The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1902-03-07
VALUABLE WASTE PAPER.
The Final Disposition Of Great Britain's
Covsrnmsnt Documents.

- Hhl'tS tfft thuJpiAt VI . |
must not be allowed to fall into the
hands Of curious outsiders, comprise
the contents Of John Bulls waste
paper basket every year. This mass
Of rubbish is made up Of old doeu-
ments and papers Of all descriptions
from the government offices, the post
Office. and, indeed, all government in
s~titutions; and. in addition to the
quantity derived from London, there
are 800 eenters in various parts ofthe
kingdom from whence great sacks Of
official papers are dispatched TO the
metropolis every six weeks.
Until 1852 oil the governments
waste paper became the perquisite Of
he Office keepers. messengers and 9TH
ers employed in its collection, but it
was found that this system resulted in
many important secrets becoming
public property. Eventually it was
decided that the waste should be sent
to the prisons, where il was sorted by
the prisoners, torn up by hand and
afterwards sold to dealers. Even this
method was not satisfactory, SO in
1855 the government erected head
quarters at Earl street. Westminster,
and into this building all the waste
paper now goes to be dealt with by
large staff, which includes 30 female
sorters.
From ten TO twenty tons is the aver.
age amount Of waste paper received at
Earl street every day. and as the sacks
come in they are handed over to the
sortcrs and the contents carefully
separated on wire tables and classified
under ~ distinct heads. For instance.
class "a represents the letters and
envelopes thrown away in govern
ment Offices. class "C"thc official hull
paper documents. class I'D" old news
paper telegnms. which have been
kept at the post office for a period II
three months before being discarded,
md so on.
When the waste Ia. been carefully
classified that of an unimpor,aht ma
ture, such as old envelopes, ncwspa-
per kilograms. etc. il sold to dealers
for repulping. The remainder. which
it is imperative to still keep secret. is
DESTROYED on the premises, for which
purpose u ga engine and guillotine
machine are used. the documents be-
ing cut up into pieces 80 minute that
it would be impossible for anyone TO
put them together.
State Papers which have contained
diplomatic messages and matter Of
great import r not permitted TO
pass into the hands Of supernumarics.
but are cut up and taken away under
the charge Of a prominent official TO
a paper mill, the situation OF which il
unknown to anyone save the authori-
ties. Here the valuable documents
are pulped and transformed into high
class paper for future Use.
Keen competition exists between
dealers to secure the nations waste
paper because Of its excellent quality.
Bootmakers are the chief purchasers
Of old government charts backed with
linen, which they use forlining boots,
so il is quite possible that the reader
may have beneath hi. feet the frag.
ments Of a government document
WHICH copssA .hI.r Il excitement
throughout the country last year.
No less than u tons Of old ledgcrs
and account books is received q, Earl
street every week, and these after be-
ing defaced are sold 10 Belgian boot.
makers for manufacture into ladies
shoes. Another importan, item /.
. the 10 hundredweight Of used ribbon
from the Morse Geographic ins,rn.
ments which reach the same destina.
! ton weekly.
All the waste after having been
5 duly sorted i. stored for a time, when
lists are sent to dealers, who ARE in.
vitcd to tender for lis purchase, In
this way the national waste paper has
i ket is made to yield the handsome
profit Of fG,5O0 annually, which zoe,
some way towards the heavy bill fol
! stationery used in government offices
! London Tit-Bits.