The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1906-05-31


Waste That Collects ON Walls and
o. Floors and Adheres to the Clothing
of Workmen.
There is probably no place in the
world where economy is practised quite
as closely and where so much care Is
taken of waste and refuse as IN the
large iewelry establishments and gold
refineries Of this city, says the Provi-
dence Journal. There every particle OIL
waste matter, no matter how intinitesl-
NAL 1t may seem to the ordinary per-
son, is carefully looked after, and new
methods are being constantly adopted
to recover losses which are SO small
that they can scarcely be computed py
experts in the business
The immense value Of the gold and
other precious metals used in the jewel
nv business makes it imperative that
the fine particles no larger than specks
of dust be loked after quite as closely
as the finished product Loss in the
latter can come through but one source
dishonesty among the employees, While
the loss from the filings and other
small particles Of gold might come
about in several ways. The small
particles adhere to the clothing of the
employees, they fall upon the floor and
mingle with the dust, and they Will
even float away on the air,
In speaking of the methods which
have been adopted by the proprietors
of the large concerns, one of the proml-
nent manufacturers said.
1.-THE opportunities for losses IN the
jewelry business are greater than in
any other line that I know of. When
the men are filing the rings or tapping
them upon a sort Of emery wheel the
fine particles, of course, get upon their
hands and clothes. Under the old sys-
TEN of the filing accumulated on the
machine fell upon the floor or found
a resting place on the clothes of the
workmen. We have remedied this to
some extent now and have each of the
wheels fitted with hood, which col
lects all of the small particles, which
are drawn by air suction to the base
ments, where they are all collected.
"Tnder the old system, which was in
use in this establishment until about
two years ago, we lost considerable in
waste. The loss might be due entirely
to accident, but of tentimes dishonesty
on the part Of employees figured promi-
nently in the matter
For instance, | was told of man
who worked in an establishments of this
kind who had very bushy beard and
hair. While he was filing the rings the
filings would accumulate on the bench
and the man would occasionally run his
fingers through his hair or beard. He
kept up several times day. and when
he went to his home in the evening, he
with the aid of fine comb and dish
of water, would be able to add quite
considerable sum to the amount of his
days wages.
1.-THE superintendent of the factory or
shop began to suspect him because the
amount Of filings turned in at the end
of the days work not as large as it
should be. The system Of Weighing the
rings when they were given to the
workmen In the morning and Of weigh
ing the rings and waste at the end of
the days work was tried
The man soon learned of the sys-
tenn that was being tried to catch him
and began to bring in brass filings in
his pocket, which he mixed with the
gold filings to take the place of that
which he daily carried away in his
beard and hair. Under our present sys-
tenn that could not easily be done, for
the filings are now drawn into the
tubes to the basement, and are thus
carried out of the reach of the men
who are running the machines
Another source of loss which has
been remedied within few years is in
the the filings that cling to the gar
ments worn by the workman. In many
of the establishments this was dis
covered some time ago and arrange
ments were made to have the workmen
wash their overclothes in the shops.
The water which was used in washing
was then passed through a trap and
the sediment collected.
I'VE followed that practice for years,
but some of the workmen were careless
in washing the clothes, and we have
found by experiment that it pays us
to maintain a laundry in the building,
where all of the clothes of the workmen
are cared for at the expense of the
1.-THE water from the laundry is !
accumulated and the gold and other
base metal sinks to the bottom. This |
sediment is then collected and the dirt |
is burned out. In this same way the
water which is used in washing the
floors is saved if there If any indication !
Of sediment in it. About once every
year the walls of the rooms are all |
swept and it would readily surprise
you to see the amount of gold that
clings to them. Men are sweeping the |
floors all the time and the sweepings |
are all burned.
There are some losses which we are
unable to overcome. There is a GER
tain amount that is lost in the atmos- :,
phere during the filing and polishing
operations, and there seems to be no
way to overcome it. The particles are
so small that it is impossible to catch |
in any way, and when the windows
are open in the summer months and
warmn weather these particles float
away in the air. The windows in an
of this kind are not !
opened a great deal because OF this.
Then there is loss In shrinkage.
Every time the gold Is melted 1t de-