The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-07-22

| statistical, but it will. In time the
economies devised by American in
| genuity out Of materials once wasted
will be measurable with tolerable ac-
| curacy in dollars and cents and will be
! reckoned with peculiar pride. Already
they represent IL value of millions an
nually. Mr.. Kttredge's monograph
looks less to figures than to processes
of waste utilization. 1t is worth while
to know of some of the novel direc-
| tions in which this economy is being
perfected.
Mr.. Kittredge says that While the
| choicest perfumes placed on the mar
| ket are made from oils and ethers eX-
| tracted from flowers there are many
others which are artifically made out
of bad-smelling elements. The fusel oil
obtained in the distillation of spirits
has an odor that is peculiarly disagree
| able, yet it is used after treatment
with proper acids and oXidizing agents
in making the oil of apples and the oil
of pears; and. in addition, the oil of
grapes and the oil of cognac are little
|
| apple is best made by the action of
putrid cheese on sugar or by distiling
rancid butter with alcohol and sui
| phuric acid. One of the most popular
perfumes has for one of its essential
| ingredients material which is obtained
| from the DRAWINGS of cow houses and
is also obtained from one of the pro-
"a &c 4, s.l, ,I-
obtained the oil Of bitter almonds,
| which is so largely used in the manu-
| facture of perfumed soap and confec-
| tionerv.
The waste heat from furnaces, into
which inflammable material is thrown,
may be utilized for steam purposes
| in operating engines for electric light
| ing and power. AS an instance Of
| this, the city of Glasgow, Scotland OBJ
tans waste heat from such furnaces
| equivalent to nearly 9000-horse power
per day of ten hours, for manufac-
| turing purposes. The food wastes of
New York city are disposed of by
process which is, briefly, steam diges-
| tion and a separation of the cooked
products into greases and fertilizer
products. The solids after being dried
and screened are sold to manufacture
ers of fertilizers and by them made up
into grades particularly adapted to the
cotton belt. The greases are nearly all
shipped abroad, refined, and separated
into various grades-such as glycerine,
red oil, lard oil and more inferior
classes.
The report shows that all the pro-
ducts of lumber and timber formerly
wasted are now turned to some utility
and some of the new products are of
sawdust, which was formerly consld-
cred an absolute waste material and
was allowed to float down stream or
was thrown in a heap and disposed of.
A way has been found of preparing
this material which gives it value far
above that of solid timber. BY the pro-
cess the particles of sawdust are formed
into a solid mass capable of being
moulded into any shape and of receiv-
ing a brilliant polish and possessing a
durability and beauty of appearance
not found In ebony, rosewood or mahog-
ony. The production of acetic acid,
wood naphtha and tar from sawdust Is
one of the latest enterprises in Nor
way. BY recent English patent, saw
dust may be so prepared as to be nom
inhammable and may then be applied
to the jacketing of boilers and used for
similar other purposes. Experiments
have been made by which high yield
of sugar has been obtained from birch
sawdust, and alcohol can be profitably
distilled from either coarse or fine saw
dust, the product being of high quality
and trlhng impurities contained in it
being susceptible of ready removal.
The utilization of the needle-shaped
leafet of the pine tree either alone or in
combination with some other fibre. as
cotton, has frequently been attempted
latterly with success. 1t is now made
into an article of commercial value for
textile or other purposes, Near Breslau,
in Slesia. there have been erected fac
tories that convert the pine leaves into
what is known as forest wool for wad-
ding. Other factories have been erected
in different parts of Europe for a SINH
lar use of these leaflets. The products
made from these pine tree leaflets have
been exhibited at namber OF eXposi-
tions where they have attracted great
attention as furnishing suitable ma
terial for stuffing mattresses and ar
ticles of furniture in place of horse
hair, for manufacture into hygenic fab
rics for medical use and for articles of
dress such as underclothes, chest pro-
tectors, etc. Attempts have been made
very recently in Oregon to make use
of these leaflets by reducing them to a
fibrous condition suitable for mixing
with cotton to be spun into yarn for
weaving. In the preparation OF the
textile material an oil Is produced
which is employed as curative agent
and oftentimes as u useful solvent.
These are only a few of the more in
teresting instances of waste cited in the
report. Ten years hence the record,
though now large. will be larger. Ap-