The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-10
WEALTH FROM REFUSE.
Talk With a French Contractor Who
Collects the Sewage OF Paris.


From the san Francisco Examiner,
Charles Castor, who has for years
been connected with the famous firm of
Soufrice ct Gle, who has been winning
wealth from the sewers of Paris, is among
the guests at the Palace Hotel, San Fran
cisco
Mr. CASTOR has not come to San Fran
cisco with the idea of suggesting the
adoption of the Paris system III cOnnec-
tion with the sewers here, but, as an eX-
pert in his line, he has discovered in IA
day that San Franciscos system Of the
sewerage is at least several degrees short
of the Partisan ideal.
1.-THE work done by the Maison Souh-
rice in Paris" said Mr.. CASTOR, yester-
terday, could not be carried on so well
in San Francisco or in Chicago as in
New York or Philadelphia or Washing
ten, 10 needs stream, and Paris has
the advantage of the Seine, where there
is no tide. With the help of the Seine
NM Souffrice 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 just 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 harvest
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 on the
waters of the Seine. The founder Of the
firm, as early as 1896, began the study Of
how all waste material might be utilized
He afterward associated his sons and
then his grandsOns with him and early in
the COS they took the job of keeping
Paris clean They built a big factory at
Bourget and had the chffoniers bring
there all the rags and refuse OF the city
and they turned it into gold
The next step was the development of a
speciality in the utilization Of the waste Of
the butcher shops and shambles. This
was all boiled in great watts and the scum
was made into oil and candles and other
merchantable commodities. One set of
men collected the rags and waste that
engineers and machinists used around the
factories and machine shops. The grease
was extracted from these and purified,
the rags were sorted, the wooden stuff re-
duced TO powder for fertilization pur-
poses and the cotton turned into paper
stock
Mr.. Gaston's personal superintendent,
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.
1t is all carted 10 BOurget 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 paper, when dry, are
used to feed the factory furnaces.
"You would probably be surprised, ]"
said Mr. CASTOR, ''tO know how many
dead animals are picked up in the Seine
in the course of year. | can give you
some figures that will astonish you, but l
can assure you they are less than the &C
tual records. | have known more than
5000 dogs to be tished out of the Seine in
a single year Calves, sheep, goats and
pigs come along every day or two.
Scarcely a day passes without goose or
duck or a chicken being found, and IA is
are very plentiful.
Next to the dogs, however, come the
rabbits Tho poor people Of Paris all
have dogs, and most Of them raise rabbits
in a backyard 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 Souffrice 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 incident in the industry developed
in this connection was referred to by Mr..
CASTOR as asticots. The eggs of the myr-
lads of flies that cOngregate on decayed
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 s., 900 worth of these
grubs during a single fishing season.
"Those connected with the SOuffrice es-
adjustment are often told - said he in
conclusion, that the original idea of this
great business was suggested by Victor
Hugo's remark in Les Miserables' that
Paris throws into the water every year
$4,000 francs.''