Evening star., 1942-10-04
Get In the Scrop!

Abandoned automobiles, left by
their owners on District streets and
parking lots to become eyesores,
soon will join the flow OF metal
scrap to the mills of America.
After that, according to present
plans, a drive is planned to collect
the thousands of pounds Of sal
vageable scrap metal which will
be made available by merchants,
garage owners and various business
establishments in the city.
With IS per cent of the scrap COL
lected on Washington two salvage
Sundays now on its way through
the processing machinery, headed
for steel mills, and the remainder
due to be cleaned off the lots of
salvage depots during the coming
week, the District Salvage Commit
tee is preparing to turn toward big
ger things.
Lists of all automobiles left un-
used and not parked on established
! lots have been prepared by police
men of all precincts as they have
patrolled their beats and the report
now has been completed Horace
Walker, executive secretary of the
Salvage Committee, said yesterday
that he will meet tomorrow after
noon with Corporation Counsel
Richmond B. Keech and Traffic Di-
rector William A. Van DuZer to de-
termine what legal steps can be
taken toward taking title to the
abandoned automobiles. When this
matter has been Strengthened out,
machinery for collection will swing
into action.
Businessmen Respond.
Scrap from Washington business
establishments will be next on the
Salvage Committees program, with
plans being made now to gather all
this material, which the committee
asked be kept off the streets during
the concentrated Sunday drives.
Letters were sent some time ago
by the committee to business firms
and managers of Office and apart
ment buildings, telling them what
kinds of scrap were wanted and
asking that their premises be sur
veyed to bring all salvageable ma
terial to light. About $50 telephone
calls from business establishments
have been received in reply during
the last two weeks, Mr. Walker said
indicating that thousands of pounds
of usable metal are there awaiting
collection.
Property clerks at all police pre-
cincts also have made surveys of
premises under their jurisdiction
and are to report to the chief prop
erty clerk what metal scrap is avail
able from this source.
The drive to bring in large
amounts of heavy metal scrap, which
can be used quickly in the building
of planes, tanks, ships and guns,
already has been undertaken bv the
Associated Equipment Distributors of
America. Through its 600 members,
distributors of heavy construction
equipment, every contractor in the
United States is being asked to con-
tribute obsolete, or even obsolescent
machinery. if it is not essential, to
the scrap campaign.
Contractors Heavy Donors.
Some $500 local contractors are
to be reached by the drive, which
Is being conducted in the Washing
ton area by the Phillips Machinery
Co. Already a scrap pile of heavy
metal-engines, steam shovel parts,
boilers. steam roller, etc.-has
grown to l00-ton proportions at the
Phillips plant and many contractors
here have not yet had time to re-
spond.
A 75-foot derrick has been erected
to handle heavy pieces of machinery
and unload them from donors
trucks. AS the scrap comes in, it is
being cut up by Phillips workmen
so that 1t can be handled more
easily by the junk dealer who ulti-
mately prepares 1t for the mill Pro-
ceeds of the sale of the machinery
scrap pile are to be turrfed over
to the USO.
Much scrap of this and other sorts
remains In the District to be COL
lected in the campaign Of the Sal
wage Committee. Fences and orna-
mental iron work are destined to
go the way of all salvageable metal
soon. with metal from Federal