Evening star., 1919-03-16

'N'>AND mas Deen seized with
X mt of industrial economy.
IL Leather scraps. mattress tufts.
factory floor sweepings. odds
and ends of string-all this refuse
of peace time days is now being
coined into money. The dire need,
imposed by the strain of an unprece-
dented war, for the saving of time
and labor. has impressed itself deep
lv into the Industrial character of
Britain. Whether the habit is to be-
come permanent remains to be seen.
At present, rich rewards for the dis
covery Of new methods of utilizing
the waste bin await the observing
and ingenious mind. The British
government is doing all that lies In
it's power to perpetuate the war
time virtue of economy in the in
dustrial life of the country.
Waste products are being sys-
tematically gone over by chemists.
whose Investigations are directed
with a view toward the utlllZallon
of the waste product for any INDUS
trial purpose whatsoever. once the
possibility of it's utilization is es-
tablishcd the waste becomes by
product with an Intrinsic value. which
nuctuates according to the usual con-
ditions of demand and supply. The
big problem is to discover means
of its utilization.
This may sound easy, but frequent
ly it is a matter of the utmost diff
fculty. Chemist after chemist may
insist that the waste matter in ques-
lion Is of such a composition that it.
contains no element having a known
application to commerce. Then for
the time being 1t remains waste
product subject. of course. to later
Investigations by other chemists.
Leather trimmings is case i'm
point.
During the war enormous guam
titles of trimmings resulted from the
making of enormous numbers or
army boots. These trimmings were
purely waste matter, and before the
war it had been the custom of boot
factories to throw Them away, as
having no known commercial value.
shortly after the war began. how
ever. quantity of them was sub
mitted to a chemist, who discovered
that 1t was possible ITO extract the
grease from them. The grease thus
secured looked very much like the
grease with which the soldiers We're
accustomed to dress their boots to-
make them waterproof. 1t was
accordingly assumed that the grease
extracted from leather trimmings
might be used to supp ement the sup
plies of boot-grease for the army.
= Later, however, the grease thus Sc
cured was subjected to AN eXamna-
tion and the hopes which had been
entertained of utilizing it as boot
dressing were shattered AT once, 1t
was found to be not leather pre-
GPrVlJiCp hut the contrary
leather destroyer. Fatty acids were
found to be predominant In it's COM
position, and it's use among the SOL
diers was discontinued at once
Search is still being made for some
use for it and the chances are good
that eventually use Will be found.
At present. however, 1t is Still waste
product and hundreds of chemists up
and down Britain are se..rching for
some commercial use for X.
*
Nor is this fit of economy confined
to industrial circles. Even house
wives, accustomed now to the lessons
of economy which the submarines
forced home to them, are making such
use as they can of the commonplace
wastes of the kitchen. Women who
preserve their own fruits are no long
er throwing away the rubber rings
for their fruit Jars when they have
used them once. but instead are saw
ing them to be posted to the govern
ment offices in London. which are try
ing to discover use for these waste
products. Farmers are gathering in
the hazel Huts, to which formerly
they paid no attention. During the
war, the government called for a col
lection Of these and similar waste
nuts from the hedgerows of the coun-'
try. along with the fruit stones which
formerly were thrown away from the
Kitchens of the country. 1t had been
found that they yielded a special sort
of charcoal which was useful in con-
nection with the making of gas masks
for the army.
Bits of these and other waste prod
nets are showering down upon the
government offices in London, whore
experts are at work seeking some
means of utilizing them.
And now that have mentioned gas
masks, let me say that no single item
of the war has called into utilization
so many waste products of nations
life as these same gas masks Every
body knows that the mask contains.
with other items, two circular eye
pieces. Each eyepiece is made from
two pieces of glass, each not more
than one-siXteenth of an inch thick.
which are put into place in the mask