Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1895-01-03
Old

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our large cities as to what purpose
many seemingly useless things are put,
and now we have come to old bones.
You may be surprised to learn that
the toothbrush you put into your
mouth, saving for the bristles, are made
out of some portions of a dead horse or
dog. People of dainty stomachs may
vince at the fact that the sugar they
put into their tea and coffee cannot be
refined unless it is passed through the
boneblack, made from the charcoal OF
old bones; and these the bones OF dead
animals. The parasol handle, beautl-
fully carved, has nine chances out Of
ten of having been, at some not dis
tant day, the shin bone Of sheep or
dog or some other animal.
Bones is bones" said the superln-
tendent of certain bone-boiling es-
adjustment, situated at some distance
from local habitations and which |
visited recently. "You see, here's lots
of bones, and they are piled up all
separate, because they are for different
purposes and are worth different prices,
according to their uses. The meat
has been rendered off them and put to
purpose and now here's them bones,
all ready for work. Them is shins and
we call them slick bones, and that
there pile is bones out of fore-legs OF
cattle. You see a lot of shin bone
knuckles here and they are all ready
for burning. They'll be chucked in
with that pile of ribs, skulls and other
iints you see in that there corner, and
all of those will be made into bone
black. Of course the burners like to
get the best quality Of bones for their
use, because they can get more char
coal out of them than they can get
out of the commoner bones, but they
come too high for them. This bone
black they make is sold to sugar re-
fners for refining sugar, and 1t has
always answered the purpose to per-
lection, as no other material will do.
1t seems rather hard to a refined lady
that her refined sugar cannot be re-
fined without that nasty looking bone
black, but it is true all the same, and
I cant see what they are going to do
about it"
"And for what purpose of use are
all these bones utilized ?" l asked.
81 cannot begin to tell you all the
uses to which old bones are put, the
man replied. 81 know that they are
made into knife handles, sleeve but
tons, bone jewelry, parasol and UNI
brella handles, combs, tooth brushes
and thousand other things, some of
which | never heard Of Every part
of the skeleton of every animal that
comes here has some use, and nothing
but the smell is wasted, but we hope,
in time, to secure that and use it, too,
for the sake Of the people with good
noses who do not like the odor as it
is"
The bone man smiled grizzly at this
remark, which he seemed to relish
with great gusto, and continued his
information.
"The thigh bones are used for tooth
brush handles more'n any other, and
all of them is used in this United
States. The bones for buttons and
knife handles mostly goes to Europe
because they work next to nothing
over there, and these things comes
back again to some extent all in good
shape, for use in this country. Fancy
parasol handles is mostly turned out
of Sleeps legs, and some Of the purti-
est ivory handles and ivory fans you
ever see usedto be trotting some old
ram around the streets in New York
and Brooklyn or out in the country.
Sheep legs polishes up slicker than
any other bones, and they amt so
brittle as the shin-bone of a COW or
the 'thigh-bone of a steer. If you
want to know why | say bones is
bones, I'll tell you that a ton of pig
iron amt worth more'n quarter as
much as ton OF the cOmmonest KIND
of bones is when it is ready for the
burner or the grinder.
"The bone-biler,' continued the
man, gets hair oil, neat's-foot oil and
sizing glue out of his stock as he gets
it ready for the market. Bones that
we sell to the fertilizer grinders we
bile the meat off in open kettles becos
they bring just as much as if we put
them into tight tanks and bile them
under pressure. We do that with the
bones for burners becos it takes out
nitrogen, slick and clear, and leaves