The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-14

into the "digesters, the tops of which rise just, above the floor of the second story, and the bottoms of which open into huge storage tanks in the press room on the lower floor of the building.
 By peculiar Inconsistency in nomenclature, the "digester" room con- tains only the tops of the 'digesters,' the remainder of the space being taken up a maze of steam pipes, the supply tubes from the hoppers above and the machinery for operating the chain conveyes. Four-fifths of the length of the "digester" is in the press-. room,. directly beneath. ,.s, ~
 The "digesters' are huge steel tanks, like steam boilers set on end. In the tops are manholes, through which the
 "undigested' garbage is introduced, after which the manholes are closed. Live steam at a. high temperature is turned in until the contents have be- come so reduced by cooking that a semi-liquid mass results The steam is then shut off. and the "digester" is emptied into the great storage tank
 beneath, through valve in the conf cal bottom of the "digester." From the storage tanks the cooked mass is put up into burlap bags, which are laid evenly between iath screens on the bed of a powerful steam press. When no more can be placed beneath the top plate the steam is turned into the cy- finder above, and the plate slowly des- cends, squeezing out of the mass a pug rlant coffee colored liquid, that runs
 away in such quantity that a gutter more than a foot wide and several in- ches deep is filled with the initial
 floods. na
 This liquid flows into cooling and set tling vats,$of which there are many in an adjacent building and still others outdoors. Great quantities of solids pass through the neshes of the coarse
 bagging and are dredged up from the bottoms of the vatsIiato be returned to the pressroom for Il second squeeze.
 The liquid thus obtained consists of animal and vegetable oils and garbage
 '',soup,' which is simply water contain
 ing fine particles of the lighter solids. The oil is siphoned off into barrels as soon as sufficient depth has formed
 at the top of the vat, and the liquid beneath IS then drained into the sea. < The oil is the chief product of value
 derived from the process, and is pur-
 chased by soapmakers on account of
 it's clieapness, cleanliness and adapta-
 bility to their needs It is certainly in
 appearance and smell much cleaner and
 more wholesome than the animal fats
 of doubtful origin and poor quality
 used for soapmaking, even in the days
 of the old fashioned soap grease barrel
 and outdoor ash hopper. This oil is
 susceptible of conversion into the finest toilet soaps. ,., sE. The solid residue from the press 'cheeses" is shaken steaming hot from the bags reduced by the pressure to half an inch in thickness, on another corlveyer, which carries 1t out of the
 building and deposits it as "tailings'
 at the end opposite to that by which the garbage entered It Is fairly dry by the time it reaches the big revolv- ing furnaces called drying cylinders,
 through which it is passed with a, CO.,
 lumn Of flame that daerives 1t of the
 last vestiges of moisture and effectually
 disposes of every form of animal life
 that could possibly cause fermenta- ton, leaving it in the form of a fine
 brown dust, with here and there a lump or fragment of glass or china. These are separated from the dust by screens, over which the mass passes. The Jumps and fragments are, carted away as waste, and are used to extend the area of Barren Island or to fill low places The dust is bagged, and is uti- lized with other ingredients by the manufacturers of fertilizers. Alone,
 lizer. it is said, but is potent in combi- this dust seems worthless as ferti- nation with phosphates and animal products derived from the dead animal
 utilization plants and menhaden fish. cries which are other important indus- | tries of Barren Island.
 The plant for this disposition of gar bage is a colossal institution capable of handling twice the refuse of the city. It consists, in fact, of twin plants each of sufficient capacity to do all the work, so that in case of break down the contract with the city may still be fulfilled. The deterioration of machinery and appliances, on account 1 of use both day and night, every day 1 of the week, is rapid, and the tanks
 vats and storage reservoirs decay ra- | pidly on account of the various acids in s--------- A EUrAn A NuTrrn CTTpN Inu DIT r,S