The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1913-10-02
Henry Wagner, Garbage Re-
duction Expert, shows that
City has Buried Treasure
REDUCTION SYSTEM
expert in Handing Garbage Declares
that the City can not only Support a
Collection Plant But Can Make
Money Out Of Garbage Picked up.

Henry Wagner Of Cincinnati, o., one
of the most noted experts ON the prob
lem of garbage reduction in the world,
told the officials of Kenosha the inter
esting story of the "by-product = to-
day and when he got through the Of
ficials were convinced that somewhere
in the dumping grounds about the city
the people of Kenosha had expended
money to bury treasurer which would
have been valued at hundreds of
thousands of dollars. The treasure
can never be recovered as the by
product was lost
Mr.. Wagner came to Kenosha to con-
suit with the officials in regard to the
installation of plant for the reduc-
tion Of garbage. He has been sani-
tary engineer since 1872 and the plants
by Henry Wagner and Son are scat
tered all over the United States and
he declares that all Of them are prov
ing not only self supporting, but that
they are paying for themselves and
getting ready to pay a revenue to the
cities which installed them
The Wagner system of garbage reduc-
tion is one that has met with the APP
prevail of all sanitary experts and it
gains favor with the fnanciers of the
cities on account of the fact that it is
practically self supporting from the
time of the installation. In the Wag-
ner system the garbage is literally
cooked. 1t is dumped into great tanks
holding five tons for each cooking and
then the garbage is subjected to treat
ment with live steam until the animal
matter in it Is destroyed. The gNases
taken from the garbage are collected
on the sides of the tank, SKINNED and
sold for the manufacture of soap while
the remainder of the product is turned
into fertilizer for which there is a
ready market. Mr.. Wagner declared
that with the installation Of the plant
he would agree to see that all Of the
by-products for Kenosha garbage were
contracted for and that the city would
be paid in cash for them just as rapid
ly as they could be loaded ON cars in
Kenosha. The by4product is worth
$500 a ton.
The cost Of the reduction system is
at the rate of $4,000 per unit. Mr..
Wagner held that two UNITS would be
necessary to take care of the garbage
collected in the city of Kenosha and
he herd that when the plant was built
it should be built with view of add
ing more units as the demand for them
arose. In addition to the cost of the
Wagner reduction plants the city would
have to provide building for the hous-
ing Of the plants and boilers and
power.
The cost of one of these plans may
be pretty well estimated at from 81 900
to $1,000 for each thousand Of popula-
tion to be served and in this way the
cost Of such plant for the city of Ke-
nosha would be in the neighborhood of
from $4,000 to $4,000. This figure
would make provision for extension of
the plant and for the installation of
two units. It would not require a
large site, but it is advisable to have
site which will make possible the
future growth of the plant. There will
not be any Objectionable features to
this reduction plant as the garbage is
handled under a vacuum system and
there is absolutely no odors escaping
from the plant The only odors con-
nected with the plant are caused by
the hauling of the garbage to the plant.
When it leaves the tanks after the re-
duction process there is absolutely no
Objectionable odor.'
The largest plant to be installed by
the Wagner company is at Port Huron,
Mich, and Mr. Wagner declared that
this plant would not only be self sup
porting, but that it would pay for itself
within the next six years.
During the day the matter was TAX
en- up with members of the committee
en- streets and alleys of the common
council and with other officials of the
city. The presentation Of the plan by
Mr.. Wagner proved decidedly interest
ing to the officials and it is probable
that some formal report urging the
adoption Of this plan of garbage reduc-
tion will be sent to the council in the
near future.