Evening star., 1942-09-21
Salvage Drive
Nets 1,638,000
Pounds Of Metal
Second Collection
Next Sunday May
Yield Even More

scrap TleIdl campaign pldluleu loI
next Sunday In the western half of
the city promises to equal, If not
exceed, the results of the first sue
cessful collection yesterday which
netted approximately 1,638,000
pounds of vital materials for Amer
ica's war machine, District salvage
chiefs predicted today.
While next Sundays drive in the
Northwest and Southwest sections
Of the city will cover but half the
area, geographically, it will blanket
two-thirds of the Districts popula-
ton, William A. Xanten, supervisor
of city refuse, pointed out.
Next Sundays collections will
cover all areas west of North and
South Capitol streets except that in
Southwest east of the Anacostia
River. This section was included in
yesterdays drive.
Counteracting the population fig
ure, however. is the fact that much
of the Northwest area is dotted
with apartment houses, which can
not be considered as lucrative a
source of scrap as privately owned
homes, Mr.. Xanten said.
A preliminary study Of yester-
days drive led Mr.. Xanten and
Horace Walker, executive secretary
of the District of Columbia Salvage
Committee. to conclude that next
Sundays effort can be improved in
at least two directions:
/. Residents will be urged again
and the plea will be stressed con-
stantly-to get their scrap on the
curb by am. at the latest in order
that trucks will not be forced to
make return trips covering ground
they had previously covered.
g. The SO depots in the North
west area will be enlarged to allow
trucks greater room in which to
maneuver when discharging their
loads and setting out on new
pickups.
The results of yesterdays drive,
with which officials expressed them
selves as highly gratifled," will be
a matter of high conjecture for
several days until scrap dealers
gauge accurately exactly how much
salvageable metal was picked up
In the day-long effort.
936 Full Truck Loads.
Mr.. Xanten reports that 936 full
truck loads we're dumped into the
20 depots which the D. c. Salvage
Committee had set up to receive the
scrap.
The weight of each truck load is
open to question and officials yester-
day differed on their estimates but
finally set the average figure at be-
tween 1900 and 1000 pounds or def
initely less than one ton.
This is believed to be a conserva-
tive estimate.
But Mr.. Xanten pointed out that
much of the scrap taken in yester-
day consisted of rubber, rags and
assorted items not asked for and
that much of the scrap metal taken
in was large in size but not corre-
spondingly heavy. He pointed spe-
cifically to the windfall of bed
springs, which take up lot of room
on trucks but weigh less than many
smaller objects.
Rough Estimate.
Figuring each truck load at ap-
proximately 1850 pounds in weight
and multiplying this figure by the
936. loads gives rough estimate of
1858 900 pounds for yesterdays COL
lection.
Mr.. Xanten insisted that the fig
ures not be taken literally until
later checkup this week and couched
all his statistical observations of
yesterdays collection in broad, gen.
eral terms.
II am highly gratified," said Mr..
Xanten. ut was tremendous
undertaking by a great number of
people. 1t was job we'll done. I
am proud of my staff and I am
proud of the residents of the east
ern sections of the city"
The District scrap metal quota
for the six-month period ending
January /, 1943, is 34,0Oo,00O pounds.
OF this total, 100000 pounds had
been collected up to yesterday, leav-
ing an unified total of 100000
pounds.
If next weeks collection equals
that of yesterday, the two whirlWind
drives will have contributed about
three million pounds to the quota,
leaving about 100000 pounds to
be supplied in the remaining months
Of the drive.
Officials Tour Depots.
Mr.. xanten was one of a group
of six salvage officials who toured
the depots between II am, three
hours after the drive started, and
pm. Yesterday.
Others in the party included Mr.
Walker, William j. Mileham, chief
air-rald warden, James E. Colli-
flower, vice chairman of the Specia,
Salvage Committee; Col. Beverly C
Snow, Assistant Engineer Commits
sioner and chairman of the Specia
Salvage Committee, and J. B. Cor
don, District director of sanitary
engineering.
The tour, starting at the District
Building, moved to Sixteenth and f
streets Sc, then to Kingmar
School, Fourteenth and E streets
NE, to Mount Olivet road and Wes
Virginia avenue NE. and woune
slowly through the eastern area
of town as officials offered thei
congratulations to the vast army o.
workers, many Of them voluntaril,
giving their time and energy to
tremendous undertaking.
At one point, collections wer'
piling up so fast that IS Army truck
were called into service to assls
dealers in reducing the scrap heaps
All the scrap was taken from th'
sidewalks, Mr.. xanten reported thi
morning, but much of it IS stll
piled up in depots, awaiting juni
dealers.
Collections we're cleaned up cas-
of the Anacostia River In four to flv
hours yesterday. but other collec
tions took approximately eigh
hours.