Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-06-06

cost of collection is greatly affscted by local conditions, as
 Length of haul.
 Grades and conditions of roads. Density of population.
 Character of help obtainsble.
 Scale of wages, etc.
 Disposal.
 Leaving out of account all methods of disposal such as burying in the ground or feeding to swine, known to be unsanitary and unsatisfactory except. in a few very exceptional cases, I find that there are two types of mechanical plants which are dis tinguished from each other by the general terms, reduction and crema- ton.
 Reduction.
 A reduction plant is one in which an attempt is made to utilize the garbage, extracting therefrom cer- tain oils and grease and leaving the residue in dry, friable etate, suita- ble for use as a fertilizer and not more offensive to handle than ordi- nary phosphate.
 The method employed for reduc- tfon Is as follows: The garbage, sep arated from any but animal and veg etable matters, Is placed in large iron cylinders called digestors and sub jected to cooking by live steam at around 100 pounds pressure for sew eral hours. It Is then dumped into other cylinders, steam jacketed, and being turned over and over by agi- tators is thoroughly dried. In this condition 1t is placed in air tight re- ceptacles and naptha passed through the mass until all the oils and grease have dissolved out and come away with the naptha. The final step is the evaporation of the naptha, leav- ing the oil to be barreled, while the residue, technically known as tangle, is stored in sheds for shipment to manufacturers of fertilizers.
 The oil is sold to manufacturers of low grade oils. wagon grease, etc.
 Such a plant is in operation at Bridgeport.
 Cremation.
 A cremation plant is one in which the only object aimed at is the com plete destruction of the garbage by incineration. This method is more generally used in England than in this country, and in foreign countries generally it seems to be the accepted thing. It provides for the disposition of all classes of combustible wastes in one operation, and thereby utilizes to good advantage all the fuel value. not only of the garbage but also of the unburned ashes, rubbish and sweepings.
 Tn Europe we'll designed incinera- ton plants have worked satisfactori- ly even when located in populous neighborhoods, using the combined household collections, ashes, rubbish and garbage, all mixed. It is stated that the failures of cremation in this country have been due principally to poor design and inability to produce the high temperatures required for complete combustion.
 In order to obtain information con- cerning the methods commonly used I have addressed inquiries to various cities in the United States and the following is list of those from whom answers have been received:
 Atlanta, Ga, cremation.
 Baltimore, Md. reduction.
 Boston, Mass, reduction.
 Bridgeport, Conn, reduction.
 Buffalo, N. Y., reduction. |. Cincinnati, O., reduction.
 Columbus, O., under consideration.
 Detroit. Mich.
 Louisville, Ky. cremation.
 Lowell, Mass. cremation. e,f-f
 Milwaukee. Wis, cremation.
 New York. N. Y., reduction.
 Philadelphia, Pa, reduction.
 Pittsburg, Pa, reduction.
 St Louis, Mo, reduction.
 Winnipeg, Man, cremation.
 It is obvious from the above table that either there is no standard prac- tice yet arrived at in this country, so far as the disposal of city wastes Is concerned, or else that conditions in different cities are exceedingly sub feet to local conditions.
 From what I have so far been able to learn it would appear that profita- ble investigations might be made or the works at Bridgeport. Boston. Lowell, Milwaukee, New York city and Atlanta. Respectfully submitted.
 R. A. CAIRNS, City Engineer.
 The communication was received and placed on file.
 In talking over matters the engi- neer suggested that the commission visit Atlanta, Lowell. Bridgeport, Milwaukee and New York and see the plants at those places. It was de- cided to defer action on the propost- ton until the next meeting.
 The commission adjourned for two weeks.
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