New-York tribune., 1912-02-18
Wealth in Garbage
Continued from fourth page.

great demand for this coarse ash, using II
as flling for walls designed TO be sound
proof and fireproof, also for arch filling.
Frequently the same material is used py
them for making floor slabs in reinforced
concrete construction. The fact that its
use is indorsed by fire experts and fire
underwater rules perhaps has something
to do with the demand exceeding the
amount of material available. Only one
| thing Is necessary in order 10 obtain good
price--the ash must be clean.
Street sweepings would seem TO make
good fertilizer. but IT is proved that they
have almost no profitable value for such
purposes Farmers now refuse TO pay even
the freight on shipments such as used 10
lie sent out. They contain about so per cent
| inorganic matter, such as iron filings from
vehicles and horses shoes, grindings from
the pavement, dust etc.
A DANGER TO BE AVOIDED.
Garbage is sometimes spread In the raw
state upon farm land and ploushed In or
buried in deep holes Absence of air pre-
vents rapid disntegration, SO, where
material is mixed and used as land fill, IL
does not consume unless the ground cracks
open. If such plan were followed cpl
denies of disease might follow In such
neighborhoods when trenching for sewer
or watev construction is made. Not long
ago excavators at work near the city OK
Rome unearthed an ofal dump over 5000
years old. Such a stencil came forth from
this ancient but undgested waste matter
that work had to be stopped
Many curious stories are told around the
offices Of the garbage disposal plants. Not
infrequently Italian workers on the garb-
age piles supplement their monday meals
by bits Of bread they pick up Sometimes.
for some curious reason, roasts OF meat
nearly intact are found In the garbage.
The lucky dlscoverer heats IT and counts
the meal enjoyable. We will trust that the
heating is an effectual sterilization.
Hunger never saw bad bread" said Ben
Franklin.
Folks say there is money in garbage.
There is money in IT, Not day passes but
dimes nlckelS money of all nations and
denominations. is found by lucky workers
at the plant. Down In one Of the offices
Of the Street Cleaning Department is u
good old 81 bill that was found July 81.
1902, in the taiirgs from the screens at
the plant on Barren Island. 1t went
through the entire process that the garb-
age undergoes II was steam-cooked for
twelve hours in a big digester at a 70
pound pressure. then passed under a S5O-
ton hydraulic press and conveyed, with
tankage, into the dryer house, where, I'm
a hot-air drier It was in temperature Of
1900 degrees Fahrenheit After passing
through the centrifugal screens it came out
into the tailings
MISFORTUNE HAD AGED IT.
That was making dollar go some! No
wonder II lost its greenness and became
the complexion of cigarette fend.
Mr.. Very. the busy and courteous SAINT
tary engineer. who supplied many of tho
facts furnished. has an old Luxembourg
centime of 1885, found in the garbage.
The boy loving marbles would be amazed
to see the great quantity assorted from
garbage in the course of the year. Not
many Of them We're ever used to play
| "nibs" either. They come with refuse
from manufactures, where they are used
for pulverizing purposes.
Then there is old furniture galore
sofas. beds. mattresses, springs, chairs
most Of IL to he consumed by the huge
furnaces. Trunks are there, too, that have
travelled far and are now on their last
journey.
Diamonds and other jewelry, too, fire.
quently find their way into the disposal
plant usually, to be sure, of a value
about equal TO that of the pearl from
restaurant oyster, and often collected from
a Cherry street garbage can.
The work OF cleaning the greater city
keeps busy a force of tOs officers and s,sss
men in the boroughs of Manhattan,
Brooklyn and The Bronx The other two
sparsely settled boroughs are handled sepa-
rately, their problems being rather those OF
groups of villages than Of a big city. Nor
does this count the men employed directly
by the contractors.
In the three boroughs the cost OF disposal
Of the entire refuse averages about 4I5
cents a ton.
i A DIVISION OF THE BURDEN.
In various ways the Street Cleaning De-
partment is relieved Of part OF its burden.
For example, all dead animals found in the
street are handled by the Health Depart
ment, which lets out the privilege Of dis
posal. Every carcass Yields a profit. A
dead horse Is worth 81 on an average.
more than some of them are worth alive.
Hair hide, hoof, bones. blood and entrails.
every part is made useful.
| Junk men, charitable associations ana
swill men collect many tons of refuse that
would otherwise be left to the city. Jani-
tors in apartment houses often assort the
waste and sell papers. bones, bottles etc
Hotels and restaurants sell their garbage
direct. The custom began by one con-
tractor guaranteeing to return 10 Del
monicos all the silver found In their
garbage. The offer was accepted and the
arrangement proved satisfactory Now II
! is no uncommon thing for a contractor TO
pay $500 a year for the privilege OF re-
moving the swill from a big hotel
Then, too, some housewives, particularly
among the thrifty Germans, utilize their
| own waste for the most part
There is in this problem. as In most
others, a great diversity OF opinion and
practice. Some cities manage their own
plants, others follow New York's contract
system. Some believe In total destruction
of waste; others practise every degree OF
utilization The cities Of this country. ex-
perts declare, which have gone furthest in
settling the problem are Seattle, Columbus
and Cleveland.
IL remains TO be seen what VIII be New
York's next step In this direction.
ouTGRoWN.