of the mechanic arts
dlsentangle the precious fbres from the
oisome stuff with which they were min
led.
He came to the conclusion that IL prob
bly, was possible, and he determined to
~ the experiment. He offered to buy the
lady accepted and the mass was trans
erred to the works of the purchaser, in
orkshlre, where he went into the study of
be subject deeply and patiently. He dis
overed, among other things, that the sup
" OF this kind OF waste was practically il
mitable. In France, in India, in Ger
pany, in England, wherever on earth there
|aste accumulated, and was sold. If sold
all, as a fertilizer. If then, he could
lcceed in extracting, without excessive
pst, the good silk from the mass of crude
after, he had the basis of an extensive
nd profitable business.
~ Ao1 cundooAy Aappoueo tuat no Wdb IN
Pc receipt of very large income from
Qualities on other patents; 90 that he had in
he greatest abundance the two things
hich an inventor most needs, and seldom
Pc, money and time; and he proceeded to
pc both Of these lavishly but wisely
oney to the extent of two millions of dol
r.. and seven years of time.
pys to picking out the sticks by hand,
ter which the material was subjected to
ing series OF washings, sortings and other
hritications, until the worthless material
Rs mostly separated from that which had
value. Finally, itsreached condition
hen some of the apparatus used for wool.
Pmbing could be spilled to it. Special
hole process was elaborated for the con-
rsion of silk waste into beautiful silk.
The silk was then made into velvet, silk
rpets, silk plush, corded ribbon, sewing
K, poplin and floor cloths. The waste is
W SO carefully utilized that from the
me heap Of rotting and ill-smelling rub
sh are made the finest sealskin pushes
ID serviceable kind of dish cloths Every
per Is turned to account, and nothing is
hally thrown away except sticks, stones
ID dirt. Another incidental advantage is
at In all the silk-growing countries the
K waste has acquired value. Hundreds
tons of 1t are aent to England every year,
hero it brings an enhanced price. The
hnufacture has proved to be highly profit
lie, and gives employment now to four or
10 thousand persons.
a curious Circumstance is that the inyen-
of these ingenious processes was never
pelled by the ordinary motive of neces-
y which keeps men busy fromyouth to
B age. He was born with something more
an silver spoon in his mouth, namely, q
urch steeple.
Being a younger son of wealthy English
nily, he was designed for the church,
d, according to the good old English
nse. his grandmother had bequeathed
n the rectory of a parish church in his
tive county. But he found it impossible
accept this career. Nature had made
a man of business.
He declined even to 60 to the university,
entered, instead, q Liverpool counting
wages to the United States. He was ia
liar with our Atlantic cities, fifty years
o, and displayed at home such
owledge of men and things in this
nntry, that his young friends called him
perican Sam. As soon az he came of age,
with his fathers aid. plunged into man.
Rcturing and invention, in which he has
mt q long. adven turous and most victo-
us life.
lie might have made q very good clergy
ID, but he has been business man of the
y first order. and by NO means insensible
the happiness and welfare of the persons
his employment. His statuanow adorns
park in the midst Of which he was born,
= where he played AZ q boy, but which,
ouRh his hberality, now belongs to the
pple OF the great manufacturing town of
Adford, In one of the suburbs of which