Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-12-12
BRITISH ARMY EXTRACTS
SOLDER FROM OLD Tins
"" Zones Left Over From Meat Ka-
ton Permitted to Go to
Waste.
"rEER Bi.rKoDuC-s or WAR
"a'crglass and Grease Also Obtained
from Discarded MatcriuI-.WorIi
Learning Many lessons of Econ
"my-Intcrcsting Salvage Work.

u, LIEUTENANT IL. y. VI. SrUItCES.
EANcE' December ll--War is an
AraVaGaht business. but for that very
JASON perhaps. IL mas taught the world
Many valuable lessons in economy
economies on II small scale arc apt t.
~ more troublesome and less fruitful
'nih they are worth. but carried out
on large cale-throughout an army.
'vr Instance. OF G.0UO.O0O men-tlicy
hr"Nc enormously productive. and as
= result a fresh stimulus is given
- experiments in this direction which
open un new Ids for the use of ap-
f"rentiy waste material
mas ionS been the practice through
on the British armies ia France 10 col
ISrt and 10 Salvc all the litSar and
n"OTis which troops leave in their wake,
iPf IL mas been discovered that there is
particie OF such material. however
managed. however worthless it may
"ppear, which may not be pu, TO some
profitable use.
FOR such articles as are repairablc
ana winch may be subsequently re- is
sued to the troops in their original
,"'m. large number OF works.
n ,, hcen set up in France where the
on lrreparabie articles on the other
hand arc broken up. all parts which
IAN be used for the repair and recon
hruct,on or similar articles are re-
moved and sent TO the different repair
shops; while the residue is scrappcd
ana either used as .aw material in the
aforementioned shops or sold TO
Kingdom.
Bu, there is In addition vas, amount
OF waste material which possesses
"crtain valuable by-products. and IL is
mat the most interesting and most
lrnittul department OF salvage work
lists.
Take. for example. the case or tins:
millions OF tins in some form or other
are used by the british army to-day
sui!F beef. tea, petrol all are packe ed
IN tins: consequently tins bulk large
IN the salvage returns. Now every tin
contains Il modicum Of solder. "A pre-
fious materia used in great quantities
IN the workshops. The amount Of
solder In single Tin Is negligible. but
where tins arc rcckoncd by the ton the
quantity Of solder which they represent
by no means so inconsidcrable.
To extract the solder from these tins
therefore, they are burned in simply
constructed kilns In the case of bully
bcef tins no fuc! is required beyond a
nandtui of straw TO start the fire as
me grease remaining in the tins is sudi :
Nent TO Keep IL going II may also be
noticed that all such tins must be
burned in any case in the interests Of
expense is incurred in the extraction
OF the solder. ON being burned the
solder mclts and collects in "a rninia-
lure trench prepared for il at the bot
tom at the kiln. By this means -
pounds OF solder can be extracted from
100 empty bully beef tins. and when i,
is remembered that solder ia worth
nearly 30 cents per pound. the resultant
total saving effected in this way alone
may be imagined. After being burned
the tins are sold by the ton TO French
hrins as scrap metal
an even more interesting example OF
Tho extraction of by-products consists
in the utilization Of bones which re-
main over from the meat ration. etc.
Here again the process tits in with the
requirements or tic medical authori-
tics.
At convenient spots behind the liue
rcccptaclts arc set uD in which bones
are boiled The fuel in this case is
provided by the LoneS which have al
ready been treated ~ The process oc
boiling all the fat contained In the