Evening star., 1896-02-22
THE VALUE OF GARBAGE
Col. Waring of New York Makes Some Inn
portant Researches
Refuse Capable of Producing q Pro-
it of $2.47 Per
Ton.

From the Engineering News.
Advance sheets of a portion of a report on
the disposal of the garbage, street sweep
ings, horse manure. store and other refuse
OF New York city have Just been made pub
lie by Col Geo. E. Waring, jr., NJ. Inst, Z.
E., commissioner Of street cleaning After
referring to the present practice of dump
Ing the garbage and other refuse of New
York at sea as ''wasteful and pernicious,"
Col Waring lays down some principles per-
taining to the final disposition of this mat
ter, as follows:
1t is known that garbage cannot be eco
nomically utilized If IT is mixed with any
considerable quantity of rubbish or ashes;
II Is known that it cannot be economically
incinerated unless IL is separated at least
from the bulk of the ashes with which nm
der the prevailing New York practice IL is
mixed; 1t is known that ashes cannot be
used as filling material so long as they
contain such waste organic matters as con-
sutute the garbage and some Of the rubbish
or city collections; it is also known that q
very considerable part of garbage and rub
Dish. as collected throughout the CITY, is of
sufficient value to pay more than the cost
OF its collection.
bids Invited.
In March. 1895. informal bids were In
vited to determine the prices at which COM
panies would. be willing to dispose of the
garbage Of New York city. or 26 COM
psnles responding, only one was willing to
undertake to dispose of the garbage with
out pay from the city. The average of the
prices named was 30 cents per ton for utili-
zation' and 30 cents for cremation pur-
poses. The department cons dered that
only about half of the 26 bidders We're
sufficiently experienced and responsible TO
make offers" which would be acceptable
to the city," Circular letters were sent to
each t,rrt,
examinations Of their processes by compe-
tent men. the salaries Of the men and all
expenses Incident to the tests to be paid by
the companies Several of the con Germs
agreed to this proposition, and a number OF
studies We're made. 1t was agreed that the
details of the tnvestiga tions should be kept
secret go the report gives only a summary
OF conclusions. The plants studied were
those using the Merz process. at Buffalo
and st. Louis: the Arnold process, en-
ployed by the American Incineratng Co.,
at Philadelphia: the Holthaus, at Bridge
port, Conn.,, operated by the Bridgeport
Utilization Co., and four or five other pro-
cesses, as yet In an experimental stage.
Regarding methods Of extracting grease.
the report states that the hydro-carbon
processes are more thorough than any
other; that the acid processes, as q rule
Go not give good results; that mechanical
processes extract fair percentage of the
grease. As to tankage, or available fer
tilizing material. and regarding utilization
systems in general, the average compost
tion Of garbage and its selling value after
being subjected to reduction, the report
says:
The Tanknge.
The tankage is of varying quality, ac-
cordiLg to the method used and the class
of garbage ho1dled. All reduction methods,
properly conducted. can be made unobjec-
tionable from the sanitary point of view.
The faults seem to come from the want
of experience In construction, for what
has been found offensive In one plant has
beeen so handled in another as to be en-
tirely without offense. Three thousand tons
of garbage, from different cities, treated
by different methods, show general aver
age composition Of: