Evening star., 1942-09-07

SoAo lidS tOItIe ny lOI SOIlS IiIIle
They used to come oftener."
Will Gladly Cooperate.
The scene shifted to the Brook.
land Garage, $50 Michigan avenue
NE. Robert A. Ralph, owner. ex.
pressed the view that every garage
operator would gladly cooperate il
any concerted salvage drive.
He went to the rear of his place
OF business and pointed to a pile
OF junk being accumulated there
Among the items was a solid cylin-
der head and a metal tire cover.
"A much larger load was taker
away recently" Mr.. Ralph re-
marked. Il gave it to the Saliva
tion Army, for l remember with
gratitude how they served us dough-
nuts in France in the last war. AS
a veteran Of that war, l know the
way a soldier feels. If metal scrap
will help the present soldiers to be
better equipped, I'll do all I can. !
feel some designated agency should
reclaim scrap and get it to the steel
mills where it can be converted into
q
that something is wrong some
where"
1,S00 Pounds in One Piece.
Nearby his new scrap pile stands
a motor driven air = compressor
weig hing approximately 1900
pounds, Mr.. Ralph said. 1t con-
stitutes steel replacement bonanza.
A friend of Mr. Ralph used it nearly
six years ago on a roofing job at
the White House Since that time
1t has been gathering rust from
diSuse. AS bit of scrap it prob
ably is one of the prize bits to be
found in the Nations capital,
Also on Mr.. Ralph's lot is an old
automobile ready for the grave
yard. Even with the engine re-
moved, 1t contains several hundred
pounds Of scrap.
Two garage owners in the north
west section pledged their cooper
alton in any scrap drive.
Every automobile repair shop
in town." said Paul Essinger, pro-
prietor of Paul's Garage, 1915 l.
street NV, receives scrap each
week. give mine away to a private
collector who hauls the stuff to a
junk dealer. You would be sur
prised to know the tons that can
be secured, when you stop to figure
the weight of front axles, springs,
gears and old tenders"
Wants Systematic Collection.
A systematic collection is needed.
remarked r. w. Goode, owner of
Goode Repair Shop in the rear of
1924 Ninteenth street NV.
'sIt used to be that three or four
junk dealers would come around
every month" Mr.. Goode said.
'Not single one has come to my
place in the last three months. I
suppose they have their own sort
ing problems, the matter of separ-
ating the junk and sending 1t off
to the proper places. I am willing
to Cooperate. If other cities are
ahead of Washington in salvage
collections, it is condition which
can be corrected Our people are
most willing to help their Govern
ment."
H. c. Saylor, owner of Abbott's
Valley Service Station, $500 Ar
kansas avenue NV. told a repre-
sentative of The Star that collec-
ton of the scrap is the immediate
problem to be solved.
"We have several hundred pounds
OF metal scrap and rubber we will
gladly give away" he said. Il ac-
tually spent 80 cents making phone
calls to urge people to haul it
away, told them that they could
have 1t if they came for the junk,
but it is still here"
2e3 Garages Listed.
1t was estimated there are several
hundred repair shops, many of
them small ones in the rear of
residences, all collecting spots for
worn-out automobile materials. The
telephone directory under the head
ing of garages lists 203 such es-
tablishments.
Salvage stations established in
several of the larger garages, such
as the Capital Garage, 1920 New
York avenue NV, are not having
the difficulty smaller shops eX-
perience in getting junk removed
Oil companies are maintaining a
regular collection service for some
of the large concerns, it was said,
with the result that a smooth pro-
gram is achieved without cluttering
up valuable floor and yard space
Inquiry disclosed that some re-
pair shops have little junk to offer,
in that certain old parts of auto
mobiles must be turned in by the
garages in order to receive new
parts under rationing programs. To
offset this factor, there are many
articles of metal which can be sent
to the junk yards for sorting and
routing to steel companies, it was
pointed out.
One garage owner said his offer
to dispose of metal scrap had been
refused because he would not sell
batteries for q figure under the
market price.
The survey. limited to garages in
different sections Of the city, re-
vealed that garages can yield q
large supply of needed metal each
week once a systematic plan of col
lection is established. In other
words, the repair shops. as dis
tinguished from automobile grave
yards, offer a fruitful source herr
for that additional impetus required
by the necessities of war.
There are many other sources OF
scrap, but the automobile repair
shops offer convincing proof that
all-out effort has not been made II
the Nations Capital.
lScron Collector