The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-12-14

The present system Of disposing of
/ garbage, rubbish and street sweepings
! In Scranton is to be revolutionized If
! council take favorable action on a plan
| soon to be submitted to them by Street
! Commissioner Dunning. He has re-
! Gently been investigating the problem
! in New York, Brooklyn and Buffalo.
! and Is satisfied that the great bulk of
| refusa now gathered in a slip-shod
! manner can be properly cared for with
! out expense to the city, and possibly
| with profit.
! From Investigations ! have already
| made" said Mr. Dunning to a Tribune
| reporter yesterday, 81 feel satisfied
| that the disposal of rubbish and gar
| hage can be made without municipal
I expense, provided councils will regu-
! late the question by proper legisla-
| ton On that point Mr.. DunninE
| want d to be quoted correctly in order
| that his opinion might bc fully un-
| derstOod, He has for sometime been
making IL study from a scientific
| standpoint and his conclusions have
been so thoroughly shaved by a we'll
! tO-dO and influential Scranton busi-
ness man that the latter has been
! exp rimenting with a view of asccr-
! tanning the profit that could be made
from the sale of sortings
HAVE 4 MARKET VALUE.
A brief and general description of
the sorting system in New York city
will give an idea Of what Mr.. DunninS
has in view for Scranton:
A big belt, several fest wide, runs
over a large sorting table and carries
slowly before the gaze of a score or so
| of piCkcrs the rubbish from a large
| receiving bin. From this slowly mov-
ing belt each picker is supposed to re-
move one or two of the following kinds
of refuse:
Manila paper, mixed paper, paste
board, woOlen rags, linsey carpet, wool
carpet, white rags, black rags, mixed
rags, shoes by the pound, shoes for re-
pair, mixed copper. pewter iron, good
rubber white rubber, overshoes, tin
cans, glass. hair, hair cloth, hats by
the pound hats by the piece Each of
| these lots has a market value and
! brings a profit to the person who gets
| the privilege Of sorting it. In New
| York city the plant IS owned by the
| city and operated by the contractor.
An uniformed person wouldn't ap-
| preCiate a Gift of a lot of tin cans but
| they are worth 1926 a wagon load
| In New York the Brewers association
| pays $1.75 pr gross for beer bottles
Each of the other lots has it's value.
1t costs nothing for steam to run the
machinery. After the rubbish has
passed the pickers it drops from the
belt into a bin and Is carried by an
endless belt into a fire-boX and burned,
the heat generating steam for the
| plant. The amount of fuel is so great
that more than enough steam is gen.
Grated. 1t might be imagined that the
! gas and smoke from the boiler plant
would be a nasty smelling nuisance
| Such is not the case, however. The
smoke and gases are forced by blower
| back into the flames and burned free
of all odor
For years the Scranton board of
! health and the successive heads of the
street department have been at their
| wits end for remedy against the
| scattering Of refuse about the streets
| something that is no less a sanitary
| problem than one of cleanliness. An
| opportunity for light on the subject
| was offered in the meeting of the New
! Jersey Sanitary association at Lake
wood, n. j., last week and it was at
| tended by Mr. Dunning and DR.. w. f.
| Allen, health officer of the city. The
| New JERSEY cities on account of low
| level and marshy lands and an absence
| of grade, have probably carried their
| Investigations Of sewage and other SAN
| itary questions to greater length than
| any state in the union. In that state
it is science and not a political prob
! lem.
| ADVOCATED SORTING SYSTEM.
| Much of the information gained by
| the two Scranton officials was from
! Rudolph Herring, of New York city,
late chairman of the committee ap-
| pointed by the National Sanitary board
to investigate the garbage question,
and NJ. NJ. Baker, c. T., associate edi-
| tor of the Engineering News. They
| both advocated the sorting system
| mentioned in the foreging and which
| includes a system for dsposing Of
wet" garbage. This latter makes it
| possible to extract marketable grease
and fats, but the method is too tech-
| nical TO be described briefly here
Mr.. Dunning has made three trips to
| New York, Buffalo and Brooklyn at his
| own expense and in a week or so will
| continue his Investigations in Phila-
| delphia and New York, chiefly in the
! latter city, which possesses what is
| recognized as the model sorting and
! garbage plant. He will study ii as a
| civil engineer, which is his profession.
but will be accompanied by a we'll
| known mechanical engineer of this
| city, who will investigate from the lat
| ter standpoint, They will then return
! to Scranton to prepare drawings and
| plans for plant suitable to this city
and which will accompany Mr.. Dun
| ning's communication to councils on
| the subject.
Mr., Dunning will, however first ad-
| dress the board of health in reference
| to the matter, as that body will mean
while receive a report from DR.. Allen
and ask for further information.
If the plan is approved by councils.
! householders, store keepers and others
! will be obliged to sort their wet" and
/ dry garbage and rubbish, place it in
| galvanized Iron cans on the CurbStone
| twice or thrice week and have it re-
| moved free of expense to them by who
| ever is awarded by councils the privi-
! lege 1t is not unlikely that the cost
| of removing street sweepings can also
| he entirely done away with. In many
! cities this is performed gratis by per-
! sons who sell the sweepings for fertil-
/ izer,
HALF IS LEAKAGE.
1t is claimed that fully one-haIf Of
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