Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-08-27
UTILIZATION OF WASTE.

The utilization of Waste" is the sub
ject Of scientific but popular article
in the September Forum by Prof. Peter
I. Austen, who gives interesting par
ticulars of how profit 1s extracted from
refuse materials, particularly of saw
dust.
There are many instances of published
experiments in the utilization of waste
Which read as if they We're intended to
be facetious, altho the investigators are
wholly in earnest One chemist made a
Wine jelly out of old boots, and was en-
thusiastic about it-more so, proba bly,,
than those who partook of it and did not
learn the fact until later Another con-
verts old shirts into glucose ferments it,
distils off the alcohol colors and fiavors
1t and produces fine grade of whisky
Still another scientific eXperimenter
feeds his whole family with cakes con-
tanning a large amount of powdered
sawdust, and is pleased to find that the
diet is relished and digested.
Speaking of sawdust. it is a singular
fact that in the United States this waste
has been allowed to accumulate in vari-
Gus places until it has become nuis-
ance, especially when it has been all
lowed to run into rivers and choke up
the channels, disfgure the shores, and
in other ways make trouble. Altho there
are not a few methods of utilizing saw
dust, but little attempt seems to have
been made in this country. The amount
of sawdust produced has been reduced
by the displacement of the circular saw
by the band saw, which makes much
less dust. There is. however. plenty of
sawdust produced, and as rule it does
not find any application. In view of
this state of affairs brief mention of
some Of the affiliations of sawdust will
be of interest.
| The first use, as would naturally oc-
cur to any one, is to burn it, Several
special forms of furnaces have been in
cases the sawdust is dried before 1t is
burnt, while in others it is dried in the
| furnace in which it is burnt. 1t can also
be mixed with coal slack, spent dye
wood, turf, peat, etc, and compressed
into briquettes. which allows 1t to be
sold for use In place of coal. As coal is
often very highly priced in regions
where sawdust is produced, there is an
i opportunity IuT large prUJl. by lue oIy
distillation of sawdust all the distillation
products of wood are obtained. and
this manufacture can be conducted as
an adjunct to the working Of wood in a
way to insure profit. The products
obtained are gas, wood alcohol, acetic
acid tar and oils. From the tar there
nave been obtained benzole, toluole, zy-
mole, cumole, paraffine, naphthalene
and hydrocarbons which are used in the
manufacture of aniline colors. Carbolic
acid and creosote are also obtained. AS
a last product charcoal is left in the re-
torts.
BY sieving out the coarser particles
mixing the remainder with various fill-
ers and agglutinants. COMPRISING and
heating. some very interesting materi-
ais have been made, in the way Of arti-
if1cial wood, plastic masses, etc. Such 8
material was brought out by LARRY ir
Paris and was made from prepared
sawdust and blood It formed q hard
black substance, which could be fooled
and machined like wood. It took high
polish, and could be glued. lacquered
land gilded. Imitation marbles have al
% been made from the hne dust Of GER
| tain woods and the aust Of ivory and