The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-06-12
UTILITY or WASTE MATERIALS
Modern Science Converts Worthless
Articles Into Profit.

than the refuse Of mines and furnaces
Stag, as II is called. But It is now
treated in a variety of ways and con-
verted into a number of useful things,
such as paving bricks, Stag glass, Stag
shingles and Stag sand Bricks arc
one of its chief uses at present and for
these there is a considerable demand.
Mortar for building purposes is an
other method of utilization, simply
achieved by grinding the Stag sand
with about six per cent Of slaked lime;
artificial stone moulded into chimney
pieces, window heads and sills, wall
coping and other ornamental work for
builders, and the latest use which has
been found for It. is in making wool
of silicate cotton, so called from its
resemblance to cotton wool. This is
snow white in color, and is chiefly us
ed for covering boilers and steam pipes,
and, Deing a non-conductor of heat, Is
admirably adapted for this purpose.
Another troublesome waste has been
coal Stag. This too is being utilized
for building purposes. The builders in
Lyons, France, have the credit Of be-
ing the first to use the waste which
surrounds coal mines. They wished
to find a cheap, durable and healthy
material for the construction of subur-
ban homes, and coal Stag treated as
concrete after being mixed with slak-
ed lime was found to answer the pur-
pose. The mass hardened rapidly and
even after few days the walls were
.rl 80 hn
frame joistings. The strength and fire.
resisting properties Of this new compo
sition have been well tested, and one
case is mentioned where a nitre BEN
zine factory was burned down, the
great heat even melted the machinery
and yet the walls built of coal Stag
, bricks were not consumed, their sur
faces having a glazed appearance, and
| they sustained without repair the cell
ing and roof of the new building.
In every brass mandatory there is
| unavoidable waste in the scoriae of
| the melting furnaces, in the rolling
| mill department and the wire drawing.
| Whatever OIL this waste, with the
sweepings, can be gathered up is put
into large mortars and subjected to the
impact of pivoted pestles till the
whole is pounded to dust Then 1t is
| floated in a running stream of water
| through chute over rifles, which
catch the heavy metal particles and al
low the lighter trash to pass OFF The
metallic residuum, packed in crucibles
with luted covers, gives back profit
able percentage of metal to be reused.
Even the empty tin can has at last
been found to have a commercial val
ne. number of manufactures are
reclaiming tin cans have sprung up
recently, and the business is grow
ing Thousands of tins, mere or less
battered, are collected every week
from the city refuse dumps, or from
the hotels and large boarding houses
At the factory the soldered seams arc
subjected 10 an intense heat in such a
way that the solder runs into a re-
ceptacle and is carefully saved and
sold. it brings twelve cents a pound
land the profits from this source alone
almost pays the expense Of gathering
and handling the cans. The tops and
bottoms of the cans are melted and
turned into window sash weights. Tho
labels on the tin cans are easily re-
moved after being soaked in water
and the plates are rolled fiat by ma
chinery. AS the inside of the plates
are not much discolored by the con-
tents of the can. they present clean
surface and make excellent coverings
for trunks, the seams being hidden by
the trunk braces, either or wood oil
sheet iron.
Sawdust has been utilized in many
ways. In New York city there are
about five thousand vendors Of saw.
lust. having capital invested of $500.
600 and doing an annual business OF
$2,OO0,000. Forty years ago the MILLS
were glad to pay for having the saw
dust carted away. Twenty-Five years
lago 1t could be bought for fifty cents
load. Now 1t brings $3.50 load
from the mill II is used at hotels
eating houses, groceries and Other
places. It is wet and spread over the
floors in order to make the sweeping
cleaner work. Plumbers use great
deal of II between walls and floors tC
deaden the sound. Soda water mer
and packers of glass and breakable'
use It in large quantities, and dolls are
stuffed with it. Yellow pine makes the
best sawdust, as it Is the least dusty
and has pungent and healthy smell
Another extensive field is the util'
ization of animal waste. In pig killing
establishments In this country, anC
some In England and Ireland, nothing
is lost. Whether horse flesh will ever
become an article of food in this co,un'
try it is difficult to say, but in Paris
there is a society for the promotion
of the use of horse flesh, which claims
to have provided Paris between 1866
and 1881 with nearly sixty-eight mil
lion pounds of meat.
Robert Marlborough Sherard. author
| = II -