The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-12-07
JUNK CATERERS
Everything Is Saved by Salvage
Division.
Fifty Men Employed in the
Saving Department.
BY v. A. LAMBERT.
(From Trench and Campo

(Erom french anu CAMP
"Any rags-bottles-old ir-r-on!"
In our boyhood days, that was the
nasal twang that floated thru the
balmy air, morning and afternoon.
prociaiming the presence of the Junk
man." endeavoring to buy anything
and everything lying in the dark
corners of the basement or attic, ap-
parently of no value. No thought was
ever given as to what he did with the
Junk" that was gathered on his daily
tour. Today, we know what is being
done with all these articles ana we
also know that this one particular act
has been a part of the crushing blow
that ended the war.
A National Business.
The collecting of junk is now ma
tional business. successfully carried on
bv the salvage division of the quar-
termaster corps. This was an infant
industry in Funston a few months ago,
but today it has assumed thu proper
lions of great giant Less than
year ago, what was known as the sal
wage Yards, a little two by four
shack" served as the office over a
piece of ground $50 feet by $50. Here
and there post jutted out of the bar
rem ground to which lonely string
of barbed wire was connected. enclos-
ing the few piles of accumulated sal
wage.
Now Camp Funston is proud of her
salvage division and the results which
1t is getting. 1t has increased three
times in area and in August one of the
largest salvage warehouses in the
country was completed. The floor
space and hugeness of the structure
may be imagined when most of the
other warehouses have but four win
dows compared to the eighty OF Fun
ston's. This not only gives better
ventilation and light but adds effec-
lively in the way of sanitation. There
is a moving stock of 100000 of sal
wage. consisting of some two hundred
different items ranging from scraps of
paper to stationary engines. Every
thing is saved now and turned into
further use in camp or sold for cash
Trucks Are Busy.
There have been four large new
Pierce Arrow trucks, one Dodge light
truck and two motorcycles busy every
day in collecting from barracks and
various parts of the camp. all the ar
ticles which go to. make up the
enormous amount of materials passing
thru the warehouse. This work has
had a permanent personnel of fifty
men with special details of men num-
bering from one hundred to a hum
bred and fifty. There have been from
five to twenty carpenters busy making
boxes in which to ship the salvage.
The amount of materials passing
thru warehouse No. Is. as it is known,
during the past six months has a great
range TO- variety. A few of the items
will prove interesting: 1000 barrels,
200 tons scrap iron, $4,000 flour sacks.
80 tons of baling wire and three cars
of clothing for belgium. A great
amount of rubber, brass, burlap bags.
packing cases. tin cans, bandoleers,
Shoes Gle thing, comfortables and lum-
Der has been accumulated and dis
Of An INT fiv,ey
fact from Mr.. Frayne. during the
meeting of the waste reclamation
council at Washington, d. c., was
brought out in stating that 17,789,5
articles had been reclaimed from jan
uary 1 to October 81 IN the quarter
master corps. Along with the collec-
ton and shipping of salvage, the
warehouse has a number of machines
for facilitating the work, consisting
of four woodsaws. hay baler, six paper
balers and balers for comfortables
and bandoleers.
The Funston Junk Men.
The original Funston junk men,
commonly known as bill" and
Sam" never went out on a wagon
with a slow lean looking horse to
gather the materials, but had it COL
lected by motor trucks. following the
rules which have been strictly adj
hered to by the camp These rules
carry the value of saving of almost
every article the soldier handles.
There are bags, boxes and large cans
provided for putting the various arti-
cies into by the men. TIL .se are emp
tied at regular intervals by trucks.
which are scheduled and routed
thruout the camp.
Inc collecting of Junk" started in
a small way, but today it has proved
that by saving every article which
mad previously been discarded, can
strengthen production and increase
.ne raw materials which will prolong
and invigorate the countrvs resourcae
as well as the indiytduars raalza.La~I