Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-11
LIGHT FROM DUST
Lord Kelvin's Method of Consuming Gar
bage.
The New scheme at Shoreditch O
Utilizing Waste Materials for
Power and Illumination.
From the London Telegraph.


| and dust destruction which Lord Kelvin
inaugurated in Shoreditch on Monday sig
| nalizes great advance in municipal house
keeping and in economy of production.
The system of using dust as fuel has al
ready been tried. and has proved success
full small scale. But Shoreditch has
adopted a holder scheme than any yet at
tempted, and gives us a romance in me-
chanical science. Dust and garbage are
utilized for generating electric light ard
for supplying hot water to public baths
and iaundrfes. and as OF the same site
public library and museum and technical
schools are being erected, we have a strik-
ing group of buildings which illustrates
the progressive movement IN Shoreditch.
Ten years ago Shoredi:ch stood for all that
was worst in London vestry0om. The only
thing rpon which the parochial busSbodies
showed any particular energy was in the
consumption of refreshments. But Shore
ditch has undergone a marvellous change.
Nepotism and pluralism have disappeared,
the contra ctor has been displaced and a
vigorous municipal policy has been pur-
sued. 1t has given good results in many
directions.
A notable enterprise was the establish
ment OF municipal technical school The
center Of the cabinet making and wood
working industries. Shoredtch. was much
IN need OF technical training for its future
artificers and craftsmen. But the poor
parish had no endowments to support tech
meal education, and it could not levy a
rate for the purpose. The ves.ry overcane
the difficulty by the ingenious device of
raising money by letting the street lamp
posts for advertisements. The school soon
Justified its existence, and will become the
nucleus of a much larger and better equip
ped institution. When Shoreditch yestry
took the duty of dust removal and cleans
Ing into its own hands 1t obtained relief
from an expensive contract system but
did not solve the problem of economical
dust disposal. 1t has always been a try
Ing thing in great cities to get rid Of the
oaliy accumulations of dust, refuse and
garbage The system of carting barging
the waste away into the country was too
expensive to be continued. 1t was discov-
cred that cheaper method was its reduc-
ton to smoke and clinker by dus. Destroy
ers. Then 1t was recognized that the dust
crematory involved a shameful waste of
heat.
AS result, several attempts were made
10 construct boilers which could use the
neat probably. Schemes were carried out
at st. Pancras. Ealing and elsewhere but
they were not sufficiently matured to insure
absolute confidence in dust as fuel Shore
oitch, after careful investigation, has been
able to benefit from all previous expert
ments and to establish a UNIQUE undertake
ing.
The station which it has constructed is a
marvel of mechanical ingenuity. The con-
tents or the household dust bin, street and
trade refuse are carried TO the works.
Electric lifts and motor cars distribute the
refuse On tipping platforms; mechanical
feeders pick it up and charge the cells Of
the dust destructor. Forced Hast is pro-
duced by motOr-driven fans, and as the
works stand near a sewer a fan ventilates
the sewer, draws out the gases, passing
them into furnaces. where they feed the
flame. A new system of thermal storage
which has been introduced economies and
stores the heat, as while the dust destruct-
ors must be kept continually at work, an
equal production Of electric current is not
required. The steam generated by the dust
and dynamos of the electric lighting sta
ton, and the hot water is drawn off as re-
CURED to the adjoining baths and laundries.
All classes in the community are thus serv-
ed by this novel system for the utiIiza ton
OF refuse The contents of the domestic
dust bin return to the householder in the
form of electric light, which We hope he
Will not be slow to use. The vestry is start
ing wisely by supplying current slid
ing scale which will encourage consump-
ton. The average price may not be more
than I'D per unit.
Further, to encourage the popular ex-
tension of electric light, penny-in- the-slot
meters with all necessary fittings will be
placed In houses without charge. so that
the Hoxton artisan may have his penny
worth of electric light for his evening read
Ing. Free fittings will be supplied in other
cases. We may. therefore, look for the
popularizatton of electricity in Shoreditcn.
The current should also be used largely
for motive power by the many small manu-
facturers and cabinet makers in the dis
trict. The whole combined scheme will I'M
doubleday result In great economies in va
rious directions. and the vestry has reason
to feel proud Of the advance its enterprise
shows in the solution of the difficult dust
problem, and in the supply of cheap cleo
tricity for light and power