The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1893-09-23
WEALTH FROM REFUSE.

w NALL IL Il 01Om A0Ix O0AIs
A Singular Industry Of the Great
City Of Paris.
Dead Animals Fishei from the Rivers
and Sewers Treated win Chemaeals
and Converted Into Useful Articles
Of Commerce.
The following account Is given by
Charles CASTOR, who has for years
been connected with the famous hrm
of Souffrice ct Gle, who have been win
ming wealth from the sewers of Paris,
saws the San Francisco Examiner.
Mr.. CASTOR has not come to San
Francisco with the idea of suggesting
the adoption of the Paris system IN
connection with the sewers here, but,
as an expert in his line, he has discov-
cred in a day that San Francisco's sys-
tenn of sewerage is at least several de-
grees short of the Partisan ideal.
"The work done by the Maison Souf-
frice in Paris" said Mr.. CASTOR, could
not be carried on so well in San Fran
cisco or in Chicago as in New York, or
Philadelphia or Washington. 1t needs
q stream, and Paris has the advantage
of the Seine, where there is no tide
With the help of the Seine MN. Souf-
frice have made an immense fortune,
and they have won it all from the waste
of great city. All the sewers OF Paris,
you must know, center in one great
sewer which empties into the Seine
lust below the bridge Of Asnieres- All
the refuse, the greasy and dirty water,
the unclean waste of the shops and
streets, pass into this and out upon the
river again in one form or another,
and it is from this we reap our har-
vest"
Mr.. CASTOR said the firm had never
asked sou for scavenging the city and
found themselves fully repaid by
what they collected in the streets
and in the waters of the Seine. The
founder of the firm, AZ early as 1886,
began the study of how all waste ma
terial might be utilized. He afterward
associated his sons and then his grand
sons with him, and early in the COS
they took the job of keeping Paris
clean. They built big factory at
Bourgct and had the chiffoniers bring
there the rags and refuse OF the city
and they turned it into gold.
The next step was The development
of specially in the utilization OF the
waste of the butcher shops and sham
bles. This was all boiled in great vats
and the scum was made into oil and
candles and other merchantable COM
modities. One set of men collected the
rags and waste that engineers and ma
chinists used around the factories and
machine shops. The grease was ex-
trated from these and purified, the rags
| were sorted, the woolen stuff reduced
| to powder for fertilization purposes,
and the cotton turned into paper stock.
Mr. Gaston's personal superintendence,
! when at Paris, has been directly IN con-
| nection with the collection OF things
found floating on the water. The firm
| got permission to construct short piers
out into the Seine below the point
where the great sewer empties, and on
| these men stand with huge forks or
spoons, lifting out everything that
floats along. It is all carted to Bour-
| get and boiled and squeezed and sorted.
The grease is treated with lime. and is
transformed into soap and glycerine.
The wood, hay, stubble, corks and pa
per, when dry, are used to feed the
factory furnace.
"You would probably be surprised"
said Mr.. CASTOR, ''to know how many
animals are picked up in the Seine in
the course of year. can give you
some figures that will astonish you,
but can assure you they are less than
the actual records. I have known
more than eight thousand dogs to be
ished out of the Seine in single year.
Calves, sheep. goats and pigs come
aloug every day or two. Scarcely a
day passes without a goose, or duck.
or a chicken being found, and rats are
very plentiful.
Next to the dogs, however, come
the rabbits. The poor people OF Paris
all have dogs, and most of them raise
rabbits in back yard or on the roof.
! The latter breed so fast that many OF
them are thrown into the sewer. and
then they are part OF the fish that
come to the Souffricc net. Cats come
under the same category. All these
| bodies are treated with chemicals, and
the different parts are utilized to the
best advantage"
An incidental industry developed in
this connection was referred to by Mr..
CASTOR as asticots. The eggs of the
,nyriads of flies that congregate on
,,ecayed matter at the Bourget factory
produce so many grubs that it was
found possible to supply them as bait
for the entire fishing contingent Of
Paris, and it is not unusual for the firm
to sell Eve thousand dollars worth OF
these grubs during q single fishing
season.
"Those connected with the Soufrice
establishment are often told" said he
in conclusion, ''that the original idea
of the great business was suggested
by Victor Hugo's remark in Les Mis-
cradles that Paris throws into the
water every year twenty-five million
| francs.'"
THE ONLY FEMININE MASON.
She Was the Grand Junior Warden and
| rillar Of Beauty.
"Was there ever woman mason?"
eyes, one. and only one. 1t was
found that she couldn't keep secret
And so it has been ever since that q
woman has nothing to tie to- to make
her eligible to masonry"
| This was the reply of Robert Walton
of Rugby, Tenn, who is q member