Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-06-20
UTILIZING OLD TIN CANS.

Pittsburg News: On the side of the hill
overlooking the Panhandle railroad. on
the south of Forbes street. where for a
number of years the old city garbage
was located. is an extensive in
dustry which few people of Pittsburg are
cognizant of. The labor is practically
without a title. but could be termed a tin
can industry. At this place all the tin
cans discarded by the residents find a
resting place. for a while at least. or UNI
TIL they are cleaned rolled. bundled and
shipped to eastern cities. They finally
work their way back into the households,
but in an entirely different condition and
shape than when they were first intro
duced.
It is estimated that Pittsburg furnishes
on an average two tons of empty cans
per day, and these are gathered from all
over the city among the garbage II
rubbish by the wagons which are con-
Stantly on the go. For some years the
question of disposing of all these cans
was a veXatious one, and the men who
gathered them We're willing to get rid Of
them at almost any cost. A few years
later George Schott. of Thirty-fourth
street. conceived the idea of utilizing the
cans. and he began to arrange for the
work. When the old garbage furnace
was vacated. sorn years ago, Mr.. Schott
leased the place, and he was then able to
go ahead and test the scheme he had
planned in his mind. For a time the work
was tedious. and there was very little
money in it for him and the men who
helped him. He soon learned that there
was an urgent demand for cheap tin
among the larger manufacturer of toys
and household articles. and it was not a
great while until Mr.. Schott had worked
UP quite a large trade among these manu-
facturers, and today he is supplying them
LGiTh all tJNa tir ~ fliG ltnj tl,1t nv,
from Pittsburg.
The PtttSburg Reduction company
lifts, on an average. two tons of these
cans every day, and these are taken to
the present furnace in Second avenue,
Where they are separated from the gar
bage. After they are separated they are
thrown into a large pit, and the water
is turned on them. The" are thoroughly
washed. and then loaded into wagons
and taken to where Mr.. Schott handles
them. When the ans reach him they are
IN fairly good condition.. and they are
dumped over the hill gains his works.
The work of asserting the cans is then
commenced. The small cans are separ-
ated from the larger ones, and the de-
fetcive ones are discarded. Having gone
through first hands, the cans are then
shovelled into a furnace. the latter hav-
ing an iron bottom. The solder from the
rim is melted at the same time, and finds
it's way through a hole in the bottom of
the furnace and drops into a pan. Out of
about five hundred cans. which consti-
tute one heating, there is produced about
one pound of solder, which is worth at
present IA cents. After the cans are
thoroughly burned they are taken out
of the furnace and spread on the floor,
and the work of asserting them is again
IN order. The ends are thrown aside
and the remainder of the cans is placed
beside a roller, and after all have been
handed the work of rolling them out
straight commences. After being rolled
the tin, which is then about five inches
wfd and eight to ten inches long. is
bundled and tied, and is reday for ship
rent: There are fourteen heats made
per day at the furnace, and about five
hundred ans to the heat, making a total
OF seven thousand cans per day. Ship
ments are made about. every sixty DAYS,
and consist of twelve tons. or a carload,
to every shipment. The shipments are
of three different sizes. the lowest-pricea
shipment being about 1876 and the largest
bringing about $l30. The cans are divided
into three sizes. The corn cans average
about twelve thousand to the ton and
the gallon cans about five thousand to
the ton. The ends of the cans are sent
to Allegheny, and there are converted
into sash weights.