New-York tribune., 1901-08-11

third advantage. Where the material con-
sumed contains a sufficient amount Of COM
bustibe rubbish the heat is turned TO account
in generating power for electric lighting. Lord
Kelvin and others have thought II practicable
to light small town or a parish Of a big city
by this means Thus far, however. little has
been accomplished beyond running a dynamo
big enough merely TO supply the needs Of the
station
In number OF American cities-New- York
Boston and Philadelphia, for instance-pains are
taken TO separate one class of waste from an
other. In Boston three divisions are made.
Kitchen refuse inelegantly called "swill" TO
which alone the much misused term garbage"
strictly applies is turned over to a corporation
which carries II six miles away and subjects It
10 substantially the same treatment as is given
TO the same sort Of stuff on Barren Island. The
ashes and street sweepings constitute an inde-
pendent class, and are largely used for filing
low grounds The portion not so used is dumped
into the ocean. Thirdly, there is a certain
amount Of light refuse part OF which is com
bustible, but which also includes glass. tinware
and other articles of junk. Another contractor
takes this to refuse disposal station in the
heart OF the city. where 1t is carefully sorted,
Such material as be sold is picked out. and
the rest is cremated.
The city OF New York, as It existed before the
annexation Of Kings Richmond and a part Of
Queens counties, adopted substantially the same
plan as Boston A contract was made in 1896
for five years with the New-York Sanitary
Utilization Company to take of the gar
bage transporting it from the city dumps to
Barren Island. The ashes and street sweep
ings were disposed of here as in Boston. For
a time cremation was resorted to for the de-
struction Of the third class Of refuse. But this
plan has now been abandoned, and the stuff
gnp n
OF a payment Of 81, 700 weekly to the city-or,
rather. TO the Borough Of Manhattan-the priv
ilege is given to certain persons of sorting over
the rubbish and rescuing all available junk
before the remainder goes out to sea.
The original contract made for the disposal OF
garbage at Barren Island provided for an an
nual payment by the city (as il then existed)
OF $50 800 A few months later Brooklyn made
a similar contract with an allied company for
five years at an average price Of Sl2lOOO Pre-
sumably the amount of garbage TO be disposed
OF in Brookly is less than in the boroughs Of
Manhattan and The Bronx, but the Brooklyn
service includes collection of the garbage from
house to house, well as the transportation
and final disposal Of it. Separate works have
been erected on Barren Island for Brooklyn, nut
they stand beside the Manhattan plant, and
both are practically under one management
DEPUTY Commissioner Gibson, OF the Street
Cleaning Department said yesterday that the
new contract which has given Use 70 litigation.
provides for the Borough Of Manhattan alone,
and not The Bronx. The amount Of garbage
collected, he added. has probably Increased 10
per cent IN five years. But an emission Of the
Borough Of The Bronx from the new contract
would apprecfably reduce the total amount to
be handled. Mr.. Gibson remarked that the gar
bage collections varied greatly from season to
season. In summer when vegetables are cheap
and abundant there is much more kitchen
refuse than any other time OF year. In reply
10 the question why the New-York Sanitary
Utilization Company raised its price from about
$4,000 TO S232. 900 a year, Mr.. Gibson said
that he was not of course. in position 10
speak for that concern. Still. he understood
that the company pretended to have lost money.
Efforts 10 find at the company's own Offices. in
Burling Slip, anybody willing TO give explana-
tions were unsu scessful.
The New England Sanitary Product Company,
which has the contract for dsposinE OF Boston's
tion Company both what is known as the
Is first put into enormous boilers. or "digesters"
10 be cooked. Originally there were nnety-six
Of these but the number has been increased.
The heat is applied by steam, and the treat
rent lasts about eight hours. Before the gar
hage is introduced TO a digester small guam
ti+v of water Is let into the latter. But even
without this addition the mass is moist From
90 10 30 per cent OF IL is water.
The contents Of the dgester, after cooking
are removed TO presses which separate the
fluids from the solids. a pressure Of one hun
dred pounds to the square inch is applied. The
solids are dried. screened and finally bagged 10
be sod for fertiliZng purposes. The liquid con-
tains a good deal Of grease. This is Isolated
from the water and sold at prices which vary
from y to 3 cents pound Soap manufact-
urers buy It.