Dearborn independent. [volume], February 21, 1920, Page 8, Image 8

About Dearborn independent. [volume] (Dearborn, Mich.) 1901-1927

Image provided by: Central Michigan University, Clark Historical Library

                
8
THE DBAIHBOIBM nsOTOTMBBWlT
This picture sfums the grease extracted from the garbage run .nto v.t,
I he ..land on h.ch thi garbage plant . built itself made of ltlil dumped into the met
fFWrtf Garbage is Turned Into Gold
How New York City Dumped an Island Into the East RiverWhat Becomes of Junk and Ashes
EVERY time a New Yorker empties the ashes in
his furnace, he is helping to build an island which
will some dav be worth a million dollars as real
estate, and every time a New York housewife throws
a bacon rind or' a few potato paring! into the garbage
pail, she is helping to make somebody wealthy.
"Garbage" in New York means practically every
thing that is thrown away, from discarded bedsteads to
discarded egg shells. And practically everything that
is thrown awav. although it has ceased to have any
value for its original possessor, still has some worth
when it goes through the intricate processes of turn
ing garbage into gold.
When one throws bit of refuse into the waste
paper basket or the garbage pail, it is with the feeling
that that is the end of it. You have worn it or used
it until it is worthless, and so it goes to oblivion. But
so complicated and minute are the .steps by which a
great city disposes of its refuse that what appears as
the final" move toward nothingness to JTOU is but the
first step in a fascinating journey.
Your last summer's oxfords may still be doing duty
in some altered form, and that old bedspring which
you threw away, may have been rescued from its sur
roundings by the contractor who removes it. and who
makes an immense profit just by sorting and redispos
ing of all the junk which comes his way.
Piled up in high, unsightly piles, are all the strange
conglomerate articles which are thrown away in a
city. Men employed by the contractors go over the
wagonloads as they are received, and make a rough
attempt at classifying the debris This is the first
step in turning the refuse into a marketable product.
Old metals, such as brass and iron, are variously sorted,
and ultimately get back again into the channels of
manufacture.
An island has risen out of nothingness in the East
River, built up slowly out of the water by a gradual
accumulation of ashes. This is Kicker's Island, which
you could not have discovered at high tide a few short
years ago. but which was visible as a flat, muddy,
mosquito-infested bit of swamp in low tide.
Gradually under the city's direction, this island, op
posite Ninetieth street, has been formed by scow-load
after scow-load of ashes and refuse. Today it is an
island of considerable Mze, and growing constantly, as
more ashes are added to the shallow spot in the river.
In the course of time, it is predicted that the land of
this island will be worth a million dollars, in view of
By CARROLL EVERETT
the scarcity of land close to Manhattan Island. '1 he
citv's immense garbage disposal plant has been erected
on Kicker's Island, and here the elaborate processes for
"reducing" the garbage are carried on.
To this plant are brought all the waste, and all the
garbage, and here most of it is rendered into market
able form. What doesn't lend itself to being made over
into something else is merely made to increase the size
of the island.
Every day of the week you may see the scows "dock
ing" at this artificial island, and adding to the raw
product which is to be turned from garbage into gold.
The waste material receives a second and thorough
sorting when it reaches Kicker's Island, and such addi
tional junk as the contractor can use is placed in the
empty scows and hauled back.
Tnis second sorting turns up a great deal of ma
terial, some of it of surprising character. The con
tractor's assistants always know just what purpose will
be served by all the stuff, however, and it is collected
into various piles to await the emptying of the scows
However, some is sorted out of the wagons on
Manhattan to save the extra hauling of it. But nothing
is overlooked in the end. and every possible conversion
of the discarded material is taken care of.
The cable road on the island takes care of the
ashes, and transports them to whatever spot is being
filled in at the time. By gradually increasing the range
oi the "dump," the size of the island, and its height
above the river surface are being increased.
Immense steam shovels are used to load and un
load the cars on the cable road, and every device of
modern invention to facilitate the movement of the
ashes is to be found there.
Cable cars also run from the dock to the disposal
plant, carrying the refuse which is to undergo the re
fining processes there. In case the scows are run up
close to the plant, another method of getting the ma
terials from the barges into the plant is used. Men
-hovel the refuse onto a conveyor, and it is thus car
ried into the plant by machinery.
This conveying runway leads to the "Digester"
shed. Sometimes there are scores of men at work,
shoveling material upon the convevor, so that vou can
imagine the capacity of the plant, and particularly of
the "Digester"' machines. These machines an perhaps
the most important factor in garbage reduction. They
are immense tanks or boilers, placed in a horizontal
position, and each with a tremendous "appetite" for
raw garbage, just as it is dumped from the bar
The garbage is placed in tin in, and 0 tor a
considerable period of time. This cooking is the b.
step in garbage reduction, and is the first pi esi
securing the greases and fertilizers which are the
main products of garbage reduction.
When the garbage is thoroughh steamed, or
"cooked," the liquid part of it which has t - drawn
from the bulk by the heat is drawn off by mean
tilting the great machines and allowing the heated
grease to flow out.
The grease is conveyed to another type oi round
tank, and here the prooetl of refining the raw
continued. The fluid is entirely recooked. :v
through the process in different form. Tin heat has
refined it to a considerable degree.
Outside the "Digester." huge vats have been built,
into which the grease, now in the form of a rather heavy
and sticky lubricant, is allowed to run. Stai g tfag
nant in these vats, the solid matter which it remains
in it slowly settles to the bottom, and the 1 J con
siderably clarified. It is now of about the istency
of a heavy lubricating oil, and has a C Krable
market value.
This is the condition in which the major rtion 01
the refuse and scraps from your table ultimately hnd
themselves, and this is the aim of the ma compli
rated prOCeSSei through which you have t '1 the
potato peeling! and the rind of bacon.
. frr tVin cr1wl nrtinnc nf thr rotllst H tlll
remain, they have their purpose to fulfill as
might appear to be merely the left-over-, but
not imply that they are valueless.
These solids are conveyed to a hydraulu
there subjected to immense pressure. H
in the form of solid cakes, and in the pi
ing them, still more oil is squeezed from the
These cakes are excellent fertilizer, and
their way back into the soil. In this ma r, man
helps nature in her own processes, for it atures
way for the decayed and useless vegetatio: retun
to the soil and enrich it. .
Thus you see how garbage is turned in! Id, an
how refuse mav he made into an island
Thev
at does
it, and
UN out
if mak-
1US
find
ff-r the free grease and oil hat been drained from the tanks of cooked garbage, this garbage goes
through powerful presaing machines which extract more of the oil and greaac.
Some of the great tanks or garbage "Digesters" into which the garbage is placed and heated
pwaia me grease from other material.