The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-08-03
DISPOSAL OF REFUSE.
SOLUTION OF A vExATiOUS
PROBLEM.
MIR. T.. T. Christian Strongly Advocated
the Establishment of Crematorium-
The Plan Has Been Successful in Other

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the Establishment OF n Crematorium-
The Plan Has Been Successful in Oths
Cities.
Z The disposal Of garbage, refuse, and nigl
soil is veXatious question, none more pei
picking in the whole list of municipal prof.
lens, none more unsatisfactory To deal will
Ii involves not only the comfort Of the pull
/ lac but is, 10 "A very large extent. an impol
tant factor in the annual decrease or IN
crease Of the mortality Of any city.
The freedom from disease and epidemi
Of any community depends mainly upo
/ two things the purity of its waiter supply
and care which is taken 10 remove at one
any possible chance Of cOntagiOn whicl
comes from the presence Of decaying ami
I NAL and vegetable matters. Modern r.
search has shown cOnclusively that nearl.
! all Of what is known as zymOiic or filth dis
eases. come from the germs originated AM
prOpagated by the insaniiary conditions eX
listing in communities. and the spread O
contagious diseases can always be trace,
80 localities where uncleanly conditions
have prepared the way for their inception
and growth.
tlIANi.lN fNS VI \ IbN ~
Upon the cleanliness Of town depend
not only the comfort ard happiness Of tn,
people. but its rate Of mortality is ali,
directly due to the maintenance Of health
ful conditions. and the close and careful in
spectiOn service. and rapid removal aud de
struction Of everything which will give
Ohense and cause disease. so the wholC
question GOES back 10 the original inquiry
"What shall we do to be clean. and how
shall we save our health.''
REFUSE DISPOSAL.
The answer 10 this Is certainly in one di
rcci0n. N0t only must the water be pure
I'm quality and ample in supply. but ais,
tine waste and refuse, which is the ineyi.
table penalty OF living. must Ice speedily
carried away and disposed Of. and this
question of disposal is the one which tries
the patience. yeNes the soul ami cmbitteIs
the temper of our local city fathers.
Lately il has come 10 be understood that
the waste and refuse contain Il menace
and that against the public health. If this
putrid mass Of vegetable and animal mat
ter be allowed 10 accumulate the air i
poisoned. the water is contaminated, and
The ground in and about the neigh
hOrhood becomes unfit for residence.
Formerly il was thought sufficient
10 haul the bulk Of this matter away
10 the outskirts Of the city, and dump it on
The ground or into the nearest creek or
Stream. or worse still, il was used as a
convenient filling for some low place where
street needed repairs, ana where ground
was being made for houses TO bee built.
This practice continued until COM
plants from all sides became 50 pressing
that sOmeOthcr means must be devised.
There was brought forward the idea OF
burning il.
ENGLISH CITIES.
Twelve years ago some Of the English
cities began to burn up their waste, refuse
and night soil. II was found To be perfectly
easy TO destroy it in that way, and to utilize
the ashes for fertilizers. Experiments were
carried on. new forms Of destructive fur.
naces were built, and adopted by one place
after another until to-day upwards of fifty
cities in Great Britain destroy, wholly or in
part, the total product Of garbage and night
soil. In this country the spread Of this idea
has been slower.
NEw YORK.
Beginning in 1870 with the construction
of furnace by an officer OF the United
states Army on Governors Island, New
Ork II .rbOr, it was adopted, by many
places where the difficulty Of Il proper me-
thod Of disposal existed. There were many
forms Of furnaces invented, most Of them
proving 10 be defective in principle or too
expensive in operation, the point TO be 1T
tanned being not only the COM
plcte and satisfactory destruction Of
the garbage, but 10 do IT without the
escape Of offensive Od0rs. with the least pos
siblc expense. and 10 realize some after
benefit in the value Of the ashes remaining
After many trials there was devised, four
years ago. a form OF cremator that has
stood the test Of continuous work with a
minimum Of expense, and with perfect i'm
idunity from noXious gases.
DIS MONIES.
In Des M0ines, Ia. was built a furnace
that destroyed the refuse and night soil, a.
well as the bodies Of dead animals, and to-
day. after four years continuous u-e, j. do
ing the same thing satisfactorily. This
same creamatOr was adopted by Milwau-
kec, Minneapolis. the authorities at COney
Island, Dallas, Texas. and gave satisfac-
ton.
JACKSONVILLE.
soon after tho yellow fever left the South
the city Of Jacksonville saw the need of
some more perfect sanitary measure. built
one OF these crcmatOrs. This example was
followed by Brunswick, Ga, Birmingham.
Ala. Findlay. o.. Coney Island. y. Y, st.
Augustine and Tampa. Fla. and finally
one was built i1r the Health Board of the
city of New York. This furnace was placed
no the loot Of sixteenth street, and il used
10 destroy d.. injected bedding. clothing
etc.. from patients sick with infectious and
contagious disea -.
COST or LABOR.
II has been clearly shown by the record
Of matter destroyed that the cost for labor
and fuel 10 maintain the furnaces is far less
than il supposed, while the bulk Of garbage
DESTROYED is many times greater than could
hp imagined. Jacksonville, after an eN-
pcricnce OF year ANA On"-hali. now
has two garbage furnaces, burning
from llty TO ninely cubic yards
IF garbage, AID twenty-five 10 fiy barrels
night soil daily. al cost Of seventeen cents
per yard. Birmingham destroys sixty yards
of garbage and llty barrels of night SOIL AT
D cost u twelve and Onc-half cents. Coney
Island burns all the garbage. at cost Of
ei-htecn cents per yard, and Findlay, Ohio.
using natural gas. destroys the whole daily
collection az less than ten cents per yard.
WHERE THEY SHOULD III.
The locations Of these furnaces are near
enough the towns 20 allow very short
haul 10 greatly reduce the expense in trans
portaIon. TIE cost Of these furnaces L.
moderate in uGmpar,sG.. Viii the ,,,aGIgt OF
work performed. easily within reach OF the
smallest places, equally well adapted, by
the Use OF larger sizes, 10 the wants Of the
irgo-t places.
They are built OF blocks q Gre clay spe-
cially prepared for the purpose, with pc
culiar anaHcg ment OF Two 4r0s, enc being
always used Io bum ihi sWOse and gases
of the combustion, ana with such an appli-
cation Of hampers and flues a. Will allow
the sending ct flames in three different di-
rections, a. may be best needed. They are
economical in fuel, the largest using less
than one and One-half tons Of coal or cords
u wood pr day, and destroying one nun
deed cubic yards of material.
The process has been examined and ap-
proyedb by he rDit-i .aies government,
and proposals asked for ihe CONSTRUCTION oi
TWO 40 different posts. some sis OF the
larger cities propose building furnaces,
I'M ,he coming fall. one Is ab0nt 10 BE-
constructed at Panama, and Havana has
one ~ operation also. Now, the question re-
solves itself 10 tins, cannot Richmond
build a furnace also: Yes il can, anC
should do 20 al Once-the murderOus disiri-
button o. our refuse should be at once
stopped. We initiate il hany things, now
let III adopt what other people have proved
to US 10 be practical, and WOuldnO be with
,ut under any circumstances. The work