The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-14
Mrs. Reid Describes Her Visit to Birmingham's
 First CrematOry
MUCH TRASH COULD
 BE BURNED AT HOME
New System Is Sanitary and OdOrless and Is the Real Solution for Garbage Disposal in
 Large Cities
By MRS. J. B. REID

called to the duty of the city jn protecting health and promoting cleanliness it is very opportune to speak of the house. keepers side of the situation.
 From the home eminates such of the garbage" that is a nightmare to those engaged in disposing of it, and those who have had to neighbor 1t, as 1t is
 dumped on empty blocks. A visit to the crematory. recently established, will easily
 convince one that the women of the city can do much to remedy the evil of excess sive trash hauled through the lengths and breadths of the whole city.
 The writer visited the crematory, near Idlewild, to have evidence of facts-and
 there were piles of old papers, pasteboard boxes and such as could be destroyed in furnaces, or even open fire places, or ranges-even family letters were helter, skelter over the pile-and as one of our very own was picked from the debris, it | took delft hand to hide it away before head man. could say "I told you so.' When the driver was asked how many loads do yoH. haul day, old man? He readily answered, This one here is ID today, and then there is more-we usually get 9 loads every day" and while the
 blazes were wild as the traps were'opened, one could see it takes a good fire to de- stroy the heaps of miscellaneous trash that the street gangs collect in a day and this fire must burn day in and day
 out to consume it all.
 This crematory is an experiment here,
 but a successful one. There are no fumes or odors from the burning Its vaults are large-even burning dead mules, cows and an average of 20 dead dogs a day. The smokestacks are high, and there are no quantities of smoke to be seen; no soot falling around. This is the true solution to the problem of our garbage dumps and the enclosures can be made even attrac 1 tive in any community. We often com plain of the dead cats and chickens hauled around and the odors from decayed flesh distributed by the trash wagons If we put such in our cans surely the results
 will follow-who is in error there? Every house has either a garden, a fruit tree, a vine or rose bush; no better ferti- lizer can be applied than a grave of such
 at their roots, and this method rids the premises from all danger of such infection Immediately. A lady who once made her
 home in Canada marvels at our lack of enterprise. She tells that she even bought
 dead cats In Toronto to plant at the roots of her shrubbery. This is an idea for quick action-eertainly the cats allowed to
 prowl abroad at nighttime to fatten on
 the neighbors chickens would Furnish q prolific industry to the boy who shoots | at space and can turn his attention to | furnishing the "cat market" with full stock
 Amazing to see the amount of empty
 cans, all bearing distant labels, tool This | is the land of the sunny south, but lt f11t tolr nd eastern rays to grow vegetables for our 1 table, if there is anything in signs This mountain of tin cans, hauled from here | and there. is indicative of great idleness of our fertile soil, or a lack of preference of our housekeepers for pure fresh food
 The cans are dumped in the fire and
 burned to rid them of the seed of disease then they are pulled out with the ashes separated and flattened in order 10 fill in low places and thus rid the city of n powerful element of indistructive rubbish. We are told that 1t costs the city $500 to construct such q plant as this one just finished, and that it will require at least four plants at distinct distances to meet the needs of the entire city, that it re-
 qures six weeks to deliver the building | materials to the grounds and to complete the plants and the purpose is to eventu- ally alleviate the necessity of a garbage pile in any locality.
 The burden of a eitys housekeeping | is after all on the woman-the man con | tends his cigar ashes are healthy. the stumps kill the germs and this is all
 the trash he makes Maybe it is, but he
 makes a mighty to do over a woman's l careless housekeeping, and it behooves | each of us in every neighborhood to get | busy before the men cry out aloud" if the | premises were properly looked after we
 would not have to spend so much money
 in burning "od trash.-'
 l Just beyond the crematory Is the new
 city jail in course of construction. It Is l a massive frame to be built of concrete,
 its capacity indicates the need of prepara- l ton for increase of crime. but one virtue | Is that. the ground space is sufficient for l trucking, using the white prisoners 70 l grow the garden, thus rdding the city of
 much of the expense of so many 'parlor
 boarders,' peeplng through the bars of
 prison wall. To some of these miscreants l there is no greater punishment than work | They have bred crime by likeness. Mir. 1 Gafford pointed to a broad field just to
 the side of the jail and remarked, i've are setting out 1O,090 cabbage plants there
 now. and expect to grow year round | garden for our boarders." This will mean
 a great saving to the city, more health l ful conditions to her wards" and rid the l streets of unsightly "chan gang scenes. ?
 It takes time to meet the needs of a grow | ing city the cradle has rocked the in-
 fant Birmingham through panies of sick
 ness and financial cramps, but the spirit
 of cooperation is just beginning 10 | awaken in the small things that help 10
 make the great. and while the women do | not claim to be midgets in size or efforts,
 they must observe it is the little helps We l can give within the opportunities that are 1 ours that go toward the total of great l citys welfare. Work and work together each for the neighborhood, and the neigh borhood for the city.
 Work was created for man. that he
 grow in wisdom and strength, Mans ca-
 pacity IS often measured by his willing
 ness for the desire generally graces .he deed
 | words. health truth. usefulness, thank ] fulness. thoughtfulness.
 The curse of living lies in failure 10
 duty and discontent, mixed with the habit
 of worrying over things that must be,
 and worry will not cure.
 The homes of Woodlawn where the next
 crematory is proposed are among the best kept and most home like in the city. The
 spirit of work together is pre-eminent
 among the people. Their yards are laid
 off in beds of flowers. they have a library
 and club room for ladies' meetings that is
 equipped with every accessory for enter
 tainment. The people enter into public
 interests with a vim not to be found else
 where. They have a park under head
 way and when the commission removes
 the garbage dumping ground the plot of l ground heretofore used for the purpos. ]. can be made another playground for a
 very thrifty and well kept neighborhood.