Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-31
DUMPING GARBAGE.
New Cart for Street Refuse in Use in New
York.


From the Engineering Record.
The advisory committee on street cleaning in
New York suggested, in its report published in
March of this year, the use of a covered iron
cart in the collection Of ashes, garbage and
street refuse. Prior, however, to the appoint
ment of this committee the department of
street cleaning sought the aid Of the principal
manufacturers of street cleaning apparatus to
secure such a cart, but it was impossible to OBJ
tain one with fixed cover. In December, 1890,
dust proof cart. which, it was alleged, would
fill the needs Of the department, was imported
from Europe, but the cover, which was at
tached to the body of the cart in the form Of an
inverted letter ~" one side Of which had to
remain open during loading, could not stand
the conclusion with the string piece of the
dumping board. Ex-CommissiOner Beattie, as
means of overcoming this difficulty, suggested
the practicability Of building cart with low
hung body, constructed SO that by the aid OF
trunnions it would rest on the wheel frame and
be removable therefrom by suitable steam
hosting apparatus, the object being to permit
the dumping of the load from the bottom, side
or tail.
Trunnions were placed on the bodies Of
twenty-five Of the old iron carts owned by the
department, steam hosting apparatus was
erected at the foot Of 18th street, and the
method Of dumping by mechanical means was
thus begun. Previously the old carts were
dumped by simply turning on the axle, the
tail-board striking the ground with force
enough to throw the material out. This man
ner OF dumping often resulted in breaking the
carts, and sometimes both cart and horse were
pulled backward into the scow.
Mr.. Beattie then had constructed cart with
a fixed cover as durable the body. By its
use a considerable reduction in the wear and
tear Of horses and carts is effected, as the
steam hoist renders unnecessary the heavy
haul up the incline which is used at the dump
| ing boards in New York; and, moreover, the
| carts are not battered SO much at the string
pieces. Much time is saved by this new man
ner Of dumping, as with the interchangeable
| cart bodies AMI frames driver arriving at the
dumps with a loaded cart finds an empty one
waiting for him. 1t takes but one minute to
dump the new carts When suspended over
| the scow a spring is touched by pole which
releases a set of hooks beneath the tail-board
| and causes it to fly open. All refuse is emptied
| on the scow, and the board returns to place au-
| tomatically.
The capacity of these steel-covered, dust
proof dumping carts is about 60 cubic feet,
exclusive Of the space bounded by the cover.
The wheels are As inches in diameter, and a
crank axle, with 9-inch drop, is used. The
body of the cart rest on the wheel frame, and
| is held in position by the shafts, which are
curved to fit around the bracket shown in the
| cut The body OF the cart is capable Of being
drawn from and returned to its frame by the
| use OF steam hosting apparatus, and is SO con-
| structed that the dumping is effected from the
| tail of the cart while suspended from the bail
of the hosting sling. The body of the cart is
| made of No. 10 sheet steel and the cover OF No.
20. The doors of the cover are on each side
| and are about 2Sx30 inches in size. All joints
/ In the body and cover are made with steel
| fianges lined with rubber to prevent leakage.