Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-03-16
THE DISPOSITION OF ASHES
THE REFUSE A SOURCE OF FUEL
SUPPLY.
Deposits Made ON the Dumps, Where
They Are sfeved by Poor
People.

Since the municipal collection of ashes
was inaugurated here last summer many
people have inquired what disposition was
made by the contractor Of the tons of such
refuse his force daily collects. Some be-
lieye it is used for filling-in purposes, others
suppose that 1t is used by the District in
making roads, while the great majority OF
the people appear to be confident that the
contractor has the ashes carefully screened
and sifted to save the cinders. and that
these cinders he sells to his great pecuniary
benefit From a statement made by the
contractor, Mr.. r. V. Rusk, to reporter
of The Star the other day, it appears that
he has deposited every load Of ashes his
force has collected upon the public dumps,
and that the only persons who have re-
ceived any benefit therefrom are the poor
of the District.
There are some eighteen of these public
Dumps" explained Mr.. Rusk, land before
commenced collecting the ashes L re-
ceived permission from the Commissioners,
through Mr.. Warner Stutler, the superin-
tendent of the District street cleaning de-
partment, to deposit them upon these
dumps. Every load my force has collected
has been deposited there. These dumps are
resorted to by the poor people, and as my
wagons throw out the ashes, these people,
young and old, white and black, pick them
over and collect cnders, which they carry
to their homes for fuel. Every housekeep-
er knows that in the great majority of in
stances the ashes collected by me have
never been Sifted or screened. and that the
refuse therefore contains great amount
of cinders. In deed, in many cases coal
practically untouched by fire is found in
the ashes, and you can therefore see that
these poor people have, as they put it, fine
pickingS.'
Many Supplied With Fuel.
AT each of these dumps. engaged in
no
wagons as many as fifty poor people are
seen every day, and 1 know that many
poor soul has been warmed this winter by.
the fuel thus secured. | know, too that
but for this means Of obtaining fuel many
would have gone without fire. OF course, 1
nave mad more than one offer from parties
who desired to purchase the ashes from me
for the purpose of screening and sitting
them and then selling the cinders and coal
thereby saved and I am told that If
should do this work myself I could get
dollar or two out of every ton of ashes
nave collected l do not deny this, but the
District is paying me what 1 consider a fair
price for my work of collection, and 1 can,
therefore, afford to turn the refuse over to
my less fortunate fellow beings. The salts
faction l receive thereby is compensation
enough for me. l have, therefore, refused
all offers for the sale of ashes, and shall
continue to place them where the poor can
get all they can out of them
Mr., Rusk," said Mr.. Stutler, in speak
ing of the matter today, lis not only giving
much comfort to the poor of the District
but he is giving us an almost perfect serv-
ice. Last month there were but six COM
plants filed with the Commissioners Of the
neglect of the ash collectors. Such a show
ing is evidence, in my opinion, that the
service Is practically perfect, for when you
reflect that it has been established hardly
six months, and that collections are made
weekly from every dwelling in the city and
It's more densely populated suburbs the re-
ceipt or great many more complaints is
matter naturally to be expected. The peo-
pie of the District may rest assured that
this department has been doing, and will
continue to do, all 1t possibly can to main
tain such excellent service, and l can say
for Mr.. Rusk that he will do his full share"