The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-07

now used to heat the furnaces, then mixed with air. Ammonia is made from refuse from gas works, while America may some day be driven to the economy of Paris where 220O tons of refuse are taken daily from the city cesspools to be made into ammonia In the great econ- omy of nature nothing should be lost, and from the refuse of a great city may come the ammonia that is base for per fumes and toilet waters.
 Rags have been used over and over again for several centuries, but each year brings greater ingenuity in their renewed service. One-third of the woo1en rags is shredded up and when woven again re- appears as "shoddy" Woolen refuse and rags that have served their day are macerated with shavings from hoofs and horns of cattle, blood from slaughter houses, wood ashes and scrap iron, and when great heat is applied, become that wonderful dye known as Prussian blue. For a number of years there was great waste from the cotton mills of the coun- try, dirty scraps of the staple accumulat- ing in each plant which were of no use to the manufacturer of a high quality Of goods. There are now two mills in opera ton in the United States which use this waste material only, one in New York and one at Demopolis. From the thick thread they spin cheap grades of socks and un- derwear are made
 Forty years ago a member of the Franklin institute, Philadelphia, grew concerned over the waste from white metals such as silver, tin, zinc, lead, mercury antimony and bismuth He ex- perimented with the scrap heaps of va rious factories and found that from scraps of galvanized iron he could get good iron that sold for $10 ton, and zinc chloride that sold for $20 a barrel and was useful for disinfecting purposes. He gathered the zinc from the sl1immings and sold it at from $15 to $2o ton. He bought up all the old silver plated pewter in his locality and immersed it in a nl- tric acid bath to get the silver, then sold the melted pewter to typesetters and ster- eotypers. He gathered the skimmlngs from the solder pots for the Standard Oil company and used it again, saving that corporation many thousands yearly. All his methods have since been adopted and from the former waste of smelter ana foundry new and profitable industries have originated.
 Dregs from port wine made into seid- litz powders ease the headache coming from too free potations of the original product. The waste of vineyards is dis titled to make methyl alcohol. Old rub Der shoes and tires are ground up and used again as rubber goods. Amber chips, treated with solvent, are melted and nodded again in pieces of any size de- sired Scraps from bear and badger skiuS are saved by furriers for the long narrs that are made into paint brushes. The jewel-like lining of mother-of-pearl shells is shaved off when buttons are made. and made into a fine dust that has a market among makers of novelties and souvenirs. The old carpets in the various government hints yield gold and silver when burned, and the soot in the chimneys is preserved for the precious metals that have been precipitated there.
 Dear animals give back every particle of themselves to some use. The bodies in a great vat treated with benzine produce fat which goes into soap; the hair goes into mattresses, the hides to the tanner, the tendons are made into glue and jelly. the bones into knife handles and fertil- izers, the hoofs into glue, gelatine and prussiate of potash, and the blood into a fertilizer. Human hair is gathered for a fertilizer, and the longer strands are often woven into shawls and cloth Skim milk, once a useless refuse in many large butter factories and dairies, is made into limitations of eggs, rubber and horn, and is good sizing Tor paper. Deposits Tn wine casks take the form of crude Di- tartrate of potash from which cream of tartar is made, and waste cork makes the foundation for linoleum manufacture. Waste soapsuds, that often poIIute the rivers here, have not yet been utilized as abroad. where they are preciptated with lime, collected and made into bricks which, when heated in gas retorts, give off power three times as great as coal gas.
 Tomorrow--The Treasure Box of the Nation.