The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-08-29
SAVED FROM THE DUMPS.
Where the Rubbish Is Picked Over
The Worthless Things.

The new city waste incinerator at the
foot of West Forty-seventh street is
boon to the trimmers and sorters. Its
advantages are so great that it is said
a higher price is paid for the privilege
of trimming and sorting. than is re-
allied at any other dump in New York
The waste separated from ashes and
plain sweepings is dumped by the carts
at the end of a long belt, four feet
wide, running in somewhat wider
trough or channel in the second story.
On each side of this trough is row
of hoppers, on a shelf in each of which
stands a man. The men grab from the
steady stream of what other people
have thrown away whatever is regard
ed as valuable. Every scrap of paper
or rag that is not hopelessly dirty is
rescued and dropped into the hopper,
falling to the floor below, where ii is
baled. Every bit of metal is picked
out. All pieces of wood large enough
to have any value are saved, and if
a feather pillow comes along, however
dirty it may be, it is regarded as
prize. Not whole bottle escapes the
eyes of the eager trimmers, but it is
rare that sheet glass large enough to
be worth anything survives the pro-
cess of throwing away, gathering, haul
| ing and dumping the waste
| 1T seems" said the contractor, that
everybody who throws away sheet
glass enjoys hearing it break. Thou
sands of pieces worth from two to ten
but for this human weakness. You'll
see a man with part of a picture glass
that would easily square 10 by IL
inches walk up to an ash can and hurl
the sheet fiat against the farther side
If 1t is shivered by the contact, he'll
walk away with satisfied smile, but
1 if it doesn't break he'll hunt five min
utes for something to drop in on top.
so there will be nothing but splinters
left
THE bottles are cleaned and sold
after having been carefully sorted.
Bottles with the names of remedies or
manufacturers blown in can always be
sold to the firms which first put them
out at a slight reduction below the
price originally paid Beer and soda
water bottles and bottles for popular
water bottles and ketchup and sauce
bottles are the most profitable. Any
unmarked bottle will find a ready sale.
Tin cans and boxes are fired until the
solder is melted off. All that is bright
on tin is saved, as it is valuable and
easily recovered. The sheet iron that
is left is practically valueless. Cotton
and linen rags are made into fine writ
ing papers. and waste newspapers and
wrapping paper are made into coarse
wrapping and lining papers again.
Feathers are renovated and made bet
ter and cleaner than new stock
bits Of iron, cast. wrought or mall
leable, and steel, large or small, are all
worth money. Lead and zinc are prizes
as are brass and copper. We don't get
very large quantities of silver and gold
Wood of course, has considerable
worth if in large pieces, the larger the
better. Old chairs, sofas, beds, baby
carriages broken boxes and barrels,
fruit baskets and berry boxes are not
worth picking off the belt. a mattress
that is thrown out is safer in the fire
than anywhere else and it goes through
without molestation and tumbles into
the hopper leading to the furnaces with
the rest of the stuff we don't want, of
which straw and excelsior form con-
siderable part. The stuff we do not
want makes heat enough to keep all the
machinery of this plant going. 1t
would run a 100 horsepower engine all
the ne.''-New York Tribune