The evening world., 1894-10-03
REFUSE IN The DOCKS.
Tons of Garbage Illegally Dumped
in the River and Bay.
The Barney company's Green Hands
Can't Handle Patent Bumpers.
Criminal Proceedings May Result,
Under the New Law.

IL became known to-day that owing to
the inexperience OF men employed by the
Barney Dumping Company, tons of gar
bage have been dumped into the East
River at the docks where the refuse Is
loaded into the scows and sent to sea.
Since the strike of the scow captains
the Barney people have been obliged to
employ green hands The new men, not
being familiar with the automatic dump
ers. have, in many cases. failed to close
them properly, and when they are about
half filled the weight of the refuse forces
them open. depositing the contents of
the scows in the dock.
In one case a bumper which was al
most filled, opened in the dock, and 300
tons Of garbage were deposited in the
slip. Men in boats were employed to
take up the matter that floated to the
surface, but the services of a wrecking
company were employed to remove the
filth that sank to the bottom.
1t is said that this operation was re-
peated at other docks and in another
case, a scow which had put out to sea,
opened when off Fort Hamilton and tons
of city refuse found resting place in
the main ship channel.
Since this occurrence United States
hibited the employment Of such of the
automatic bumpers as were not in good
working order.
Inas:nuch as this years amendment of
the Dumping law Of 1888 makes it a mis-
demeanor to dump offal within the har-
Dor even by accident, the Barney Com
pany takes no more risks.
The same bumper, No. r. which
dropped It's 300 tons in the slip at East
SEVENTEEN street, was again being
loaded at the foot Of West Canal street
loaded it was discovered that the bumper
was beginning to open, and when the
gap was about three inches wide orders
were given to discontinue. loading:
How much refuse is lying at the bot.
tom of the river in the West Canal
street slip is not exactly known; About
several days ago out of bumper No. 6,
and great many more loads must
have been added by the opening of
OF The same I'M; s state q affairs prevails at
Rutgers street, and. with slight varia
lions, at Stanton street and the other
piers , where bumpers , are tied up; ,or
such an alarming condition Is sought to
c9mmissiQger Andrews on the score
scow ca plains strike. This Strike
was brought about by the action
Of the Barney Company In reducing the
ToSsS, SIS to 81 per
captains who struck afford the Barney
Dumping Company an opportunity to
save s3s every week.
sides Of the city are mounds of filth,
ranging in intensity Of odor from the
hamburger cheese to the mephitic, mag
come from slaughtkr-houses. Annual
ly $500. coo are appropriated to enable
the the s sii Department to keep
to be insufficient to accomplish the
Most of the thirteen bumpers that have
| borne the bulk of the city's refuse out to
are, thanks to the employment of
unskilled men to handle them,
tied up ss 9sos their b1asn docks the That
scows; and these are such fifmsy, fragile
and unprotected craft that few can
| be found venturesome enough to go to
Even If these fiat scows were able to
weather a storm, they are so con-
structed that anybody, who attempted to
evitabiy be thrown into The water. They
are really little better than RATS, and
not quite as strong.
The Barney bumpers, on the other
hand, are powerfully constructed and
supplied with an automatic arrange
ment, whereby the hull can be made to
open and allow the refuse to drop into
! the sea. The hull of a Barney bumper
looks no different than that of an Or
binary canal boat. But when 1t opens,
the aperture runs from stem to stern,
and a front view of the hull resembles
nothing more closely than the open
shells of an oyster.
The secret of handling these scows
without losing any OF their freight on
the passage out to sea, is to close this
bivalve arrangement SO tightly that the
weight of the refuse shall not, in itself,
be sufficient to crowd the walls apart.
Nothing but long practice, 1t seems, can
enable man to accomplish this
The dumping of refuse into the docks
and the harbor has been kept very
quiet by the Barney Company. 1t is
its imperative duty to notify the Dock
Department of such an occurrence, but
It has neglected to do So At least,
Secretary Docharty. of the Dock De-
partment, says that no notice of 1t was
given to his office.
The Chapman Derrick and Wrecking
Company of 70 South street, dredged
for the refuse for several days, at the
rate OF sI5 per day
At Commissioner Andrews's ONCE
nothing OF all this seems to be known.
Assistant Chief Power OF the Final Dis
position Department. says that all the
bumpers. with one exception, are in
excellent condition, and that nine OF
them are now loaded and ready to go to
sea. He evidently derives his informa-
ton directly from the Barney Dumping
Company. for at the office OF this con.
Germ, 319 Broadway, an Evening World
| renorter was told this morning that