The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1902-12-10
UTILIZING OF WASTE.
PROGRESS IN BY-PRoDUcTs' MANU-
FACTuRe IN RECENT YEARS.


The following extracts are taken
from report by Henry T. Kittredga
of Boston to the director of the cen
sus upon the utilization of wastes and
by-products in manufactures. Mr.. Kit
tredge is weil-known expert in man.
ufacturing processes:
Nothing in the arts of manufac-
ture is more indicative of economic
efIiciencies than the utilization of pro-
ducts that have been rejected as waste
or residues in the industrial processes.
The acme of industrial economy is the
profitable employment of every atom
of materially in whatever form 1t may
be presented or however obtained.
Every particle of an organic or inor-
ganic substance has useful part to
play in contributing to human necessi-
ties or pleasures, and when it per-
forms no function toward some useful
end, or remains dormant, It shows that
the ingenuity and enterprise OF man
have not reached their fullest devel-
opment, or that the arts of the labora-
tory have not revealed all the secrets
of nature.
For nearly a century the worlds
main supply Of soap depended on soda,
which was obtained as a product Of
the sulphuric-acid industry. Notwith-
standing soap was known to the an
clients, It was regarded even in the
middle ages as a luxury, and when It
was not readily Obtained, the lack of
cleanliness was concealed by fine
clothes and by perfumes. The soda
industry being brought to a standstill
in France during the French revolu-
tion, the national convention Of that
country appealed to the chemists to
discover some method for making soda
from common salt, which had been
shown by Du Hamel, in 1885, to con-
tain the same base as soda. About
40 years thereafter, Scheele found that
caustic soda could be obtained from
salt by the action Of lead oxide; but
the production OF soda by chemical
processes was unimportant from an
industrial standpoint until lie Blanc
secured results that gave to the world
one of its principal industries. His
discovery was based upon the treat
ment of chloride of sodium with sui
phuric acid, forming hydrochloric
acid and sulphate of soda. The hydro
chloric acid was regarded as O by
product of so little value that It was
allowed to pass off into the air, to the
great detriment of vegetation in the
neighborhood. To remedy this evil
the English government took action
against the soda works to compel
them to condense the acid and keep
1t out Of the way, and this led in
directly to the discovery that hydro
chloric acid could be used as valua'
BILE agent in the bleaching industry,
which, however, was at that time far
from having attained its present height
Of development.
"The choicest perfumes that are
placed upon the market are no doubt
obtained from oils and ethers extract
ed from flowers; but there are many
others which are artificially made,
many out of bedsmelling elements.
The fusel oil obtained in the distilla-
tion Of spirits has an odor that is
peculiarly disagreeable, yet 1t is used,
after treatment with proper acids and
oxidizing agents, in making the oil
of apples and the oil of pears; and
the oil of grapes and the oil of cognac
are little more than fusel oil diluted.
Oil ct pineapple is best made by the
action of putrid cheese on sugar or
by distiling rancid butter with alcohol
and sulphurlc acid. One Of the most
popular perfumes may be obtained
| from one of the products of gas tar,
out of which Is also obtained the oil
| OF bitter almonds, 80 largely consumed
in the manufacture Of perfumed soap
and confectionery.
The refuse of cities throughout the
civilized world is now generally col
lected and disposed of for sanitary
reasons, though in many instances
1t is utilized to good advantage for
Industrial purposes. The collection
| of this refuse has been made only
within a comparatively few years, but
Is now carried on systematically, being
more or less self-supporting and ad
vantageous from an industrial point
of view. Formerly this refuse was
simply accumulated and disposed OF
by burning, or casting into streams oil
onto waste land. Now, bones. glass
rags, iron, paper, and other articles
are separately collected and sold.
THE food wastes of New York City
are disposed of by what is known as
the Arnold utilization process. whica
is. briefly. steam digestion and sep
aration or the cooked product into
greases and fertilizer filters. The
| greases are all, or nearly all, shipped
abroad and, 1t is believed, refined ant
separated into several grades. such
as 'glycerine, red oil, lard oil, ant
inferior grades II Is not known tnat
refineries in this country are as yet
able to handle what is known as garb
age grease. as the secret of the trade
seems to be held abroad. The solids
after being dried and screened ar,
l r.