MILLIONS FROM WASTE

BY

FREDERICK A. TALBOT

Author of
“The Building of a Great Canadian Railway”—“Inventions and Discoveries”—“The Steamship Conquest of the World”—“The Oil Conquest of the World,” &c., &c.

PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN LTD.

1920

(All rights reserved)
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

PREFACE

The reclamation and exploitation of waste products for a variety of industrial uses constitute one of the most fascinating and increasingly important developments in modern industry. It is a subject of which very little is known outside privileged circles, and the possibilities of which are but scantily appreciated by the average individual.

The purpose of this volume is to indicate certain of the most obvious channels through which wealth incalculable is being permitted to escape, as well as the narration of something concerning the highly ingenious efforts which are being made to prevent such wastage. While written essentially for the uninitiated reader, the hope is entertained that it may prove of certain service to those who are fully alive to the potentialities of refuse of every description, and who are endeavouring to redeem the country from the charge of being wantonly extravagant in its use and consumption of raw materials, both edible and industrial.

The subject of waste reclamation is too vast and intricate, albeit romantic and fascinating, to be treated within the scope of a single volume. Consequently I have confined myself rather to those phases which are familiar to the average person and to the losses which are incurred from their inadvertent destruction—losses which affect both the individual and the community in general. If it succeeds in acquainting the man-in-the-street and the woman at home with the enormous wastage, both of finance and kind, which are incurred in these most familiar fields during the course of the year, and persuades them to observe methods of thrift, a material contribution to the national wealth should be effected.

In the preparation of this work I have been extended liberal and courteous assistance from numerous sources. I am especially indebted to the War Office, the National Salvage Council, the Food Production Department, and the Paper Controller, also to several civic and municipal authorities, notably of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bradford, and San Francisco. I have also been fortunate in securing valuable co-operation from several gentlemen interested in the waste problem, including Messrs. J. H. Pooley and James Macgregor, of Messrs. Ernest Scott & Co., Limited, of London, Glasgow, Fall River, Mass., U.S.A., Montreal, and Buenos Aires; Mr. Jean Schmidt, of Industrial Waste Eliminators, Limited, London; Winget Limited, London; Mr. H. P. Hoyle, of the Grange Iron Company, Limited, Durham; Mr. F. N. Pickett, Hove; and J. Grossmann, Esq., M.A., Ph.D., F.I.C., etc., as well as the Editors of the World’s Work and Chambers’s Journal, to all of whom I express my best thanks.

FREDERICK A. TALBOT.

Brighton, July 1919.

CONTENTS

Millions from Waste

CHAPTER I
WASTE: ITS RELATION TO COMMERCE AND NATIONAL ECONOMY

Extravagance is the inevitable corollary to cheap living. The expression “living” is used in its very broadest sense, and is by no means confined to the mere consumption of foodstuffs. If living be cheap the thousand and one attributes complementary thereto, from wearing apparel to creature comforts for the home and from raw materials to finished goods, must necessarily rule low in price. Under such conditions the very fact that it is cheaper, as well as easier and simpler, to incur a further capital charge, rather than to endeavour to induce additional service from what is already in hand, though possibly damaged slightly, prompts waste, in precisely the same way as it is more expedient to replace the damaged part of a standardized article, whether it be a motor-car, sewing machine, typewriter, or watch, than to attempt to carry out a repair.

The ready availability of a spare part directly encourages waste more or less. The convenience is provided at an attractive figure to appeal to the consumer, while to the producer it renders a higher proportion of profit than is attainable when it forms part and parcel of the complete finished article. The latter is not marketed at the aggregate of the prices of the integral parts, as one may promptly verify if they feel so disposed. From this it must not be imagined that replacement per se is to be condemned, except that it is often attended by the complete loss of the displaced and damaged part. Were the conservation of the removed part conducted the system would be deserving of whole-hearted support, because in this way the material of which it is wrought would be available for further use. Those firms which insist upon the return of a damaged section before they undertake to forward the replacement are pursuing a wise policy. It is true they consign the faulty or worn part to the junk pile, but, at intervals, the latter is turned over to the manufacturing interests to undergo further exploitation.

It is also somewhat significant to record that improvidence is intimately associated with cheap labour. Cheap living and cheap labour go hand-in-hand. As a matter of fact, until recently the average working members of the community, from the comparative point of view, have been guilty of greater improvidence than those who are well-blessed with this world’s goods.

This apparent anomaly is readily explicable. In the houses of the wealthy the accumulation of residues of every description must necessarily attain imposing dimensions. But these wastes are not lost to commerce and industry. In the majority of cases they are handed over to the employees by whom they are regarded as legitimate perquisites. To gratify some individual whim, passing fancy, or from inherent tendency to bargain, these residues are carefully garnered and harboured to be converted into cash through one or other of the many purchasing channels which appear to diverge to these centres. The cooks dispose of bones, fats, and greases, as well as other wastes from the kitchen, to the itinerant rag-and-bone merchant; rejected wearing apparel finds its way to the wardrobe dealer; worn-out copper, iron and aluminium culinary utensils, as well as divers other metallic odds and ends gravitate to the specialists in old iron and waste metals; superfluous produce from the kitchen garden meets with profitable distribution, while even the swill is able to command its market.

It is the opportunity to profit in pocket from such “extras” which acts as the incentive to collect, separate and to bargain for the sale of wastes from a pretentious house. But, as the social scale is descended, the tendency to keep a tight hand upon the refuse suffers unconscious relaxation. This is primarily due to the fact that the volume of such accumulations undergoes attenuation as the social ladder is descended. As the bulk diminishes so does the impression, “Oh! it is not worth while troubling about!” become accentuated. Finally, when we reach the bottom of the ladder—the average working household—the quantity of waste is considered to be so trifling as to be deemed quite unworthy of consideration. Consequently, here we find the whole, or at least 90 per cent., of the refuse consigned to the fire, or to the rubbish heap, instead of being preserved and turned into a profitable channel to receive a new lease of utility.

As with the home so with the office and factory. The small workshop or business establishment accommodated within one or two rooms records its proportion of waste, but it apparently is so slender as to be comparatively insignificant. Furthermore, as a rule, it is so varied as to aggravate the thought of being more nuisance than it is worth. Accordingly, the refuse is neither sorted nor retained, but, especially if it be combustible, meets with an untimely end. On the other hand, in the large factory, the accumulations being of distinct magnitude, segregation and careful retention are observed to facilitate ready sale, while arrangements are even completed for the periodical clearance of the refuse at mutually satisfactory if not prevailing market prices. Whether the waste ever commands its real intrinsic value is a matter of opinion, because we have never been persuaded to regard the residue disposal problem in the strict commercial sense.

Reflection gives rise to the question—What is waste? A more appropriate explanation than a paraphrase of Palmerston’s famous dictum concerning dirt would be difficult to find. Waste is merely raw material in the wrong place. In the spirit fostered by our traditional improvidence we have sought to adapt another existing term to meet the situation. We glibly dismiss waste as rubbish. It is not, but because we have been too indolent to occupy our minds in the elaboration of further possible applications for what we do not actually require for conduct of the operations with which our individual exertions are identified, we seek to satisfy our consciences in the easiest manner. In so doing we essay to flout a fundamental law of Nature—the indestructibility of matter. We have failed to appreciate that what may be of no immediate value to ourselves may, indeed can, with judicious and scientific handling be persuaded to serve in the capacity of indispensable raw material to other ranges of endeavour. It may even go so far as to supply the wherewithal for the creation of new industries, widening the possible fields of employment, and contribute pronouncedly towards the wealth of the nation.

This fact can be brought home very conclusively. In the opening days of this century the amount of fats, oils, and greases which were allowed to run to waste was colossal. They were cheap commodities and, although they occur in greater or lesser degree with the majority of organic materials in popular request, not a thought was expended upon the possible losses which their discard with so-called wastes represented. But, during the past few years, the demand for these substances has advanced by leaps and bounds. They have become vital to the table in several forms, and this request has brought the food-producing industry into conflict with another trade of far-reaching importance, namely, the manufacture of soap. The situation is rather peculiar, as I point out in a subsequent chapter. Some idea of the volume of fats absorbed in the preparation of margarine and soap, respectively, may be gathered from the narration of the fact that one of the largest soap manufactories in the world demands the supply of fat in a steady stream of about 5,000 tons per week.

A few years ago the activities of this particular firm were concentrated upon the manufacture of soap. It was the solitary product. But it had its attention attracted to the growth and possibilities of the margarine trade, and it decided to enter this market. To-day, its activities are divided between the production of the two commodities, and, curiously enough, almost equally. From its works issue out about 6,000 tons of soap and 4,000 tons of margarine every week.

This merely represents the endeavours of one firm. There are scores of others following a similar line of action. The result is that the demand for fats has reached an unprecedented level. At the moment of writing the coarsest grade of fat is able to command approximately £50—$250—a ton. Is it surprising therefore that every effort should now be made to extract the fats, grease, and oil associated with every form of organic waste, and that keen effort should be made to secure increasing quantities of waste capable of yielding this material?

So far as the public is concerned this spirited search for fat may be regarded with misgiving, if not absolute alarm. The wizardry of the chemist is acknowledged, and the thought possibly prevails that much of the fat now being turned into margarine is really only fitted for the production of soap. But alarmist or pessimistic feelings in this direction may be speedily allayed, though it is permissible to point out that ten years ago much fat was turned into the cleanser which should have been utilized as a foodstuff, inasmuch as its freshness and wholesomeness were above all criticism. It was merely turned over to the soap-maker because no alternative application was apparent. But conceding the magical qualifications of the chemist, there are some feats which yet remain beyond his powers. The ability to turn bad fat into good for dietetic purposes must be numbered among those achievements which as yet have proved impracticable. If a fat be rancid it cannot possibly be reconditioned for edible purposes. No matter how its preparation may be coaxed and nursed it cannot be converted into a foodstuff. The palate would detect rancidity instantly. Consequently, only the highest grades of animal fat are used for the preparation of margarine; the fact that the big-scale production of a food should have been embraced by the soap-maker merely represents one of those inexplicable coincidences of industry.

It is distinctly interesting, if not actually amusing, to follow what may be described as the utilitarian conjugation of waste. It remains an incubus, if not an unmitigated nuisance, until the chemist, or some other keenly observant individual possessed of a fertile mind, comes along to rake it over and to indulge in experiments. Such efforts are often followed with ill-concealed amusement. A few years since they were even regarded as so much waste of time. In due course some definite conclusion is reached, and the fact becomes driven home that, if such-and-such a process be followed a particular spurned refuse can be utilized as raw material for the production of some specific article. Then scepticism and amusement give way to intense interest and speculative rumination. The new idea is submitted to the stern test of practical application upon a commercial basis, while the financial end of the proposal, which is the determining factor, is carefully weighed.

These complex issues being satisfactorily settled the exploitation of the erstwhile waste, or rubbish, is energetically pursued. It has now become a potentially valuable by-product, and, accordingly, must be worked for all it is worth. Firmly entrenched upon the market development is vigorously pursued, often to culminate in the quondam waste, now an established by-product, being lifted to such a position of commercial eminence as to dispute premier recognition with the staple in the production of which it is incurred. In more than one instance the by-product has even eclipsed the primary product, or at least attained a level of equal importance, while occasionally the staple has even suffered virtual deposition to rank as little else but a by-product. There are even some cases on record where the manufacture of the staple has been abandoned, at all events for a time, because the by-product, the former incubus of the industry has become invested with such far-reaching importance as to demand the concentration of effort upon its production. Waste—by-product—staple: such constitutes the brief evolution of more than one of the world’s leading lines of trading.

Many instances of remarkable topsy-turvydom in this connection might be cited. Possibly one of the most impressive illustrations in this respect, although the transposition is not yet quite complete, is offered by coal-gas. When Clayton first demonstrated the practicability of extracting illuminating gas from coal commercialism feverishly set to work to exploit the gas, and gas only. But the gas proved to be associated with a variety of substances which threatened the very future of Clayton’s discovery. Ammonia fumes poisoned the atmosphere of the room in which the gas was burned to the grave danger of the health—even lives—of the occupants according to the cynics, critics, and caricaturists of the day. The tar carried in suspension in the gas was every whit as exasperating because it condensed in the mains to choke them. Ammonia and tar became the bane of life to the gas-engineers of the period, harassing them to the verge of endurance, while the elimination of the two deleterious substances involved the expenditure of enormous sums of money and prodigious thought.

What is the position to-day. Gas, the staple product from the distillation of coal three-quarters of a century ago, now, to all intents and purposes, is the by-product. The world could roll along very comfortably without it. Indeed, we may have to do so in the near future when the gas is stripped of every other marketable constituent, leaving only a mixture of methane and hydrogen gases to be burned under boilers to raise steam for the generation of electricity in enormous bulk. The ammonia which formerly jeopardized health and lives, and to remove and to throw away which the pioneer engineers strained every nerve, is now trapped to be converted into fertilizer. Then the tar which likewise nearly drove the engineers frantic is now carefully drawn off, collected and resolved into a host of wonderful articles to furnish a diversity of indispensable materials. It would be wearisome to recite the list. It is so lengthy. But it would seem as if the by-products of coal touch every other industry, ranging from dyes to chemicals, flavourings to disinfectants, perfumes to therapeutics and soporifics.

As with coal so with oil. Forty years ago the boring of a well was followed with mixed feelings by the indefatigable driller. A “strike,” while devoutly to be desired, was just as likely to bring dreadful disaster swift and sudden, even death, as wealth untold. The driller probed the earth animated by one idea. This was to tap the subterranean lake of crude petroleum. But in driving his bore the driller invariably crashed through the roof of an underground reservoir of petroleum gas. Ignorant of the value of this product, though painfully aware of its danger if allowed to break away and to get beyond control, the early seekers for oil led this gas through a pipe to a point some distance away. There the flow from the open end was ignited and the gas allowed to burn merrily in the open air. The driller knew no peace of mind until the flame flickered and expired as a result of the exhaustion of the subterranean gasometer. Then, and not until, he could resume his boring for the precious liquid with complacency.

But with passing years and progress came enlightenment. The gas is no longer wasted; it is trapped. In some instances it is led through piping for hundreds of miles to feed hungry furnaces engaged in the making of steel and other products. The earth is even being drilled, not for petroleum, but for its huge supplies of natural gas, and the huge reservoirs thus discovered are being harnessed to the thousand wheels of industry. We even find trains fitted with cylinders carrying natural gas stored under high pressure to furnish light for the convenience of passengers, and to enable dainty meals to be cooked in the kitchens of the dining-cars.

The oil refineries, upon receiving the crude petroleum, set out to recover as much paraffin as they could. This was the primary product, because a brilliant British chemist, Young, had discovered how to distil paraffin from petroleum for lighting, heating, and cooking. It represented a huge advance upon the lamp dependent upon whale oil and the tallow dip. But before the refiners could reach the paraffin they were called upon to wrestle with a lighter spirit which sorely harassed and perplexed them. It was extremely volatile, and highly inflammable—even explosive in the vapour form when mixed with air—and accordingly was construed into a menace to the refinery. It was carefully drawn off and dumped into large pits, where it was burned merely to get rid of it. Its commercial value was set down as nil. A certain quantity was used by laundries and dry-cleaners because of its striking cleansing qualities, but it was used sparingly and cautiously owing to its dangerous character. It could be purchased only with difficulty, and in small quantities by the members of the public, the retailers for the most part being chemists and druggists. If one were glib of tongue and a master of the persuasive art, one might succeed in obtaining as much as half-a-pint in a single purchase.

Suddenly a creative mind evolved the high-speed internal combustion engine, which heralded the coming of the motor-car, the submarine, and more recently the aeroplane and airship. The volatile spirit which hitherto had been spurned and burned wastefully by the refineries was immediately discovered to be invested with a value which had heretofore escaped attention. It formed the ideal fuel for the new motor. Forthwith wanton destruction of the volatile spirit was abandoned. Every drop was carefully collected, and, as time went on and the demand for the light liquid fuel increased, the refiners put forth greater effort to wring every possible dram of petrol from the crude petroleum. Paraffin, which had hitherto been regarded as the staple, was ignored. It even dropped in commercial estimation as a by-product and became a drug on the market, although, fortunately, the refineries hesitated from repeating the practice they had honoured in regard to petrol—summary destruction by fire.

So insistent and overwhelming has grown the demand for petrol that the producers are hard put to it to keep pace with the requirements. A petroleum boom has reverberated around the world, eclipsing in intensity any stampede identified with the search for gold. To these islands the petroleum age has contributed very little wealth, although it has been responsible for revived interest in the exploitation of our shale—another form of waste—but to Russia, the United States of America, Mexico, and the East, where the earth reeks with petroleum, it has brought wealth untold. It has completely transformed the economic outlook of certain nations, and in some instances has served to rescue a country from bankruptcy. To us it is of appreciable significance because, so far, we have been compelled to draw upon distant sources for our requirements and so have to contribute to the national wealth of others, some of whom are our most spirited rivals in trade.

In 1913 our imports of petroleum products aggregated 488,106,963 gallons, valued at £10,856,806—$54,284,030—the contribution from Greater Britain being 22,172,701 gallons, valued at £829,868—$4,149,340. Of this enormous volume 100,858,017 gallons represented petrol for our motors—the waste product of forty years ago at the refineries—for which we had to pay £3,803,397—$19,016,985. In the year when mechanical road propulsion was ushered in petrol could be obtained for about 4d.—8 cents—a gallon: in 1918 it commanded 3s. 6d.—84 cents—a gallon. An increase of over 900 per cent. in value within approximately 35 years represents no mean achievement in commercial expansion, but when it relates to an erstwhile waste product the record is far more sensational.

To relate all the fortunes which have been amassed from the commercialization of what was once rejected and valueless would require a volume. Yet it is a story of fascinating romance and one difficult to parallel in the whole realm of human activity. It was the waste energy of water which laid the foundations of Lord Armstrong’s fortune and the enormous fabric of the huge firm on Tyneside. Sir Hiram Maxim revolutionized warfare by harnessing the wasted kick or recoil to reload and fire his machine-gun, thereby introducing one of the most formidable small arms ever devised to conduct the gentle art of killing. Lord Masham established a new industry and became a millionaire by taking the “chassum” or silk waste—a refuse which had even suffered rejection as a manure because it took such a long time to rot—and utilizing it as a raw material for the production of a new and wonderful range of beautiful fabrics in velvet and plush. It was another textile wizard, Sir Titus Salt, who perfected the process for turning the wool sheared from the back of a member of the camel family roaming the heights of the Andes, and which was classed as sheer rubbish, into the soft glossy fabric known as alpaca.

But one of the most powerful expressions of the possibilities attending the scientific utilization of waste, and one which brings home very forcibly to us the national wealth to be won from refuse, is associated with our woollen industry. Where would Yorkshire be without mungo or shoddy? Dewsbury has become the world’s centre for the disposal of old clothes and woollen rags. Here converge all the streams bearing abandoned flotsam and jetsam into the preparation of which wool has entered. There is scarcely anything more disreputable, if not actually repellent, than a sack of woollen rags. But pass that waste through suitable machines and a wonderful transformation in attractiveness, colouring, and design, as well as texture, is accomplished.

Wool can never be worn out. That is an indisputable axiom in woollen circles. It does not matter how many years ago the textile may first have been prepared, nor the many and varied vicissitudes through which it may have passed; it can be used over and over again. It may have travelled through the machines forty or fifty times, may have graced the form of a hundred persons, may have clothed a scarecrow or have been retrieved from a river in the course of its career. True, with each new lease of life it suffers a certain depreciation, but blended with new wool or cotton it is effectively revived. The history of a fibre of wool would be distinctly romantic and thrilling could it be but written, and even the wildest flights of imagination would be unable to rival stern fact. It is the ability to work and re-work up woollen textile for an indefinite period which has contributed to the prosperity of Yorkshire, and which has enabled this country to build up an export trade in this commodity exceeding £500,000,000—$2,500,000,000—a year in value.

An impressively successful, yet sinister, utilization of waste was brought to light during the war. In their methodical investigation of the dye-stuffs problem the Germans found it necessary to prepare a certain substance which constitutes the starting-point for the production of one of their leading products. Toluol, a by-product from the manufacture of gas, is taken and treated with nitric acid. Now orthonitrotoluol is the specific product in request, but nitrification produces two substances, orthonitrotoluol and paranitrotoluol, respectively. The last-named is of no use whatever, but its production has to be suffered, though, unfortunately, the yield thereof is twice that of the essential article. So far as the industrial pursuit in question is concerned the paranitrotoluol represented a sheer waste.

Now the German, when he encounters a waste, does not throw it away or allow it to remain an incubus. Saturated with the principle that the residue from one process merely represents so much raw material for another line of endeavour, he at once sets to work to attempt to discover some use for a refuse. Manufacturers in other countries were equally troubled with the accumulations of paranitrotoluol because the production of the two substances as a result of nitrifying toluol is strictly in accordance with constitutional chemical law. They also learned that the Germans had succeeded in turning it to advantage. What was this application? This was the poser. They sought enlightenment in this direction but found that the German was resolutely keeping his discovery to himself.

Other countries remained in ignorance until the Germans set out to materialize their fantastic dream of world-wide domination. When their hordes burst upon the frontier defences of Belgium, and their bombardment played sad havoc with the fortifications of Liege and Namur, the world marvelled. The intense destructive power of the high explosive which was being used was something new to warfare. It was promptly investigated, and then the use for the paranitrotoluol, the apparent incubus of the dye-stuffs-producing factories, was discovered. It was being turned into the destructive agent familiarly known as T.N.T., or trinitrotoluol, to give the explosive its true chemical designation.

It is perfectly obvious, from what has been related, that, if one will only devote sufficient energy and fertility of thought to the study of so-called rubbish and its properties, incalculable economic and financial benefits must redound to the individual. And as with individuals so with nations. The British race is generally assailed as being woefully improvident and remiss in the profitable exploitation of waste, but it errs in excellent company. The United States of America are probably far more guilty in this respect. According to the statement of the American Food Administrator the inhabitants of 24 cities between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, by ignoring the latent wealth contained in their garbage barrels, are throwing away sufficient grease and fat during the year to produce 30,000,000 one-pound bars of soap. On the other hand, 300 small towns, by pursuing thrift in this direction, are producing sufficient food from the disposal of their swill to yield 50,000,000 additional pounds of pork worth £1,600,000 ($8,000,000) a year, although in this instance the results might be doubled by the practice of more perfect methods. Another 350 towns, which disdain the value of their swill-tubs, are throwing away approximately £2,000,000 ($10,000,000) a year because they are not inclined to take a little trouble concerning the disposal of their garbage.

Contrast the methods obtaining in the United States and Britain with those peculiar to France. That picturesque figure of French civic life, the chiffonnier, is the perennial butt of humorists and cartoonists. But he is a powerful economic factor. Through his efforts millions sterling are saved annually to the French nation. The rag-picker and his colleagues “specializing” in other forms of spoil lurking in the ash-barrel pursue their work so diligently as to secure everything, except vegetable matter, which is capable of being worked up into other forms by the exercise of brains and commercial enterprise. It may not seem a savoury occupation to rake over the repulsive assorted contents of the household dust-bin, but it serves to swell, to an appreciable degree, the streams of raw materials flowing into the insatiable maws of industry. What is left after these industrious toilers have completed their work finds its way to the dust-destructor to assist in the raising of steam to drive engines and generators for the supply of electricity.

The diligent exploitation of waste exercises a far-reaching influence upon the wealth of nations. If we were to turn the whole of our residues, both industrial and domestic, to the utmost account we should be able to cut down our annual expenditure upon purchases from abroad to a very startling degree. Every ton of import saved not only represents the retention of so much sterling in our pocket, but releases a ton of shipping for the movement of other material, not necessarily to these islands, but between other countries, since it must not be forgotten that we derive an appreciable proportion of our national income from carrying the trade of the world. If we were to salvage all the rags entering into the domestic refuse of the nation we could reduce our imports of wool during the year by 19,000 tons, and allow 15,000 tons of shipping space to be devoted to other purposes. From the yield of cotton refuse derived from the dust-bins we could turn out 16,000 tons of new paper. If we were to become miserly in our collection of waste-paper and to turn it back into the mills, we could secure a further 44,000 tons of new paper during the year and save the import of 75,000 tons of wet pulp from Scandinavia. Were all our old tins handed over to the steel-makers we could reproduce from this raw material 74,000 tons of new steel and dispense with 148,000 tons of Spanish ore. The steel obtainable from the re-smelting of old tins alone would furnish sufficient material to construct approximately forty 3,000-ton vessels.

Fortunately, a change in the national habits of extravagance is to be recorded. The increased cost of living is compelling more sparing use of the necessaries of life and industry. The incontrovertible truth of the axiom “Waste not; want not,” although it may sound rather trite, has been brought home to us. But the complete salvage of waste is probably impossible of realization so long as the kitchen stove and furnace remain. Fire is an excellent destructive agency, but is far too handy for the removal from sight, if not from memory, of the multitude of odds and ends incidental to our complex social and industrial existence. With the coming of the electric age, and the supersession of kitchen stoves and factory furnaces by cheap current, the facilities for the ready destruction of what is really valuable raw material under the guise of waste will be removed. In the interests of economy and wealth, both individual and national, it is to be hoped that the coming of the electric era may not be unduly delayed.

CHAPTER II
THE GERMAN CONQUEST OF WASTE

Waste creates wealth. If one desire a convincing illustration of the truth of this latter-day precept one has only to cross the North Sea. It is generally conceded that, at the dawn of the second decade of the twentieth century, the Teutonic Empire had the world at its feet so far as commerce is concerned. There is little reason to doubt but that Germany would have become the super-trading nation of the world within a few more years had not territorial ambition and the lust for military conquest have blinded Reason.

The pre-war wealth of the country, that is as it stood in 1914, is universally acknowledged. But what is not so generally appreciated is the circumstance that, to a very marked degree, this wealth was secured as a result of the scientific utilization of waste. In every ramification of industrial and social activity thrift, system, and organization were conspicuous. Circumstances were primarily responsible for the pursuance of such a policy. Germany is essentially an agricultural country. She was dependent upon outside sources of supply for many of the staple raw materials wherewith to keep her mills and factories going. Consequently she was compelled to rely for her existence upon the margin between buying and selling, and she naturally strove to render this difference as pronounced as possible by turning her purchases to the maximum advantage. Even in the exploitation of her natural resources this tendency was manifest, but little wastage being suffered.

The Germans went farther. From the experience amassed in the development of wealth from waste products they were quite prepared to buy residues from foreign competitors, to ship them to the Homeland, and there to work them up. The country was quite prepared to act as a marine store upon a big scale, because thereby it was able to acquire valuable potential raw materials for infinitesimal expense. The vending countries, as a rule, were quite ready to dispose of their waste at a trifling figure, and often more unfeignedly glad to be rid of what they considered to be a nuisance, comforting themselves with the thought that they had been able to drive good bargains from the sale of what was useless to themselves.

The Teuton buyers were equally satisfied. They generally succeeded in buying useful material at an absurdly low figure. Very often the heaviest item of expense in such transactions was the cost of freighting the waste to Germany, but here they were able to reap distinct advantages from preferential rates. However, such expenditure was speedily recouped because the articles contrived from the erstwhile rubbish commanded a ready sale and at attractive prices. It was by no means uncommon for the Germans to sell the commercial products wrought from the waste back to the very firms whence the last-named had been acquired, and at a considerably enhanced figure.

The strangest feature about these transactions was the keenness with which they were conducted. The countries concerned were far readier to resort to such commercial tactics than to bestir themselves to turn their wastes to similar account, although it must be admitted that the wily Teutons, recognizing the advantage they held, were disposed to invest their processes for translating refuse into commodities with distinct secrecy. They played a gigantic game of bluff and their temerity met with success. If the victims had only reflected they would have realized that such activity was quite possible to themselves; that such enterprise would have provided additional avenues for the employment of their own citizens, and would have contributed materially to their individual commercial wealth.

The Germans ransacked the world for wastes. For instance, who but the Teuton would have gone to stone-fruit packers on the other side of the world and have offered to purchase the stones which the preservers discarded and burned under the factory boilers to assist in raising steam? But the purchasing German firm was astute. The stones were sent home and the packers laughed at the idea of moving such refuse half-way round the world. The buyers suffered the taunts in silence. Upon reaching the German factories the fruit-stones were cracked and the nuts extracted. These were submitted to treatment to yield a wide range of oils, some of which were turned into essences and liqueurs. Then the Germans dispatched much of this reclaimed produce back to the territory where the stones were purchased, where it was bought with avidity, and at inordinately high prices. Little did the packers think that they were buying back their own refuse in another and useful form and were being compelled to pay heavily for the privilege!

The fibrous residue, remaining after the expression of the oil, was turned into cattle-food, much of which also was sold in foreign markets. The nut-shells were turned into carbon or charcoal, which, from its peculiar quality and high grade, was eminently adapted to laboratory and other uses. We were forced to realize that such shells possess distinct virtues, for did we not encourage one and all to save the stones from fruit to furnish the requisite absorbent material with which to equip the gas-masks served to our soldiers to combat the evils of the poison-gas used in the war! In this connection we were completely forestalled by the enemy. Undoubtedly he was encouraged to launch such a devilish weapon from his discovery of a complete antidote to such aggressive measures in the charcoal made from the spurned nut-shells accruing to the fruit-packing country on the other side of the globe.

Sawdust accumulates in Germany as it does in every country where working in wood is practised extensively. But there the waste is not turned into rivers or burned in destructors as in the United States and Canada. Nor is it dumped in unsightly heaps to rot slowly, used to bed-down stock, or distributed over the floors of butchers’ shops and public-houses as in these islands.

A firm conceived the idea of turning this residue to account in the fabrication of a special form of plastic floor-covering. It was mixed with magnesium chloride to form a cement to be applied somewhat after the manner of asphalt, the whole of the area thus being covered and finished off with suitable tools to yield a smooth, level, and attractive finish.

However, it was speedily discovered that this floor-covering suffered from one disability. Magnesium chloride is hygroscopic: it absorbs water, even moisture from the atmosphere, very readily. Consequently it became soft and damp in humid and wet weather. Otherwise it left nothing to be desired, being comfortable to the tread, silent, and warm.

The German is nothing if not thorough. He does not hesitate to harness science to the wheels of industry when the occasion so demands. He realized that to utilize sawdust as a floor-covering it would be necessary to follow strict scientific lines. Accordingly the chemist was called in. He, as a result of prolonged investigations and numerous tests, succeeded in overcoming the outstanding inherent defect of the sawdust paving, and at the same time emphasized that control of the proportions of sawdust and magnesium chloride was essential owing to the first-named varying so widely in its characteristics according to the nature of the wood from which it is derived. Consequently the manufacture of this floor-covering is now supervised by the chemist, and the hygroscopic difficulty has been effectively overcome. The material has achieved a distinct vogue, not only in Germany, but in other countries. It is extremely effective and is relatively inexpensive—the cost averages from 5 to 7 shillings ($1.25 to $1.75) per square yard—bearing in mind its durable and wearing qualities. Incidentally the country has found a highly profitable outlet for its accumulations of sawdust.

The world’s consumption of tin-plate has risen to enormous proportions, the extraordinary expansion of the tinned or canned food industry being responsible for this development. Thousands of tons of steel are absorbed in the manufacture of these containers, as well as hundreds of tons of tin and solder. Upon the removal of the contents the tins are generally thrown away, especially by the prodigal nations. This wastage became so flagrant as to arouse the severe condemnation of economists in every country, but these would-be apostles found it well-nigh hopeless to persuade their compatriots to endeavour to exploit the empty tins. Here and there spasmodic efforts were made upon a limited scale to recover the solder, tin, and steel-plate for further use, but the problem did not prove so easy of solution as it had appeared.

The bulk of the vessel constituted a formidable obstacle, while its susceptibility to the ravages of rust was also discovered to be a distinct drawback. In this country the general practice has beep to crush the tins flat and to feed them into the blast furnaces as scrap, but in this process the tin vanishes up the chimney, while the solder is also lost, though the steel-plate, which forms 99 per cent. of the composition of the vessel, becomes available as raw material. Nevertheless, although the quantity of tin used is trifling, representing only approximately one per cent., the Germans considered it to be quite worthy of recovery, especially when tin commanded from £150 to £200—$750 to $1,000—per ton.

The Teuton attacked the tin-recovery problem more energetically than his colleagues in other countries and apparently achieved success, although the degree of triumph recorded in this connection has always remained a matter for considerable speculation. Be that as it may the German interests concerned were quite prepared to purchase empty British tins and to ship them across the North Sea to be treated in their home plants. From this fact it is only logical to assume that they had found practical ways and means to consummate the desired end, otherwise they would scarcely have gone to the lengths of organizing a complete collecting system in these islands, and of incurring the freightage charges, although the waste was carried at a low figure. With the outbreak of war, and the rise in the price of tin to approximately £300 ($1,500) a ton, we were forced to inquire into the possibilities of recovering the tin and solder from this refuse, and by energetic action were able to equal, if not to surpass, German effort, so that to-day de-tinning may be said to represent an established British industry.

The fact that Germany was compelled to depend extensively upon outside sources for supplies of raw materials prompted the theory in many quarters that, once the British blockade was firmly established, surrender must follow quickly from economic pressure. But the enemy displayed his ability to hold out for a far longer period than we had anticipated. Why? Simply because the moment he saw himself isolated from his outside sources of supply he inaugurated a more rigid system for the compulsory collection, segregation and utilization of his domestic waste. We know to-day how sternly these orders were enforced, and how completely the country was covered by official organizations established to this end.

To ensure that nothing of industrial value should be lost a collecting centre was established in every village and hamlet, the local chief magistrate being vested with wide powers for the conduct of the work placed in his charge. It was his duty to see that everything and anything capable of further exploitation was retrieved. The inhabitants were notified by public placard that they must bring and surrender their accumulations of refuse to the collecting centre at specific intervals, according to the available machinery and the population of the village. The head of every family or household was held personally responsible for the preservation of anything capable of further use and residue incurred within his home. Any dereliction in this respect, or infraction of the official commands, was subject to punishment according to the nature of the offence.

The materials which were in greatest demand were duly set forth. They included such junk as old metal of every description, from useless cooking utensils to fragments of wire, worn-out tools, abandoned implements and nails recovered from packing cases: textile odds and ends no matter how old and threadbare from the heterogeneous contents of the rag-bag to discarded suits, dresses, hosiery, frills, ribbon, and hats: and kitchen waste in infinite variety. The metal was turned over to the munition plants, the textile waste to the woollen, paper, and other mills, while the organic waste was distributed throughout the countryside for feeding stock after the fats and greases had been extracted.

In the towns and cities similar organizations were created, only in these instances the regulations were somewhat more stringent. All and every kind of kitchen waste had to be surrendered daily. In the leading cities it was incumbent upon every householder to have his accumulation of refuse from the previous day ready for the arrival of the official collecting cart. As this passed through the street in which he resided he had to carry and discharge his consignment of refuse into the vehicle. In some instances, as in Berlin, this task involved early rising because the collecting duty had to be completed before 7 a.m.

In the towns and cities the waste was most rigorously controlled. It was criminal for the housewife or maid to permit the grease clinging to the plates and dishes from the table to escape down the sink. This fat had to be emptied into a special pail, and with the minimum of water. Terse instructions as to how this could be done to the satisfaction of the authorities were issued. It would seem as if the salvage of grease were carried to an absurdly fine degree, but in view of the prevailing circumstances the authorities were justified in compelling the recovery of such an apparently insignificant trifle as a dab or two of grease upon a dinner-plate, since it was found that the daily yield of fat from the average town was about 8,000 pounds. Truly the enemy may be said to have fully realized the truth that “many a mickle makes a muckle.”

But the inhabitants, though forced to gather all their fat with such scrupulous care and to surrender it to the authorities, were enabled to receive a certain proportion back again—by paying for it—in the form of soap. The fat was secured in order to extract its glycerine content for the production of explosives, a certain quantity being set on one side to be turned into a lubricating grease to keep the oil-starved mammoth machine plants of the country going. The residue remaining after the extraction of the glycerine was turned into soap.

Skins, rags, bones, feathers, hair, rubber-scrap and other articles too numerous to specify were collected by this machinery. All waste arising in the slaughter of animals for food was carefully gathered. Special factories were reserved for treating the carcases of animals which had succumbed from old age, accident, disease and other causes. A farmer was not even permitted to bury the corpse of a dog. The authorities alone were vested with the power to handle deceased animals. These were thrown into suitably designed vessels, sufficiently large in some instances to receive a horse intact, which were then hermetically sealed to prevent the escape of noisome gases. Cooking was pursued to secure the fats and other products arising from the destructive distillation of the dead animal. The gases which were thrown off during the process were carefully collected, condensed to shed any foreign particles which happened to be in suspension, and then fed to the furnaces to assist in raising the heat required for cooking. By the time the distillation process had been completed only a minute quantity of fibrous residue remained together with the solid particles of bones. This mass was ground up and converted into chemical manure.

The shortage of oil was most keenly felt because this affected every range of the industrial and domestic life. Perhaps we do not generally realize the fact that all machinery would be condemned to immobility were lubricating oil supplies to be cut off. But it was not only imperative to keep the war material factories, trains, trams, motor vehicles, electric generating stations and a host of other plants in operation. Fats were in demand for a more vital issue—the table. To meet the shortage of butter, vegetable or nut-oil and animal margarine, fats and greases were in urgent request.

To mitigate the deficiency in this direction as far as possible a further rigorous enactment was put into force. It was rendered a penal offence to throw away the kernels of plums, peaches, apricots, prunes, cherries and other stone fruits or even the pips of apples and pears. One and all had to be carefully husbanded and surrendered to the authorities at special collecting stations, which, for the most part, were established in schools and municipal buildings. Juvenile effort and enthusiasm were fired. The school children were urged to maintain an alert eye for such raw material and were also encouraged to gather acorns, horse-chestnuts, and beech-nuts. The yield of such residues must have been enormous in the aggregate. One city alone reported the production of over 300,000 pounds of oil during a single year from the various nuts collected within its jurisdiction.

In the exploitation of gaseous products the Germans have undoubtedly displayed remarkable initiative. They certainly pioneered the use of the gases arising from the manufacture of pig-iron. It was the practice to allow the gases from the blast-furnaces to escape into the atmosphere. Seeing that approximately 150,000 cubic feet of gas arise from the production of a ton of pig-iron, and bearing in mind the output of the ironworks, it will be seen that the wastage in this direction must have represented a formidable item during the twenty-four hours.

These waste gases were chemically investigated, and it was discovered that approximately one-fifth of the total volume thrown off consisted of carbon monoxide gas which has a very high heating value. Thereupon the Germans set to work to recover this gas, to clean it and to convert it into a fuel for driving suitably designed gas engines. Years of labour and study were devoted to the problem, which was discovered to be exceedingly abstruse. But the obstacles were overcome and the blast-furnace gas engine made its appearance. The perfection of this means of utilizing a waste product has revolutionized a certain phase of industry throughout the world. One of the first firms to adopt the new idea was the Krupp establishment, where the gas collected from eight blast-furnaces which hitherto had been allowed to escape into and mingle with the atmosphere was harnessed to drive fifteen big engines. The perfection of this achievement in waste utilization speedily became reflected throughout the country and was subsequently introduced into this country where vast strides in connection with its use have been made.

Much has been related concerning the development of the airship in Germany, but this has been due in no small measure to the fact that it afforded a profitable outlet for the utilization of a waste product—one absolutely vital to the airship. I refer to hydrogen. This gas is produced in enormous quantities at many German works, and, for a considerable period, had to be ignored because no industrial use for it was apparent. A certain quantity was absorbed in the synthetic production of precious stones—topaz, rubies, and sapphires—but this consumption was trifling. Its fellow, oxygen, remained a drug on the market for many years until the coming of the oxy-acetylene and oxy-hydrogen method of welding and cutting metals came into popular favour. Then the demand for oxygen expanded so rapidly as to compel the laying down of plants for the production of oxygen from water by electrolysis. But the increased output of oxygen released still larger quantities of hydrogen for which practically no market obtained.

Consequently the endeavours of Zeppelin and his contemporaries received every encouragement. With the conquest of the air by the dirigible all anxiety concerning the profitable use of hydrogen disappeared. At one large factory, producing this gas in huge volumes, a special plant capable of filling the largest Zeppelin craft was laid down. The low figure at which hydrogen was obtainable was responsible in no small measure for the popularity of ballooning in Germany in days previous to the coming of the airship. The use of coal-gas for this purpose was discouraged: it was far more valuable for fuel applications, whereas the hydrogen was not only a superior lifting agent but deserved employment because it offered a remunerative outlet for a waste, and would assist in the expansion of other industries depending upon supplies of cheap oxygen.

To encourage the aeronautical use of hydrogen the firm in question embarked upon another branch of trading. It assumed the manufacture of cylinders or steel bottles for the storage of the gas under pressure—up to 200 atmospheres. Batteries of these bottles were maintained in a charged condition ready for instant dispatch to any part of the country in reply to a telegraphic or telephonic order. The airship pioneers in Germany were never in a quandary concerning the acquisition of the indispensable gas, nor were they faced with the obligation to lay down their own plants for its supply to meet their individual needs. Hydrogen was obtainable in any desired quantity at the end of a wire, and could be purchased as readily as a truck-load of coal from a colliery, while it was also available at an attractive price.

To deal fully with the German conquest of waste would prove wearisome. Enterprise and initiative are apparent in every direction from the use of recovered solder for the production of toy soldiers to the wholesale stripping of motor-cars and cheap clocks for their integral parts. Little wonder therefore that the Germans built up a wealthy national fabric. But probably the most striking evidence of the truth of the assertion that waste creates wealth is extended by the coal dye-stuffs industry. Sixty years ago the tar arising from the distillation of coal was as anathema to the engineers concerned, as I have previously related. Its disposal offered a pretty problem. It was difficult to burn, could not be turned into streams or the drains, and could not be allowed to dissipate itself into the ground. Any one who was prepared to fetch it could take it away with the engineer’s most profound blessings. It was waste in its most compelling form.

Then came Perkin with his discovery of mauve from the much-maligned tar. Immediately the former anathema of the gas-works became invested with a new and indefinable significance. But so far as Britain was concerned little progress was to be recorded. Perkin struggled valiantly to establish a new industry in this country, only to suffer discouragement and ham-stringing obstruction for his ingenuity and enterprise. The Germans appropriated the discovery and prosecuted researches and experiments so vigorously and whole-heartedly as to build up one of the biggest monopolies known to industrial effort.

It was not until the declaration of war that the world recognized the extent of the tribute it had been prepared to pay annually to the Teuton in this one field of trading. The sudden interruption of supplies of colouring agents derived from coal-tar, and made in the huge factories fringing the Rhine, Main and Spree, threatened a whole host of trades from China to Peru. The competitive nations were forced to turn their attention to the mastery of an industry which hitherto they had virtually neglected in order to keep their industries alive, only to discover that they had much to learn. In the United States thousands suffered want and distress from unemployment just because the stocks of dyes had run out and their domestic dye-manufacturing plants were unable to rise to the occasion with sufficient promptitude. Antiseptics were difficult to procure, especially those which had achieved such a wide measure of popular favour during recent years, because they were of German origin and were no longer forthcoming. Amateur photographers were compelled to pack away their cameras and to forgo the pursuance of their hobby until such time as the essential chemicals once more became procurable and cheaper, while doctors were forced to polish up long-forgotten or rusty knowledge concerning the herbaceous drugs which had been displaced by those derived from coal-tar.

A few figures will serve to drive home the stranglehold which the Germans had secured upon the trade of the world from the scientific exploitation of a waste product. For 5,000 years India supplied the world with indigo which was of vegetable origin. Apparently it held an unassailable commercial position and was held in particularly high esteem by Japan and China. Bauer, the German chemist, resolved to solve the indigo riddle and at once set out to make it from coal-tar. It proved a difficult quest occupying many years and involving thousands of experiments. But perseverance brought its due reward although success was not recorded until a round £1,000,000 had been spent. Then, before it had become established upon the market, it suffered eclipse by an improved process which had also been perfected by a German.

Within five years of its appearance upon the market synthetic indigo had driven its natural rival from India virtually into oblivion. The coal-tar competitor even established a firm foothold in the land where the vegetable article had held sway for so many thousand years. Throughout China and Japan a similar story was related. Indian indigo was no longer required. It was beaten hopelessly in price, the factor which counts in commercial circles, by the synthetic German article. Of the artificial colouring materials imported by China German indigo claimed two-thirds. A seventh of the artificial dyes imported by Japan was German indigo, while one-tenth of the dye-stuffs imported from Germany into the United States was artificial indigo.

As a result of less than fifty years’ ceaseless endeavour Germany built up an industry specializing in the manufacture of tinctorial matters derived from coal-tar, capitalized at £50,000,000—$250,000,000—and had a list of 2,000 different colours of a synthetic character which she could supply, one thousand of which were in steady daily demand. We talk about the restoration of the British coal-tar dye-stuffs industry. The Americans voice a similar story. It is glib. How far have we got? As a result of five years’ hard work in Britain we are in the position to market about 300 of the 2,000 dye-stuffs which Germany has in her trade catalogue, while America can point to a list of about 200. True, these represent many of the colours which are in heaviest request, but it will be seen that we have a very long way to go yet before we can claim to have wrested the industry from Germany, while in comparison with the £50,000,000—$250,000,000—of capital invested in the Teuton industry, the £5,000,000—$25,000,000—sunk in the British enterprise appears paltry.

To indicate how industriously and comprehensively the German houses have probed this particular waste utilization problem it may be mentioned that one of the leading houses in the industry has taken out approximately 6,500 patents to protect its activities, while it turns out a round 2,000 different products all made from coal-tar. The manufacture of the synthetic drugs—aspirin, veronal, sulphonal, phenacetin—and a host of others runs into stupendous figures. That concerning antiseptic preparations as well as the production of chemicals incidental to photography and the leather trades is equally imposing. It is estimated that the total capital sunk in German enterprises identified with the exploitation of coal-tar ranges between £140,000,000 and £160,000,000—$700,000,000 to $800,000,000. The return is exceedingly attractive, exceeding £80,000,000—$400,000,000—per annum in value.

To the British nation the magnitude and prosperity of this huge traffic in coal-tar derivatives with its enormous wealth is particularly galling. Had we displayed a more sympathetic attitude towards the discovery of Perkin and his endeavours, and had we displayed similar initiative, energy and enterprise the monopoly which became Germany’s might have been ours. But we disdained to exploit a waste. We left it to a persevering rival, and became content to pay him tribute for the utilization of a fundamental British discovery and incidentally to charge his coffers with the sinews of war. Had we kept the potential treasure-house of coal-tar to ourselves the history of the world might have been written very differently. It was the wealth accruing from the coal-tar dye-stuffs industry which enabled Germany to play a far bigger part than may be generally conceived in the development of her other industries, especially that pertaining to the chemical trade, the dye-works constituting the nursery where Germany raised her battalions of chemists.

It must not be inferred from what I have narrated that the German has a peculiar prerogative in the mastery of waste products: far from it. In certain ranges of industry we have eclipsed the Teuton and have paddled our own canoe so far as blazing the trail of industrial economy is concerned. Nor is the Teuton temperamentally better adapted to the scientific exploitation of refuse. For the most part he has been compelled to investigate these divers potential raw materials to maintain his industrial existence. Moreover, as may be readily conceived from what I have related, the issue has been forced upon him by repressive official machinery and legislative measures. Discipline in this as in many other fields has fulfilled its purpose. Certainly it has reduced every German scrap-heap and dump into a Tom Tiddler’s ground and the application of its contents into a semi-automatic operation, or at least into part of the intricate routine of industry. It is to be hoped that we have not allowed the lesson thus taught to be lost. By now we should have learned, and digested thoroughly, the truth of the precept that waste creates wealth—and commercial power.

CHAPTER III
SALVAGE FROM THE ARMY SWILL-TUB

Waste is one of the concomitant evils of a high civilization. Undoubtedly it is incidental to the primitive as well, but to a lesser degree. In this instance, however, the waste incurred does not represent a complete loss, because upon being discarded it decomposes, and thus continues the cycle of Nature.

Under conditions of advanced civilization, where a blind worship of Hygiene rules, residues of an organic character, from their very ready susceptibility to decomposition, are construed into a menace of health, although, as a matter of fact, the danger in this connection is more imaginary than real. Such refuse invariably suffers destruction by fire or by some other so-called sanitary method involving either the total or almost complete loss of valuable materials. We satisfy our consciences, however, by reflecting that the pursuance of such drastic methods satisfies the faith of hygiene, although the community suffers very pronouncedly in pocket in the long run.

It is only when pressure becomes exerted by some stupendous cataclysm, such as war, bringing in its train the peril of a bare sufficiency of foodstuffs, which in turn provokes high prices, that it becomes possible to combat the ignorance born of erroneous enlightenment in regard to matters hygienic. Under such conditions the gospel of retrenchment and reform may be preached with greater promise of accomplishing success. But the community, considered as a whole, even in time of adversity, is slow to depart from accepted practice. Precious time is lost in the application of the precept of making one pound go as far as did two pounds under more congenial conditions.

It is a matter for extreme satisfaction, if not one of agreeable surprise, to learn that, so far as Britain is concerned, it was the army which blazed the trail of economy, particularly in regard to foodstuffs. This certainly sounds amazing, because the Military Service has ever been regarded as the national sink both for finance and kind. Nevertheless, no matter how guilty of squandering it may have been during the opening months of the war, the sins of omission were subsequently rectified, to present a striking object-lesson to the civilian section of the community in regard to the scientific utilization of what the soldier was unable to consume, and its ultimate presentation to commerce in a variety of forms for the manufacture of other products of an indispensable character, or foodstuffs. By the practice of rigid economy along these lines, and without pinching or squeezing the food allowances to the soldier in the slightest degree, millions sterling a year were, and still are being, saved to the tax-payer.

When signs of coming food stringency for the civilian element of the nation became manifest, as a result of the relentless submarine campaign inaugurated by the Germans, combined with the necessity to concentrate shipping upon forwarding supplies to the fighting forces, the moment was considered to be propitious for putting into operation a scheme of retrenchment and reform. It had already been prepared, and was merely awaiting application. The only question demanding care was the introduction of the proposal in such a manner as not to impair the soldier’s physique and health.

During the opening days of the war, when the authorities were faced with the absorbing problem of enrolling men, food wastage assumed enormous proportions. Severe criticisms were levelled against the military authorities, and doubtless the strictures were more or less deserved. But extravagance under the conditions which prevailed was inevitable. By a stroke of the pen the effective strength of the British Army was increased from 180,000 to over a million men. Lord Kitchener’s call proved so irresistible as to persuade men to enlist in far more imposing masses than had ever been anticipated. The ranks were swelled by recruits from all stations of life, and their tastes were as diverse as were the positions they had previously held in the complex social scale. The transition from civilian to military life was too sudden. The men naturally clamoured for subsistence more or less in consonance with what they had been for so long accustomed in private life. If the food did not coincide with their fancies it was promptly thrown away.

The difficulty of the situation was further aggravated from the circumstance that many men who were promoted to commissioned rank were generally deficient of all knowledge pertaining to the commissariat. Consequently it is not surprising to find that the elaboration of an economic reform from the victualling chaos which prevailed proved a stupendous task.

In pre-war days the disposal of the waste from the soldier’s table constituted a relatively simple task. All residue went into what is known as the “swill-tub.” This convenient receptacle did not completely represent the military equivalent of its civilian counterpart, nor were the contents on a level with the combined solid and liquid odds and ends of an organic nature from the table of the ordinary individual. The military swill-tub was regarded rather as a handy vessel for the receipt of anything and everything which was no longer required, or which did not present any further apparent use to the soldier.

The system of disposal was likewise adapted to the prevailing circumstances. The 180,000 troops forming the standing army at home were distributed throughout the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, and thus became resolved into scattered military colonies, not one of which was of pronounced numerical strength. Consequently a centralized scheme for dealing with the waste could scarcely be introduced with any likelihood of proving profitable or successful in working. Local circumstances governed the issue very materially. The disposal of the garbage was vested in the local commanding officer, while the proceeds from the sale of the swill to farmers and others went into the regimental funds.

Notwithstanding this ostensibly haphazard arrangement it must not be supposed that the farmer was able to secure the spoil from the local garrison for a ridiculous figure. The erstwhile army officer has often been assailed for his apparent lack of business acumen, but, in so far as the disposal of this swill was concerned, he often proved a hard bargainer as many farmers and swill-buyers will readily concede. The higher the figure the officer was able to realize over the transaction the more enhanced was the sum with which he could swell the regimental coffers. It was only in those instances where disposal was attended with difficulty, or where accumulation of the garbage would have constituted a distinct menace to the health of the troops, that low prices obtained.

This method had to hold sway during the initial rush to the colours. But the moment the opportunity opened for an attack upon this problem as a whole it was accepted. A new inspection department was created by the Quarter-Master-General which became known as the Quarter-Master-General’s Services, accompanied by the appointment of a chief inspector who was charged with the control of the whole question of messing and the profitable exploitation of the residues accruing from the feeding of the troops. This department appointed competent inspectors to conduct the work in hand to a successful issue, while the catering issue became centralized under an Inspector of Army Catering.

The combined scheme of centralization and decentralization brought the Chief Inspector into intimate touch with the problem in all its varied phases, and the messing of the army as a whole was now placed upon a solid foundation. The inspectors attached to the Home Commands distributed throughout the United Kingdom drew up exhaustive reports upon the issue as it affected their respective centres. From the subsequent digestion of these reports it was found possible to adjust the supply of food to the soldier’s actual requirements and to effect the first reduction in his rations.

The original issue comprised 1 lb. of bread and ³⁄₄ lb. of meat per man per day, because, in accordance with the long-established peace-time procedure of the army, which was continued after the outbreak of war, the national upkeep of the fighting man involved the supply of only these two staples. Whatever else the soldier fancied he had to purchase for himself, in which direction he was assisted by his messing allowance of 7¹⁄₂d. (15 cents) per day. When the matter was investigated it was learned that this issue was in excess of the average man’s actual needs. Nevertheless the full ration of meat was generally cooked, the soldier consuming as much as he desired, while what he left over was relegated to the swill-tub. It was the same with the bread, the residue likewise being discarded to this convenient receptacle. Consequently the first move was to adapt the rations to the soldier’s consuming powers.

It was also discovered that considerable waste arose from the indifferent manner in which the meat was prepared and cooked. The tastes of the men, especially of the recruits to the New Armies, varied very widely according to the social scales from which they had been drawn. But while the men from the higher ranks of life were not fastidious they did at least demand the skilful and appetizing presentation of their food. If the meat were indifferently cooked it was simply left untouched to find its way to the swill-tub.

Accordingly, it was decided to improve the military cuisine forthwith. The kitchen service was severely overhauled, only the most competent and expert cooks being retained in this service. In pre-war days the army maintained only one Cookery School—at Aldershot—from which all military cooks graduated. But as the armies grew in millions this solitary university proved hopelessly inadequate. Accordingly, cookery schools were established in each command while a totally new curriculum was introduced.

The cookery school became the “key” to the whole situation. It not only became the nursery where the autocrats of the field-kitchen were raised, but it was the hive in which many little wrinkles were learned, where new ideas were submitted to initial test and practice, to be adopted throughout the armies if they established their value, and where economies were subjected to exacting trial for widespread application upon issuing unscathed from the ordeals to which they were imposed. The improvement in the personnel, training, and methods of the men in charge of the field hotels proved successful in another direction. Higher efficiency and contentment among the troops were recorded, for the simple reason that a satisfied, well-fed soldier provides the finest fighting material.

With improvements in cookery the contents of the swill-tub commenced to dwindle in volume. Less food was wasted while the residue from the table similarly decreased. As this development was pursued it was ultimately found possible to reduce the rations of bread and meat still further without provoking the slightest discontent. A third reduction in the rations took place in 1917 to the extent of an additional two ounces of bread, except in the case of soldiers under nineteen years of age, and a quarter of an ounce of salt per man per day. The cumulative results of these economies represented a direct saving annual of £4,000,000—$20,000,000—in cash to the nation in respect of the soldiers’ rations. In other words, the huge armies of 1918 consumed less food to the value of four millions sterling than was the case two years previously, and this satisfactory end was achieved without stinting a man. Such a remarkable result was primarily due to the improved method of preparing and serving the food. During the war more than 50,000 men were passed through the cookery schools attached to the Home Commands. The effect of such imposing economies proved of distinct benefit to the community, because the reduced supplies to the Army released so much more bread and meat to the non-combatant element of the country.

The serving of meals, at least so far as the Home units were concerned, was also completely transformed. Instead of the men being compelled to indulge in a wild scramble with their messing-tins for their meat supplies, the latter was cut up in the cook-house and assigned to dishes for the table. Each man thus became assured of his allotted ration. But in the event of the allocation exceeding what the soldier desired, as for instance when he was a trifle off his feed, instead of being compelled to take his ration willy-nilly, eating as much as he fancied and leaving the balance on his plate to swell the swill-tub, he was instructed not to help himself to more than he felt he could attack. If, after settling down to his meal, he found his appetite to return unexpectedly, he was free, after the manner of Oliver Twist, to ask for more, with this difference—he was sure to receive it.

Although under this régime the cooks were given less raw material with which to carry out their appointed tasks, yet it was found possible to induce the lesser quantity to go farther than the larger allotment had ever gone before. Other economies resulting from the observance of more scientific culinary methods were also recorded. The introduction of women into the kitchen was tried. This experiment, doubtless owing to the fact that this represented a woman’s true sphere and from her inherent tendency to be careful, efficient, and thorough in every detail concerning the preparation of meals, proved a conspicuous success.

Now, no matter how persistently and effectively the lessons of economy may be preached in the kitchen and at the table as much in the home as in the army, and notwithstanding the infinitesimal degree to which the proportion of spoiled food may be reduced by the introduction of superior methods and skill, a certain amount of waste is unavoidable. It cannot be overcome in its entirety. Tastes differ so widely that odds and ends are certain to be left untouched upon the plate, while a certain accumulation of gristle, bone, fat and other inedible portions must be expected.

The residue upon the individual plate may be so insignificant as to render a second thought concerning its probable value superfluous. But, multiply that individual plate and its contribution of waste by the tens of thousands of plates in use at one time, as in the army, and it will be realized that, in the aggregate, the fragments assume a very imposing volume. Furthermore, in the kitchen where the joints are cut up, the accumulation of pieces is striking. Lastly, in washing up the plates, dishes and other utensils what an avenue is offered for the escape of immense quantities of fat through the sink gully? I have already indicated in a previous chapter what wealth may be lost in this manner, and how it only needs adequate reclamation methods to enable such loss to be avoided.

Accordingly, contemporaneously with the reorganization of the catering and cooking issues, the exploitation of the now appreciably attenuated swill-tub contents was investigated. This residue was still being sold to the farmers, but they were not regarding their purchases with unalloyed delight. Contrary to general opinion, perhaps, raw swill does not constitute an ideal foodstuff for porkers. As a rule it is too rich in fat and so tends to exercise a debilitating and impoverishing effect upon the animals, being a frequent cause of scour.

About this time a grave problem asserted itself in another field of military activity. The Ministry of Munitions had decided to speed-up the output of explosives, but such acceleration was threatened by a shortage of the indispensable constituent, glycerine. It was not a question of the facilities for the production of this essential being insufficient to cope with the demand because ample plant was available. The difficulty was the dearth of animal fat which yields the basic material in question. Soap manufacturers were also being hard-pressed for similar fats to conduct their operations. As a result of the depressing outlook the price of glycerine commenced to advance upon the market at a disconcerting rate.

The military authorities, cognizant of the huge quantities of animal fat reclaimable from the swill-tubs throughout the service, recognized the opportunity to ease the crisis to an appreciable degree. The segregation, collection, and surrender of this potential raw material to the industry concerned were merely matters of organization. It was promptly realized that if the issue were left for adjustment to the interests generally identified with such enterprises, and in which the itinerant rag-and-bone merchant and marine store dealer figure prominently, confusion would ensue, conducing to further disturbance of prices.

To achieve the desired efficiency the authorities invited the trade, comprising the soap-makers and the bone degreasers, to discuss the question. The authorities succinctly narrated what they could do towards the solution of the problem. The trade was agreeably surprised by the facts and figures which were set before them, and was quick to appreciate that here indeed was a new and unexpectedly rich mine of raw material to be advantageously tapped. The Ministry of Munitions, also represented at the conference, announced its preparedness to extend a willing hand. It would take over all the glycerine derived from fats procured from military sources at a fixed price. This was mutually settled at £59 10s.—$297.50—per ton, and it was agreed that the figure should remain relatively firm irrespective of market fluctuations. It must be conceded that the Ministry drove an astute bargain, because at the time glycerine was commanding £300—$1,500—per ton upon the open market, which sum the country would have been compelled to pay had the military sources of supply not been available.

The trade acquiesced and formed a committee including officers nominated by the War Office to complete all negotiations and transactions. Private buyers were nominated to cover the whole country and a flat rate for the purchase of all fats from military sources was decided. By this simple arrangement every unit throughout these islands, no matter how remote its situation, was assured of a definite market for its fats and bones. Moreover, these units were given strict instructions to sell their produce only to the trade representative at the price decided, notwithstanding that other would-be buyers might proffer a higher quotation.

So far as the army was concerned the remunerative market for all waste in the form of fats and bones being established, it now became necessary to whip up the contributions of these residues to the uttermost ounce. A whirl-wind campaign was conducted throughout the whole of the Home Commands to demonstrate how this end might be consummated. Officers of the department concerned visited the various camps. It was calmly but firmly impressed upon the local responsible officers that they must resort to every artifice to trap fats and bones during their devious journeys, so that nothing might escape. There were heart-to-heart chats with the cooks, who, their imagination fired and enthusiasm kindled, promised to leave no stone unturned to satisfy the authorities in this direction.

Only one danger was to be apprehended as a result of this campaign of enlightenment. In their zest to save the fat the autocrats of the kitchens and others might unconsciously deprive the soldier of his proportion of this food so essential to the maintenance of a high standard of health. Accordingly, while one and all were urged to keep a tight grip upon the waste, they were instructed to allow the fighting man to eat just as much fat as he fancied: indeed his consumption of the highly nutritive dripping was to be specifically encouraged because, in this manner, it would become possible to release increased quantities of butter and margarine to the civil population. Holding the scales evenly between the soldier and the cook-house on the one hand, and between the troops and the civilians on the other, proved to be one of the most intricate and delicate problems associated with this waste-saving campaign.

To secure the fullest co-operation of the cooks the Army Council agreed to the extension of a specially attractive inducement. An extra daily financial allowance was sanctioned on the basis of the more fat the cooks saved and turned over to the making of munitions the better they would be off in pocket. This allocation, however, was not to become a charge upon the public purse. It was insisted that it should be defrayed from the sum realized by a unit in the disposal of its waste fats and bones, while the balance was to be devoted wholly to the provision of kitchen utensils and other amenities. The units alone were to benefit from the practise of economy and obviation of all waste.

The consummation of this arrangement led to one or two amusing sequels which, it is to be feared, had scarcely been anticipated. Naturally every camp became uncannily keen to derive the utmost profit from this phase of permissible trading, and a certain rivalry developed between the various units to score top marks.

There was one camp, composed of men drawn from units scattered all over the country, undergoing musketry training. The men became affected with the “save your bones” craze to an acute degree. As a result of his periodical investigation the commanding officer suddenly discovered that he was getting all the fat he wanted. But the bones! That was a different story: the yield was by no means what it should have been. The startling discrepancy prompted inquiry, and the officer found that the soldiers were more fully alive to the real significance of the swill-tub than he had imagined. But they were more loyal to their own units than to the musketry camp to which their attachment was only temporary. They were waging a quiet campaign among themselves, collecting all the bones upon which they could place their hands, and determined that their colleagues should derive all the benefits accruing from the sale of this waste were posting their bone-hauls back to their own units!

Another instance of similar zeal was even more humorous. A certain Imperial unit was camped next door to some troops from Overseas. The “save-your-fat-and-bones” scheme was carefully explained to the latter, but having come from a land where meat was plentiful they failed to see the object of being so vigilant and miserly in regard to the residue in question. The authorities, realizing the situation, refrained from further pursuit of their proposal, being content to allow what they had already expressed to sink into the minds of the soldiers, confident that, upon reflection, the Overseas unit would appreciate the wisdom of the official recommendation.

The expected happened. The men from Yonder Britain in the end did conclude that there was something in this waste-saving stunt, and that they might profit from following the general practice. They commenced to indulge in bone-collecting and hoarding with rare gusto. No school-boy ever collected postage-stamps more keenly than did those fighting men from Farther Britain save bones and fat.

This outburst of zealous economy delighted the authorities. They saw the yields from the camp of the Overseas fighting men rising by leaps and bounds. But there was a decrease in the bone-yield from the Home unit next door! The supply officer, feeling that something must be amiss, and that possibly the Overseas troops were receiving an inordinate quantity of bone in the issue to stimulate collecting, dived into the mystery. It did not prove to be a very baffling quest. The Overseas unit was able to show a high yield of bones because it was indulging in surreptitious nocturnal raids, at opportune moments, upon the bone-stocks of its neighbours!

As the scheme was brought into wider and wider application it was found that the exploitation of the actual swill-tub might be conducted to still greater advantage. Hitherto the task had been the redemption of the bones and waste fat before it reached the actual garbage barrel. But to turn the actual contents of the swill-tub properly so-called to economic account it was seen that certain plant would have to be installed, although investigation revealed that such appliances need neither be elaborate nor expensive. The suggestion was thoroughly ventilated, and as a result it was decided to approach the authorities with a proposal which was decidedly novel and which was certainly unprecedented.

Convincing facts and figures were obtained to indicate what the probable yield from this latest endeavour to turn military waste to profitable account would be. These estimates took into consideration the expenditure incurred by the acquisition and operation of the plant adopted. The proposed outlay was not heavy, but it was felt by those who had elaborated this latest scheme that to request the authorities to incorporate it as part and parcel of existing military routine would defeat the primary principle underlying the idea. It was felt that, if the enterprise could be rendered profitable under military conditions, it might lead to its practical application by the civil community. The impression obtained that the few thousand pounds capital expenditure which would have to be incurred, together with the revenue, would be lost among the maze of millions sterling incidental to current military expenditure, even if it did not suffer actual inclusion, from its comparative triviality, among “sundry expenses.” In this event all the lessons to be derived therefrom would be lost. On the other hand if the enterprise could be kept separate and could be conducted, as desired, along accepted commercial lines, success would impress the civilian, and might assist in persuading the municipal and other authorities to do likewise with the similar raw materials available in plenty from domestic sources of supply.

Thereupon it was suggested that the War Office should sanction the formation of a limited liability company to handle this latest exploitation of the actual swill along orthodox business lines. To allay any suspicions of private interests profiteering at the expense of the tax-payer it was recommended that the whole of the capital should be subscribed, and held, by the authorities, who should also be invested with the power to appoint the directors, and who should hold office at the pleasure of the War Office.

The novelty of the proposal was conceded, but the promoters were so sanguine of achieving success that the requisite sanction was extended. Thereupon a company was duly registered at Somerset House in due compliance with the law, with its articles of association complete in every respect, under the title “Army Waste Products, Limited,” with a nominal capital of 7s. ($1.75)! That company proved an overwhelming successful venture from the country’s point of view. Its results conclusively demonstrated the fact that there are literally millions in waste.

Small plants were established in military camps in several parts of the country, and subsequently the system was extended to the army in France, while the American Expeditionary Force, impressed with its achievements, embraced the scheme and the plants employed. Operations were not confined to the treatment of the despised contents of the swill-tub, but also to the recovery of waste gravy and fats from the plates, the reclamation of breadcrumbs from the table, sweepings from the bakery and stores, and of odd crusts which heretofore had found no application other than as food for the wild birds, as well as the treatment of bones before they were handed over to the degreasers.

A policy of rigid commercialism was introduced and sedulously followed. The contents of the swill-tubs, as well as all other waste described above, were purchased, the prevailing prices being paid so that other commercial concerns were denied the opportunity of preferring the charge of unfair trading. Items of rental, wages, as well as maintenance, depreciation and capitalization charges were also taken fully into account, while the resultant products were also sold at market prices, which, as subsequent results revealed, left an ample margin of profit.

The plant employed, as well as the procedure followed in reclaiming and working the wastes up into raw material for industrial uses, possesses many interesting features, and are fully described in the next chapter.

CHAPTER IV
THE RECLAMATION OF MILITARY ORGANIC WASTE

In deciding the type of plant suited to the recovery of military organic waste regard was specially devoted to two governing principles. The one was the standardization of plant, so far as was practicable, to facilitate duplication and installation of the machinery in the various camps. The second was the selection of such plant as could be installed readily and cheaply in an improvised building, and which, if the conditions warranted, would enable a standard type of cheap and simple building to be adopted.

So far as the initial plants were concerned dependence had to be placed upon existing structures, otherwise delay in putting the scheme into practical application would have been inevitable, owing to the difficulty attending the acquisition of constructional material. But the installation of the plants in extemporized buildings sufficed to establish the applicability of the idea to any type of building of adequate dimensions, and in such a manner as to impose only the minimum of structural alterations to secure the requisite efficiency. This adaptability is an outstanding feature, because it indicates how the recovery of organic waste may be attacked along the most economical yet comprehensive lines, and with the minimum of capital expenditure and its concomitant amortization charges.

Two types of plant were adopted, both being standardized. One coincided with what might be described as the central or permanent waste-recovery station, while the second presented all the necessary elements of portability with the added advantages of inexpensive dismantling, removal, and expeditious reassembling at another point according to exigencies. But the processes are common to both types.

In the case of the permanent mill which I visited structural alterations had been reduced to the absolute minimum, the most conspicuous outlay being the provision of a simple form of elevator to lift the swill to a level above the plant to permit of gravity feed. The total cost of this station, including the installation of the necessary machinery, which included a steam-boiler, bone-crusher, small engine, melter, centrifugal or turbine fat extractor, and settling tanks, with one or two further accessories, was only £2,500—$12,500.

The swill is brought to the mill by motor-lorry. Operations are commenced at an early hour, because health considerations demand that waste of this character shall be handled with all possible promptitude in a big camp. The clearance is carried out daily and is complete, including all garbage, bones and other profit-yielding organic residue from the cook-house. Segregation is conducted as far as practicable at the source, special sanitary vessels for distinctive residues being provided. The mill continues working throughout the day until the whole of the morning’s collection has been duly treated. No accumulation or carrying-over of some of one day’s swill to the next day is permitted. Swill is susceptible to speedy fermentation, especially during hot and sultry weather, and so would become noisome within a very short period, as well as developing into an ideal breeding-ground for flies and other pests.

The contents of the collecting lorries are distinctly heterogeneous, the vehicles being laden with swill, bones, empty tins, jam and pickle jars, bottles—in short, anything possessing an element of salvage value. In segregating the waste at the cook-house special stress is laid upon the necessity to keep all green vegetable matter, such as outer leaves, stumps and other inedible trimmings, distinct from the general swill for the reason explained later.

The swill is transferred by the elevator to the upper level, where it is dumped into a capacious sink to drain. The proportion of free liquid is not pronounced, the swill being rather in the nature of a slush, whatever fat there may be present, apart from the solid pieces, being either congealed in flakes and globules, either free or clinging to the more stable substance. The superfluous water having run off the residue is permitted to fall through a trap into a hopper feeding the capacious cooker or melter. Where the height of the building does not permit the provision of an elevated draining sink the swill, dumped at ground-level, is shovelled into the melter.

The melter is a cylindrical vessel or drum fitted with a steam jacket, the steam circulating at a pressure of about 80 lb. per square inch through the annular space between the inner and outer jackets. The capacity of the vessel is approximately 1,700 pounds, and the contents are kept agitated during the process by paddles mounted upon a revolving shaft forming the longitudinal axis of the drum.

The cooking process drives off all remaining moisture in the form of steam, and, at the same time, liberates whatever fat may be present by melting and rendering it fluid. It gravitates to the bottom of the cylinder to make its escape through a suitable vent and pipe into the settling tank. The last-named is also steam-heated by a coiled pipe system which not only sterilizes but clarifies the reclaimed fat, which is then permitted to cool and to solidify.

The swill remains in the drum for 70 to 90 minutes. By the end of this period the contents have been practically cooked, while all free fat has effected its escape. It will be observed that the steam does not come into contact with the contents, but is confined to circulation between the jackets. When withdrawn from the melter the swill resembles a stiff slush. This is transferred to a canvas bag to be dropped into a wire cage forming the inner vessel of the second machine, which is a vertical turbine extractor. The vessel when charged is closed by clamping down the lid.

Steam is turned on and the second stage of the fat reclamation process proceeds. Beneath the wire cage a series of steam jets are radially disposed in such a manner as to allow the steam to impinge upon the cage at an angle. The cage itself is supported freely upon a suitable vertical shaft and so, under the impetus imparted by the steam issuing from the jets, naturally revolves. By varying the volume and pressure of the steam the revolving speed of the cage may be varied within wide limits. Consequently it is possible to give the cage a very high rotary velocity.

The steam, after performing its mission towards rotating the cage, is induced to ascend in such a manner as to permeate the contents of the canvas bag imprisoned within the wire cage. All fatty matter still associated with the organic material, owing to the high temperature of the steam, becomes still more fluid. Under the centrifugal action set up by the high rotary speed of the cage this fat becomes separated from the solids to be expressed through the pores of the canvas container and also the perforations of the outer cage, and to be flung against the inner wall of the extractor. The extreme fluidity of the very hot grease facilitates and expedites this separation, the expelled fat finally dropping to the bottom of the vessel to make its escape through suitable drain holes to pass into the settling tanks previously mentioned.

Under the whirling action of the turbine quite 91 per cent. of the fatty content of the mash is extracted and recovered. The treatment in the turbine extractor is continued until the flow of grease to the settling tanks is observed to cease, when steam is shut off and the extractor is emptied. The mash, somewhat resembling peat in consistency and of a rich chocolate colour, cooked through and through, is spread upon the floor to cool. Unless one has followed the cycle of operations one would never associate this odourless, clean, dry and sterilized product with the repulsive looking slush from the swill-tubs which had entered the mill barely two hours previously.

This residue constitutes an ideal pig-food. It is rich in the essentials for building up the frame and flesh of the porker, and as may be supposed finds a ready sale. It appeals to the farmer because it is clean to handle, is easier to transport than the conventional swill, because it can be bagged, while it possesses excellent keeping qualities. In effect it is a concentrated food, and accordingly can be broken down by blending with ordinary swill to increase the calories of the latter as they affect the pig, or it may be used instead of pig-meal, for which it is an excellent substitute.

Finally, it meets with the farmer’s favour because its fat content, being only about 9 per cent., coincides more closely with the animal’s dietetic requirements. It is not surprising, in these circumstances, that the farmer should be eager to procure as much of this sterilized food as he can obtain at a fair price. Certainly the authorities experience no difficulty in regard to its disposal at a remunerative figure.

The bones, upon reaching the mill, are dumped apart. They represent waste from the cook-house stripped as cleanly of meat and fat as a sharp knife in dexterous practised hands will allow. Their gravy-yielding and other nutritious constituents have been extracted from prolonged sojourn in the stock-pots. When they reach the swill-mill they appear to be as capable of rendering any further contribution to the general scheme as those bones which have passed through the hands of a frugal housewife. They have reached the stage when such refuse is either thrown into the kitchen fire, dust-bin, or handed over to the peripatetic rag-and-bone monger.

Yet they still possess distinct fat value, but it can only be wrung out by drastic effort. The bones are first passed through a crusher to be reduced to small size. At times the bone-dump from the cook-house will be found to be swollen by the dismantled framework of what was once a horse or some other animal, and which is to be passed through the fat reclamation factory. The crushed bones are submitted to the same process as the swill, being passed through the melter and extractor successively. The combined action of cooking and whizzing brings about a far more impressive release of fat than may possibly be imagined. Furthermore, cooking and whirling effectively release all slender strings and shreds of fat which may have escaped the butcher’s sharp knife, while clinging tatters of meat and sinew are also thoroughly cooked. Upon withdrawal from the extractor the bones are thrown over a riddle, this action being sufficient to detach all shreds of fibrous matter which fall through the meshes of the sieve.

The bones are now ready for dispatch to the degreasers. The loose fibrous residue resulting from riddling is collected for subsequent use in the preparation of poultry foods. Seeing that the treatment of the bones in this mill is pursued for the express purpose of reclaiming only the loose and easily secured fat and grease there is no conflict with industry. The degreasers are concerned rather with the recovery of fat resistant to ordinary salvage methods, as well as glue, size, and many other commodities involving the submission of the bone waste to many special processes, the ultimate residue being ground up to form a fertilizer.

The fat, after cooking, clarification, and solidification, presents an attractive, odourless, sterilized mass. This is dispatched to the trade for resolution into tallow, glycerine, and the requisite basic material for the production of soap.

I mentioned that, in the segregation of the wastes at the cook-house, special emphasis is laid upon the necessity to prevent the combination of all green vegetable refuse with the swill. This is essential, because in the subsequent cooking operation the dye from the green waste is extracted as every housewife knows, and, mingling with the fat, will steep the latter a pronounced greenish hue. This detracts very pronouncedly from the value of the fat because the dye, being of vegetable origin, cannot possibly be eliminated in the subsequent manufacturing operations through which the fat is passed. On the other hand, the deep yellow tinge which is likely to result from the presence of curry waste in the swill is not deleterious because it can be readily discharged.

For some time the disposal of the green vegetable waste presented a thorny problem. Farmers were not prepared to purchase it with the ordinary cooked pig-food, for the simple reason that they already possessed a surfeit of this refuse in their fields. Cremation appeared to be the only possible solution of the difficulty, the accumulations being somewhat formidable, but as a result of experiment the difficulty was very neatly and profitably overcome. This garbage, together with other waste of a comparative character, is subjected to a desiccating process to yield a product which is adapted to association with other approved by-products, without depreciating the pecuniary or other value of the whole, for poultry feeding.

Both plant and processes are extremely simple. Nor is a pretentious staff required. Six men suffice to attend to an installation capable of dealing with the swill contributed daily by a unit of 15,000 men. One hand tends the engine and boiler for the supply of steam and power; two men are responsible for the conduct of the melter; while two additional men wait upon the turbine extractor. The sixth man is retained to operate the bone crusher. This staff need only be increased, as the volume of work rises from any accretion to the camp, to the extent of one man for every additional 5,000 soldiers.

The wastage of bread, for the most part inadvertently, is far heavier than may be supposed. Possibly the heaviest proportion of waste arises from unconscious crumbling of the article during conversation at the table. Observation revealed that the accumulation of such crumbs and crusts was pronounced, while it was also discovered that a heavy contribution was extended by the bakery as the result of cutting up the loaves. The loss of flour incurred during the preparation of the bread and pastry was also found to be appreciable.

Thereupon it was decided to reclaim all bread waste and flour residues. The crumbs, together with the odd crusts and other small fragments, are collected, while the bakery floors and tables are regularly swept to yield grist to the salvage harvest. Moreover, despite the observance of all possible precautions to avoid waste, accidents are unavoidable. Occasionally a batch of bread is ruined in the baking. Being unfit for human consumption it is handed over to the salvage department to be worked up into readily marketable products instead of suffering destruction as was formerly the practice.

Bread and flour waste is subjected to a simple and inexpensive roasting treatment and is then roughly graded. The larger fragments and condemned loaves are reduced to a convenient size, while the finer material is reduced to a meal. The granulated residue is absorbed by the firms specializing in the manufacture of compounded proprietary poultry foods, entering into the composition thereof to approximately 20 per cent., which experience has proved to represent an excellent balance. During the war this granulated waste, sold in bulk, realized about 1¹⁄₈d. (2¹⁄₄ cents) per lb., plus an additional charge of 10 per cent. to cover administration expenses. The coarser grade of waste proved to be an excellent feed for horses—superior to oats—and consequently was somewhat in demand at 1³⁄₄d. (3¹⁄₂ cents) per lb., the availability of such feed during the period when horses were necessarily rationed owing to the shortage of the conventional feeding-stuffs being keenly appreciated. In this instance the extra charge on account of administration expenses was also made.

Other expressions of military “save-the-waste” activity cover the recovery of tins, bottles, and jars. But the difficulties concerning transport somewhat adversely affected success in this direction for a time. The preserve and pickle manufacturers intimated their readiness to accept all bottles and jars owing to the short supply of new receptacles of this character, but for some time it was found impossible to spare the requisite carrying facilities. The provision of canned and bottled comestibles does not enter into the official scheme of rations, the supply of such articles, “extras,” being conducted through the Navy and Army Canteen Board, which, as a protection, imposes a charge upon all jars and bottles sold to the canteen attached to a unit. As a result every care is observed to preserve these vessels to avoid any financial loss arising from their non-return. Consequently, consignments of empty jars and bottles are generally returned intact, such losses as are incurred being unavoidable, and, in the main are due to accidental breakage.

An effort was also made to discover a possible commercial outlet for spent tea-leaves. This beverage is particularly popular in the army, and the accumulation of this waste is enormous. At one period the Home Commands were called upon to handle over 13,500,000 pounds of this refuse a month. The thought was entertained that the extraction of the caffeine from this residue might prove a profitable venture, but the experiments were inconclusive, and so the proposal was abandoned. Then the circumstance that the tea-leaves carry a certain proportion of potash suggested another line of application—conversion into fertilizer. But here again success failed to be recorded. The profitable exploitation of spent tea-leaves still awaits conclusive resolution. But it happens to be one of those problems beset with supreme difficulties, while it is imperative that every precaution should be observed to prevent this waste finding its way into unscrupulous hands to be turned to base account to the disadvantage of the community.

I have already mentioned that, while every effort was made to recover the uttermost ounce of fat-yielding residue from the kitchens, every encouragement was extended to the troops to cultivate the consumption of the nourishing dripping. Although it would seem as if these two recommendations were in utter conflict, no such trouble as might have been anticipated has been recorded. The troops appreciated the concession, and the request for this fat has led to considerable fertility of thought and individual resource among the officers of the various units. Such initiative received commendation from headquarters because it not only contributed to the economical consumption of food in the army, but reacted to the advantage of the civil population who, unable to obtain dripping owing to the rigorous meat rationing in operation, were compelled to depend upon butter and margarine for their fat requirements. The increasing consumption of dripping by the soldiers to whom it was readily available served to permit increased quantities of the restricted supplies of other articles to be distributed among the community.

In one cook-house I witnessed an interesting method to increase the dripping yield. A big pail had been filled with little shreds of fat and meat, shaved and scraped by the cooks from the bones of the freshly-cut-up quarters of beef. This pail was placed within an outer vessel containing water, the improvised double saucepan then being placed upon the hot stove. As the water boiled the fat clinging to the shreds of fibre dissolved, while the meat-juices also became dissociated from the fibre under the influence of the heat. Boiling was continued until the whole of the fat had melted, when the vessel was removed and set upon one side to cool. The fat solidified at the top to yield a fine chunk of appetizing rich dripping, while immediately beneath was a jellied mass of gravy and disintegrated meat-fibre, forming a concentrated beef-tea. The dripping was reserved for issuance in lieu of butter and margarine, while the jelly sediment was set upon one side to improve the contents of steak-pies, puddings, and other savoury dishes.

The soldier is also a gourmet for cheese. But exigencies of war speedily elevated this comestible to the status of a luxury, even in the army. Unfortunately the average cheese does not lend itself to economic use. It is friable, the loss in crumbs being somewhat pronounced, while the rind is lost.

An officer conceived an ingenious idea to persuade the cheese to go farther, and in such a manner as to eliminate all possibility of waste. A whole cheese was taken, thoroughly washed and cleaned. It was then placed in a mill with a quantity of dripping, the proportion being 60 per cent. of the former to 40 per cent. of the latter. The two constituents were then pulped and blended together.

The resultant product was distinctly surprising. The cheddar cheese was converted, by compounding with the animal fat, into a delicious cream-like article of the consistency of butter, allowing it to be spread upon bread and biscuits. The flavour was distinctly improved; indeed, the soldiers expressed a decided preference for this blended food. Its nutritive value cannot be gainsaid, because it carries all the virtues of the cheese plus those incidental to rich animal fat.

By this simple expedient all wastage of cheese was overcome. Even the rind, generally conceded to represent the richest part of the product, was used, being thoroughly disintegrated, macerated and blended with the dripping by passage through the little mill. Not only did the officer reduce the item for the consumption of cheese by his unit to a very significant degree, but he achieved the desired end without penalizing the men to the slightest degree.

The process is so simple that it might even be emulated to profit by the thrifty housewife. The kitchen mincing machine will suffice for the purpose. It is only necessary to pulp and to blend the two constituents thoroughly together. It certainly offers a means of inducing a pound of cheese to go as far as, if not farther than, a pound and a half has ever gone before.

In so far as the arrest of the elusive fat was concerned there remained only one other possible avenue of escape demanding interruption. This was the sink where all plates, dishes, and cooking utensils in general are washed. In the first effort to secure this contribution the hot water carrying the desired material was led into a pit. Here the fat collected in the form of a scum, which was skimmed off at intervals and sent to the swill mill for further treatment. But this crude method gave way to one more in consonance with modern ideas. The fat is now caught at the gully.

One device I saw installed to achieve this end was of an extremely simple character. It comprised a wooden box, about three feet in length by one foot in width, and about two feet in depth. It was subdivided into three cells by two partitions, which, however, did not extend to the full depth of the box. The pipe from the sink entered the box at one end while the outlet to the drain was placed at the opposite end. The box was filled with cold water, which need only be renewed when the box is emptied for cleaning and flushing, since normally it is kept charged with the water coming from the sink. The hot water bearing the fat circulates through the three cells and finally, upon reaching a certain level, passes into the drainage system.

But during its passage through the box the hot water becomes so effectively chilled as to be compelled to release any fat which it may be carrying. This congeals and rises to the surface. Within a short time the top of each cell is crusted with a thick layer of solid fat which may be removed as frequently as desired. The box not only constitutes an efficient and simple, as well as inexpensive, fat-trap, but also acts as a water seal to the sink, thus preventing all nuisance or fouling of the sink pipe.

The amount of fat capable of being retrieved in this manner is certainly startling. The fat-trap which I saw fitted to one of the sinks of an army cook-house yielded several pounds of fat every day—sheer waste recovered from washing plates, pots and pans. The fat is dispatched to the swill-mill to be passed through the melter and extractor in the usual manner, thereby undergoing thorough clarification and sterilization. The recovery during the course of the year of several thousand pounds of fat which otherwise would have vanished down the drain, by the introduction of a small wooden box such as I have described, represents no mean achievement. Certainly it serves to bring home the losses which are incurred at this point in every house during the twelve months. The device might profitably be installed at every sink by every householder. The few shillings involved by its provision would be quickly recouped, because the fat always has a market. Moreover, the introduction of this device would contribute towards the efficiency of the drain, keeping it clear and free to fulfil its designed function.

That it pays to recover all fats and greases lost to consumption or permitted to escape because it is merely residue is conclusively borne out by the results recorded in connection with the military operations which I have described. During the year 1917 the fats—waste—reclaimed from the Home Commands of the British Army yielded 13,000 tons of tallow. The value of all the by-products recovered from the refuse was £700,000—$3,500,000. The cost of securing this waste for commercial exploitation, including the extra pay extended in the form of bonus to the cooks, and other allowances, was £400,000—$2,000,000—leaving a balance of £300,000—$1,500,000—which was returned to the public.

As previously mentioned, the fats were urgently needed to furnish glycerine for the manufacture of munitions. One ton of crude fat yields 10 per cent. of glycerine, so that 1,300 tons of this indispensable article were derived from this one source of supply. The fat was sold to the bone-degreasers and the soap manufacturers, who effected the recovery of the glycerine, selling the product to the Ministry of Munitions at the agreed price of £59 10s. to £63—$297.50 to $315—per ton, as compared with £300—$1,500—per ton which we should have been compelled to pay had we bought the glycerine upon the open market.

Here was a direct saving of £237 to £240 10s.—$1,185 to $1,202.50—per ton. Altogether the purchase of glycerine recovered from military organic waste represented a saving of £312,650—$1,563,250—because the nation obtained for £77,350—$386,750—what otherwise would have cost £390,000—$1,950,000. This figure is not quite complete because, inspired by the success achieved from the milling of the swill at home, the army in France established similar stations behind the lines upon the other side of the Channel. When these were brought into operation the shipment of fat and grease recovered from the organic waste of the British Expeditionary Force in France represented 5,000 tons a year, whence 500 tons of glycerine were derived. The 5,000 tons of fat won from the swill-tubs of the army in France realized £140,000—$700,000—while the total saving recorded under the heading of glycerine secured from army waste fat was augmented to £432,000—$2,160,000. During the year in question the aggregate financial economies directly secured from the exploitation of organic army waste, in conjunction with the introduction of ways and means to reduce the yield of such residue from the observance of improved culinary methods and reduced consumption of foodstuffs was approximately £5,626,000—$28,130,000. Finally, to demonstrate the value of this contribution to the aggressive resources of this country, it may be stated that the 1,800 tons of glycerine derived from the 18,000 tons of tallow recovered from the army swill-tubs, rendered it possible to turn out sufficient nitro-glycerine to serve as the propellant charges for 18,000,000 eighteen-pounder shells.

The success accomplished with the army waste fat and grease prompts the obvious inquiry as to why comparative methods cannot be adopted in civilian circles. The average household has but little conception of the value of its fat losses. It should not be an impossible task to segregate the waste from the house at the source, and to submit it to similar treatment. The majority of our civic and municipal authorities possess buildings which could readily be adapted to the installation of the necessary plant, and the capital outlay therefore need not be heavy. The disposal of the various by-products would not be attended by any difficulty. True, under war conditions abnormal prices ruled, but even to-day they are attractive and are likely to continue to remain so for an appreciable time to come.

Of course, the municipal authorities could not aspire to net such profits as are possible in the army. In the first place the wage problem must be taken into consideration. Under military conditions this does not arise. Fatigue parties are always available to collect the swill and to conduct its conversion into fat. But even if the practice were pursued at a loss it would redound to the distinct benefit of the community in general, because it would comply with one of the fundamental laws of National Economy and would conduce towards the reduction in the cost of living. But unprofitable exploitation would not result so long as the methods were conducted along commercial lines. Ineptitude and wastage in administration and operation alone could be responsible for any such eventuality in this connection. Happily we are becoming wiser in our knowledge: domestic organic waste is now being exploited on broader lines, as I relate in subsequent chapters.

CHAPTER V
INVENTION IN ITS APPLICATION TO WASTE RECOVERY

The necessity to conserve our industrial resources, which is so pronounced to-day, is acting as a powerful stimulant to inventive effort. The mere circumstance that approved apparatus exist for the reclamation of wastes and are readily available to those of a thrifty or enterprising turn of mind no longer suffices to meet the situation. In the past we have been content to practise waste recovery along what may be described as satisfactory lines, but satisfactory only in so far as they represented an attempt to turn refuse to commercial account. In many instances the appliances employed have only been extemporized and, as may be imagined, are far from being efficient. They only enable a certain proportion of the available materials to be recovered. In many instances residues treated for fats have carried away just as much of the essential article after treatment as were actually recovered. In other words, the work was only half completed: the system followed has been unable to give a higher yield owing to errors in its design and construction.

Waste recovery as it should be practised to-day is a science. It is just as precise a science as the extraction of nitrogen from the atmosphere, the smelting of steel, or the production of artificial silk. Hit-and-miss methods may have sufficed during the years when commodities were cheap and plentiful, but to-day there is a world-wide stringency in the supply of anything and everything necessary to commerce. As a consequence prices are ruling high, and so the practice of waste recovery along extremely well-defined scientific lines is essential.

The harnessing of science to this peculiar industry is imperative for more reasons than one. As the process of extraction, say of fats, is pushed to its logical conclusion, the task becomes more and more exacting and expensive, demanding the employment of refined methods. It is far more difficult to draw from the material the last ounce of possibly reclaimable fat than to whip out the first ounce. The last-named is surrendered readily, but to recover the first-named enormous persuasive effort is entailed.

But it is the uttermost ounce which the scientist is determined to obtain. Easy conquest does not appeal to his well-ordered mind, and so we see a spirited struggle in progress to increase efficiency. At the same time in attaining this eminent factor the inventor must keep his eye and hand upon the issue of cost. If it is going to cost more to extract the last absolute ounce than that ounce is worth, then the effort is futile. Commercialism, which considers inventive ingenuity merely from the angle of pounds, shillings and pence, or dollars and cents as the case may be, is not impressed by the mere beauty of any process or apparatus.

The financial issue is surveyed from every possible angle—capital outlay, fuel consumption, simplicity of operation, maintenance charges, depreciation, renewals, and labour. Any one of these several factors may be sufficient to cause the refusal of an advocated process, while should they be experienced cumulatively then the likelihood of the process being adopted is extremely remote. Waste recovery is such a sensitive range of endeavour as to prevent all consideration along philanthropic lines.

An instance in point may be narrated to indicate how perplexing and intricate the problem is. As is well-known, wood, in common with all vegetation, carries a certain proportion of alcohol, a product in keen demand for numerous industries. It is also common knowledge that in working wood enormous waste is incurred, notably in the form of sawdust. This fact induced inventors to attack the problem of extracting the alcoholic content from this residue. Laboratory experiment confirmed the practicability of the project, and even went so far as to indicate how the idea might be commercially developed.

But there is a tremendous gulf between the laboratory and the factory. It was many years ago that the possibility of extracting alcohol from wood first aroused the serious attention of the industrial chemists. They are still wrestling with the problem. Time after time the world is startled by the announcement of a new and inexpensive process for the distillation of alcohol from wood and the prospect of extracting whisky and other popular beverages from sawdust excites intense interest. But, metaphorically speaking, nine days later a strange silence is encountered. The new process has vanished from aught but a memory of much claimed but nothing forthcoming. Fortunes have been sunk and lost in the attempts to solve this momentous problem, and it is probable, from the state of knowledge and the stage of experiment at the moment attained, that many millions more will be expended before commercial success is achieved. One of the greatest obstacles to the realization of the chemist’s dream has been the extremely high temperatures to which resort has to be made, which plays sad havoc with the plant involved, and the charges incident to the renewal of which are so heavy as to render the financial outlook extremely depressing. Even the conditions of war, which scouted all considerations of expense, have not carried us an inch forward. We built one factory to conduct the distillation of wood for the alcohol which was so sorely needed, and planned a second installation. The first factory was promptly abandoned after the signing of the armistice, while the second factory was never completed, owing to the indifferent results achieved with the conduct of the initial plant.

Similar experiences may be narrated in many other fields of attempted waste recovery. Fortunately, however, for every dismal failure recorded a dozen or more overwhelming triumphs can be related. It is this circumstance which induces the experimenter to persevere upon his ventures of discovery. But this is not the only satisfactory feature of success in this field. The spirit of rivalry is so keen that the industrial chemist and the chemical engineer are for ever striving might and main to improve the methods which they have evolved, and in the determination to secure the uttermost ounce of the elusive fat, they proceed to extreme lengths. The eternal quest for improved efficiency is not confined to the extraction of fats; it is equally applicable to the recovery of other products in keen demand and commanding an attractive market price, but I select fat as an example because it is familiar to all.

Moreover, in elaborating his fruitful thoughts the investigator is compelled to bear in mind varying conditions. Accordingly he must adapt his ideas to the prevailing requirements. Obviously it would be inexpedient to concentrate perfecting effort upon one definite system. The plant involved may necessitate a capital outlay possible only to the wealthy firm or city, and utterly beyond the small man anxious to embark upon such an enterprise, or be impracticable to the average town, to which the plant, owing to the limited volume of material to be handled, would never justify the probable expense.

In these circumstances we see plants and methods being adapted to varying demands so that the reclamation of the urgently required fats, oils and greases may be pursued by one and all. In a previous chapter, describing the recovery of these commodities from the swill-tubs of the army, I referred to one system which is wholly mechanical in its operation. In this instance success depends essentially upon the centrifugal turbine extractor or “whizzer,” which it must be admitted has proved exceedingly attractive in application. For this reason the “Iwel” system, as it is called, has met with conspicuous success and wide application, being found in every industry.

But there is another system, or rather wide range of systems, known as the Scott, differing entirely from the one already mentioned. This, too, is of British origin and construction, and compels attention from its applicability to every possible requirement as well as adaptability to every conceivable condition, from the factory handling only a few thousand pounds of miscellaneous fat-carrying refuse a day, to the huge packing plants to be found upon the American continent, both North and South, Australia and New Zealand, where the accumulations of fresh fat are imposing, and where the necessity for prompt big-scale treatment to secure the attractive prices ruling for high-grade fats is so obvious. The operations of the firm under review demand additional attention inasmuch as, through the combined efforts of its chemists and engineers, it has been able to evolve and perfect a process which is distinctly remarkable, seeing that it enables all but 1 per cent. of the fat contained in the crude refuse to be reclaimed, and in such a manner as to render the method completely profitable.

The Scott systems, fundamentally, are three in number. In the one the waste animal products are digested with open steam in conjunction with a vacuum; the second method comprises the dry rendering of edible fats under vacuum; while the third practice is the extraction of the grease by what is known as the solvent system. Each possesses its individual features, making direct appeal to the situation to which it is most eminently adapted, and, to a certain degree, the three respective methods may be said to represent an equal number of progressive strides towards maximum efficiency, with the solvent process constituting the pinnacle of success so far achieved in this province from the simple fact that it reduces the loss of fat to 1 per cent. absolute.

However, it is difficult to lay down any hard-and-fast rule concerning the selection of any of these three processes because, in deciding a question of this character, full consideration must be given to the class of material to be handled. For instance, although the dry rendering system under vacuum is especially applicable for the reclamation of edible fats, it is not to say that the first, or open steam, process is only adapted to the production of non-edible fats. As a matter of fact there are certain classes of offal which are not suited to dry steam rendering. The fat contained in such refuse can be most advantageously extracted only by the open steam process. This particularly applies to the offal produced in the large killing establishments, where such refuse can be dealt with in the fresh condition.

The dry steam rendering process is particularly applicable to the production of fine or high grade edible fats. The finest fat recovered from an animal source is that known as “Oleo” margarine or “Premier Jus.” This is rendered from the very finest crude fat obtainable, and in order to ensure super quality being obtained the conventional treatment is one demanding extreme care so that its inherent qualities may not suffer the slightest injury. The general practice is to mince the raw material very finely and then to treat it in hot water-jacketed pans at a very low temperature, every attention being observed to prevent the temperature rising above a rigidly predetermined point. In these circumstances it will readily be observed that the process is necessarily somewhat costly and occupies appreciable time. But by means of the dry rendering process under vacuum the raw material may be subjected to very high temperatures, and that without the product being impaired in any way. In fact, it is equal in every respect to that obtained by the orthodox process, while, of course, it is far more expeditious and cheaper.

The plant necessary to the vacuum system is simple. It comprises a cylinder or boiler called a digester, into which the offal to be treated is placed. Under the wet steam process and after the vessel has been closed a vacuum is created. Open steam then is admitted into the digester and in such a way as to enable the steam to pass upwards through the mass, thereby thoroughly permeating it. Naturally the hot steam renders the fat fluid, that which is free running readily to the attached tanks.

Rendering is conducted under a pressure varying from 20 lb. to 40 lb. as the case may be, but the lower the pressure the better. The application of the vacuum to the process constitutes the crux of the invention. At first sight the advantages of the principle may not be readily apparent, but they may be simply explained. In the first instance the creation of vacuum conditions effects the removal of the greatest obstruction to the influence of heat, namely air. If this be eliminated cooking can be conducted at a much lower temperature than would otherwise be practicable. Fat, indeed all animal matter, carries a certain proportion of moisture and this must be withdrawn before the actual release of the commodity can be effected. In vacuum water boils at a temperature below one-half of that required at ordinary atmospheric pressure. In other words, instead of the boiling-point of water being 212 degrees Fahrenheit, as is the case with the kettle on the hob, it will boil at less than 106 degrees Fahrenheit. Consequently, if a high vacuum be established within the digester the latent water can be converted into steam to assist in the melting process proper, which then can be conducted unhampered. Temperature, moreover, exercises a decisive influence upon the quality of the product, this being very superior in quality when the recovery is carried out at a low degree.

Another point to be noted is that all noisome odours which are thrown off during cooking, and which cannot be avoided, are exhausted from the vessel. They are not allowed to escape into the open air, but are led to the furnace to be discharged into the hottest part of the fire. They have to ascend through the incandescent fuel resting upon the fire-bars, and, since they are not allowed to become mixed with air, must undergo complete combustion. Consequently no pollution of the atmosphere can possibly result from the treatment of even the most rancid offal. It being impossible to construe the operation into a nuisance, the plant can be installed at any convenient point even in a densely-settled area in safety, because the system fully complies with all the rigid requirements of the local sanitary authorities and health officers. This is a most important feature and one which will be readily appreciated when one recalls the insufferable conditions precipitated by the recovery of fats and greases from refuse under the old systems.

But the outstanding characteristic of the vacuum system is the increased yield of fat forthcoming. No mechanical system, whether it be pressure or high-speed whizzing, can extend completely satisfactory efficiency results. As is well known, the fat entering into the constitution of animal matter is contained in myriads of minute cells which are surrounded by tissue. The walls of these cells are exceedingly elastic and of prodigious strength. They may be compressed to an inordinately intense degree in a press, or distorted and stretched by recourse to centrifugal action without breaking. It is this circumstance which reacts against a high recovery of fat by recourse to pressing and whizzing because the cells cannot be induced to burst.

When a vacuum is applied a totally different result is recorded. The application of heat causes the fat and air within the tiny cells to expand, and in this manner the walls of the cells become distended to the limits of their elasticity. The removal of the surrounding air within the vessel by the vacuum pump completely upsets all equilibrium. The air pressure within the cells is higher than that applied from without, and consequently there results an accentuated expansive effort within the cells. But the tissue has already been stretched to its utmost limit, and so being unable to withstand the increased strain imposed collapses, thus releasing the imprisoned air and fat. Under the vacuum process the disruption of the fat-carrying cells is complete, and this explains why an augmented yield of fat is obtained by this method.

Under the open steam vacuum process the actual practice is to apply the vacuum three times at intervals during the operation. The first application serves to remove the obstructive air to facilitate and expedite cooking of the contents. The second brings about the disruption of the cells and the release of the fat which they contain. The third application of the vacuum, which is effected towards the end of the process, effects the withdrawal of the foul vapours arising from the digesting operation and their discharge into the fire.

Owing to the steam being admitted to the digester and being allowed to come into direct contact with the mass, the residue upon withdrawal is wet. The grease, which has been rendered fluid in the process, has escaped from the digester through a suitable draining pipe into a tank where settlement and clarification are carried out. But all the grease cannot be recovered in this manner. A certain proportion, notwithstanding the disruption of the fat cells, is held up in the mass and can only be recovered to an appreciable degree by submitting the residue to treatment in a press. In this way the greater part of the remaining fat suffers expulsion and recovery. The wet cakes upon removal from the press then have to be dried and disintegrated.

The dry vacuum process, which is essentially adapted to the rendering of edible fat, has many advantages over the wet steam method. Whilst the plant employed is broadly similar to that employed in the process already described, there is one notable difference. The digester is enveloped in an outer shell or jacket, and the steam is circulated through the space between the two walls. It is not brought into contact with the contents of the digester at any stage of the process. The action taking place within the vessel during the operation is precisely the same as when the steam is brought into direct contact with the refuse, the fat being rendered fluid by the heat and the cells undergoing disruption by the creation of the vacuum. A high vacuum is maintained throughout the whole rendering process. Consequently the moisture inherent to the raw material is withdrawn as rapidly as it is converted into steam, resulting in the production of a fine edible fat totally free from moisture. Moreover, the residue withdrawn from the digester at the end of the process, known as “crackling” or “greaves,” is likewise quite free from moisture, although, as in the case of that resulting from the open steam process, an appreciable proportion of fat is held up in the mass which can only be recovered to a pronounced degree by the application of pressure.

The dry steam or jacketed vacuum process is especially adapted to the treatment of fresh fat waste, the reclaimed product of which is primarily intended for the preparation of edible foodstuffs, such as oleo-margarine. By carrying out reclamation without bringing the steam into contact with the fat several distinct advantages are obtained, the most important being the retention of the natural properties of the fat, and no loss of glycerine which otherwise is inevitable to a certain degree. Consequently, it is an ideal process for the treatment of the “Premier Jus.” There is no need to mince the fat finely, as in the orthodox rendering process, it being necessary only to cut the waste roughly for charging the digester.

A special press has been devised for the treatment of the crackling or greaves. It is of the cage type which allows the fat, during pressure, and which operation is carried out while the residue is very hot, to be expressed between the bars of the cage to fall into a trough for recovery. The cakes, after pressing, are dry, excellent in quality, light in colour and of attractive flavour, a result due to the fact that the tissues have not been scorched or charred in any way during the rendering process. The greaves constitute an excellent ingredient for the preparation of kennel and poultry foods, and enter extensively into the manufacture of dog-cakes. In a few instances the dry greaves, owing to their high nutritive value, are served to the kennel in the straight form as they issue from the press.

While the dry vacuum process is certainly efficient, it does not fully comply with the latest ideas pertaining to the recovery of fats from organic waste. The press is the weak link, because thereby it is only possible to recover a certain proportion of the fat held up in the mass, even when the cellular construction has been completely broken up. It is stated, as a result of accumulated experience, that the amount of fat left in the greaves may run up to as high as 10 per cent. of the original fatty content of the offal: in many instances it has been found to range as high as 20 per cent. The fact that this remaining fat defying reclamation by pressing must be relatively high is evident from the readiness with which certain waste exploiters will buy up the greaves, not to turn them into kennel and poultry foods, but to submit them to further treatment in order to wring out still more of the fat which they carry.

This manifestation of enterprise has been rendered possible by the advance of the science of fat recovery from offal to such a level as to enable 9 per cent. of the fat remaining in a 10 per cent. greaves to be extracted. It is the prevailing high price commanded by fats which renders such additional treatment upon an extensive scale so attractive and eminently profitable.

The process in question is the Scott solvent recovery invention to which I have referred, and which represents the greatest achievement yet recorded in the whole science of fat reclamation from organic waste. The process was perfected and patented shortly before the war, and although hostilities militated against its immediate and rapid development, thereby delaying the recognition of its overwhelming virtues, it is satisfactory to learn that many plants operating upon this principle have been laid down, not only in this country, but in other parts of the world. It is the process which at the moment is arousing the most intense interest, owing to the progressive stride which it represents in this field.

The process is delightfully simple, although apparently it involves an intricate plant and demands a higher level of skilled labour, but where the work of reclamation is conducted along ambitious lines it cannot be excelled. Briefly described, it turns upon the employment of benzine, or some other equally volatile solvent which, as we all know, will readily dissolve fat and absorb it. What can be done with this agent is familiar to every housewife who practises the removal of grease spots and other unsightly marks from clothing by the aid of benzine, while it is the medium whereby dry-cleaning is rendered practicable.

The raw material—condemned meat, offal and other organs of the animal recovered from the slaughter-house which possess no edible value—is charged into a steam-jacketed horizontal extractor fitted with stirring gear. When condemned carcasses are to be treated there is no need to carry out preliminary deboning; it is merely necessary to reduce the material to rough pieces for convenience of handling. It will be observed that the steam is not brought into contact with the mass, but is circulated through the jacket as in the dry vacuum process.

The solvent is introduced in the first instance in the form of vapour, being passed through boxes of special construction, to pass finally into the extractor. The contents of the latter being in a condition of constant agitation as a result of the manipulation of the stirring gear, the benzine vapour is able to permeate the mass. The heat radiated from the steam circulating through the jacket converts the moisture present in the material into vapour and with which the solvent comes into contact. Vaporization of the moisture causes the solvent itself to condense to a certain degree, and in the liquid form it dissolves out the grease. The process is continued until the bulk of the moisture has been eliminated, when the grease and solvent are withdrawn. When the grease has been fully extracted down to a limit which will result in a dry meat-meal, containing about 1 per cent. of grease, the benzine is steamed off in the usual manner. The benzine itself is recovered because it is only permitted to work in a closed circuit, and, after fulfilling its purpose, is passed to a still to be cleaned and purified, after which it is again passed to the extractor to repeat the cycle of operation.

The process, it will be observed, is continuous, while the benzine may be used over and over again. All that is required is to place a sufficient quantity of the solvent into the circuit to carry out the operation with the essential efficiency. Naturally, the quantity involved varies with the size of the plant and the work to be fulfilled, but it may run up to 5,000 or more gallons. The plant is generally laid out upon the unit principle, which is the most satisfactory, because it facilitates the adaptation of the installation to the volume of work in hand. One or more units can be shut down during the “off” period, allowing the remainder to be worked up to their full capacity, which, of course, is the most efficient and economical method. The losses of benzine are very low—not exceeding 1 per cent. of the weight of the raw material treated. In fact, there are many installations in operation where, over a period of one year, the benzine loss recorded is actually below 1 per cent. This factor is vitally influenced by the care and attention bestowed upon the plant. If it be carefully tended, all joints being kept in the tightly packed condition, and the condenser maintained in a high degree of efficiency, the benzine loss may be reduced to an infinitesimal degree, the value thereof representing but an insignificant fraction of the value of the increased yield of oil and fat.

The solvent acts upon the grease only. It does not affect in any way the gelatinous material, and, consequently, the nitrogenous or ammonia value of the ultimate meal is considerably enhanced as compared with the results achieved with the digesting plant. The meal is discharged from the extractor in a dry crisp condition ready for immediate grinding, and is admirably adapted for poultry and cattle feeding. No traces of the benzine remain.

The bones may be ground immediately, if desired, but if these should be forthcoming in sufficient quantity they should be passed on to the glue and gelatine plant. There is no necessity to submit them to a further degreasing process, because this has been completed in the one operation in the extractor. As a rule, however, with installations devoted to the treatment of condemned meat and other offal, the bones are not forthcoming in sufficient quantities to justify the attachment of a glue recovery plant although, of course, they can be sold to other works specializing in this work. It is merely a question as to whether it would pay to transport the degreased bones to the glue works. If not, they can be ground up to be utilized as fertilizer, for which, it is needless to say, a good price can be obtained.

The recovery of fat down to 1 per cent. of that contained in the crude material does not constitute the only outstanding advantage of the solvent extraction process. It enables the whole of the operations to be condensed into one task, completely dispensing with all auxiliary apparatus. The refuse is merely charged into the extractor and withdrawn in the form of powder, and, if condemned carcasses have been exploited, bone as well. What this means may readily be realized. Under the open steam digesting system—even with the wet and dry vacuum systems to a lesser degree—the refuse must first be cooked. The material upon withdrawal from the digester must be passed through the press, after which treatment it has to be disintegrated and dried. If the reclamation of the gelatinous or “stick” liquor, as it is called, be part of the process this also demands handling. Thus one may safely anticipate having to conform with five distinct and separate operations, involving intermediate handling and supplementary plant, while the loss of fat in passing from stage to stage is far heavier than may possibly be imagined. But, with the solvent extraction process, the numerous above-mentioned operations are resolved into one, and one only—the charging of the extractor with the refuse. The saving in labour by the elimination of all interhandling is obvious, which in these days of enhanced wage costs demands consideration, while there are no intermediate losses of oil. In so far as saving of time is concerned there is little, if any, difference. Under the solvent extraction method a period of eight to ten hours is required to deal completely with a charge of 4,500 to 9,000 lb.

The fruits accruing from this latest manifestation of ingenuity in connection with the reclamation of waste may be tersely emphasized. The reclamation of the fat down to 1 per cent. being accepted, it may also prove interesting to indicate how effectively the nitrogenous or ammonia value of the product is preserved. The following represents a typical analysis of a meat meal, which, it should be pointed out, contains no bone whatever. The figures are:—

At the large cattle-slaughtering establishments of North and South America, and at the sheep-killing stations in Australia and New Zealand, the residues from which the edible fat has been recovered by the open steam process are turned over to the solvent extraction plants which have now been introduced to form an integral part of the waste-recovery system, the value of the invention being fully appreciated. At first the practice was to dry the residues from the digesters before committing them to the extraction plant, but since it was found superfluous to carry out such a preliminary, the residue is turned over from the open steam digester where the edible fats are obtained to the solvent extraction plant, the idea of course being to secure the proportion of fat escaping recovery in the digester. In this manner 99 per cent. of the fat contained in the crude waste is obtained, but the proportion reclaimed from the practice of the solvent extraction process is set aside for manufacturing purposes—conversion into soap and other utilitarian commodities.

In the course of digesting the fresh fat with open steam a considerable quantity of the “stick” liquor is precipitated, and its recovery for size is fully justified. In the crude form this liquor is somewhat weak, but by means of the Scott multiple-effect vacuum evaporating plant it can be concentrated to any required degree of density. This product is blended with the meat-meal from the solvent extraction plant in a suitable vessel and is then dried to a powder, the ultimate meal being high in ammonia.

In the case of the offal which is not suitable for the production of an edible fat, recourse to the open steam digester is eliminated. The refuse, along with the condemned meat, is consigned directly to the extraction plant to be dealt with in one operation. A similar practice is followed at the large pig-killing establishments. At one installation in South America, where there is an impressive illustration of British ingenuity and enterprise in regard to waste recovery upon the Scott principle, the tallow produced is immediately dispatched to the adjoining soap works—also a British installation—where the glycerine is recovered and soap is produced. In this instance therefore we have a powerful example of a self-contained establishment completely equipped for the recovery of the whole of the by-products incurred in the course of its normal operations and to the utmost advantage.

The Germans have been extremely active in advancing the possibilities of the solvent extraction process. Several large plants are in operation in the Fatherland, of which we heard a good deal during the war, but the character of the operations of which were grossly misrepresented and exaggerated. Those behind the lines were reserved exclusively for the disposal of fallen horses as well as the offal and other wastes resulting from the feeding of the troops. The fat, immediately upon its extraction, was treated for its glycerine, which was dispatched to the explosive manufactories in Germany, while the residues were converted into soap upon the spot. This practice was followed because the glycerine was the staple in most urgent demand, and the transport of which was far simpler than the movement of the crude reclaimed fats. So far as soap was concerned the German soldiers, even up to the front lines, had little or no room for complaint, for the simple reason that it was prepared in their midst at the plants which were installed within easy access of the centres of suitable raw material supply.

British manufacturers, although somewhat conservative, are becoming alive to the fact that only by the solvent extraction process can the utmost wealth be won from fats derived from waste materials, and many interesting expressions of enterprise in this direction may be recorded. For instance, the manufacture of maize flour has made decided strides in these islands during the past five years, doubtless owing to the deficiency in connection with the wheaten product. However, before this grain can be converted into the farinaceous form the germ must be extracted, otherwise the keeping qualities of the flour are seriously impaired. But, seeing that the germ represents approximately 20 per cent. of the whole grain, it will be seen that the industry has to face a loss of one-fifth of its raw material in preparing the flour—an imposing quantity. However, the germ is rich in oil, this constituting approximately 20 per cent. of its bulk. The demand for oil, particularly those of vegetable origin, is such that the maize germ, instead of being turned over directly to cattle, is now being exploited for its oil. By the solvent extraction process 99 per cent. of this available 20 per cent. of oil is being extracted, the resultant meal thus being virtually free of oil.

When the idea was first taken in hand it was maintained that the withdrawal of the oil would imperil the feeding qualities of the meal residue. This being conclusively disproved it was then argued that the employment of benzine for the purpose would depreciate its cattle-food value, the idea doubtless being entertained that it must be associated with a certain benzine flavour from coming into contact with the solvent. But here again practice did not coincide with precept, because horses will devour the meal, freshly drawn from the extractor, with avidity, and look round for more, proving very convincingly that the benzine is completely exhausted from the extractor after having fulfilled its designed function. Experience has shown that meal made from the de-oiled maize germ is every whit as good and as nourishing as, if not actually superior to, that which has not been subjected to the oil-recovery process.

The solvent extraction process has proved to be of incalculable value to the firms specializing in the dry-cleaning of clothes, fabrics, and textiles in general. When the articles are likely to be charged with appreciable quantities of dirt, such as carpets, they are first subjected to a dusting treatment which removes the superfluous or free dirt. Wearing apparel, except in a few instances, does not require submission to this preliminary operation and so is passed into the washing machine, which contains only benzine, together with a slight proportion of ammoniacal liquor. The garments are passed through several successive washings and rinsings in various machines, to be submitted finally to the hydro-extractor, where practically the whole of the benzine is recovered, the goods being delivered practically dry. But to be positive upon this point they are hung for three or four hours in a drying room. The articles are then examined for any stains, such as blood and grease marks, which have resisted elimination in the mechanical cleaning process. These are removed by hand—“hand-spotting” as it is called, either with water, or with benzine and a little soluble soap and a brush.

The dirt and other deleterious matter removed by the benzine in the washing and rinsing machines is separated from the solvent, which undergoes a simple treatment, bringing about its complete purification, when it is returned to the service-tanks for further use. The process is one of continuous distillation, the benzine, as previously mentioned, being used over and over again, it only being necessary to add certain quantities from time to time to remedy the unavoidable losses incurred. The wastage of benzine averages about 15 per cent. of the weight of the goods treated. Seeing that about 4,500 gallons may pass hourly through the machines and the circuit, the loss is relatively low. The quantity of dirt removed, despite the thoroughness of the process, is comparatively trifling.

One interesting phase of the dry-cleaning process deserves mention, if only to bring home the assiduity with which the reclamation of grease from every conceivable source is now being prosecuted. Some of the firms are devoting attention to the separation of the grease removed from the clothes by the benzine. Seeing that the only likely contribution of grease is that removed from the hands or other part of the body coming into contact with the fabric, and that the grease in question is only natural perspiration, it will be seen that, under the most favourable conditions, such deposit must necessarily be exceedingly trifling. That it should be deemed worthy of recovery seems almost incredible. But it is being done, though the yield is low, and it is proving profitable.

Probably no other waste is to be found in such a multiplicity of forms and in such unexpected quarters as that capable of yielding grease, but that it should pay to recover natural perspiration to assist in the lubrication of a railway locomotive, or some other piece of machinery, serves to emphasize the extremely fine limits to which fat-reclamation science has been carried. It is admitted that, in the majority of cases, the possible yields are so small as to render reclamation absolutely impossible by any but the solvent extraction process, which undoubtedly constitutes the highest testimony to the efficiency and value of this wonderful British invention it is possible to advance.

CHAPTER VI
SAVING THE SCRAP FROM THE SEA

If the human race be extravagant in one, more than in any other direction, it is undoubtedly in connection with the utilization of the harvests of the sea. It is a failing as strongly asserted by the primitive as by the cultured races. The aborigine, when there is a big run, will trap as many fish as he can, not for consumption, but apparently for the mere sake of catching his prey. He will select what he requires and leave the remainder to rot. His civilized brother pursues a broadly similar course, only in this event decomposition may not be permitted to run its course without fulfilling a beneficial purpose. The process can be harnessed, as it were, to a more or less useful function.

Improvidence in the consumption of fish is particularly noticeable among those nations which are able to point to an extensive salt-water front, combined with a densely-settled population within a relatively small area. It becomes accentuated when the country is possessed of an intricate and excellent system of rapid inland transportation, allowing the prompt movement of the catches from the points of landing to the centres of consumption.

Such a country is Great Britain. With us fish is an exceedingly cheap food and one which, normally, is readily procurable in adequate quantities. The “long haul” by rail occasions no apprehensions, inasmuch as the railway transport problem, so far as fish is concerned, has been magnificently solved, it being possible to move consignments four hundred, even six hundred miles within a few hours.

The sea’s contribution to the table is prolific. At the same time it is variable. This factor in itself conduces towards pronounced wastage. We seem to have failed lamentably in our efforts to cope with the alternating spells of plenty and relative scarcity in a scientific manner. We have not mastered the adjustment of seasonal gluts, arising from the periodic massed movements of the fish, to shortages in order to maintain a steady and uniform supply the whole year round. In view of the immense strides which have been made in the art of preserving perishable foodstuffs, this deficiency is certainly somewhat remarkable.

The extremely low prices at which the bulk of the food from the sea, particularly of herring and sprat—occasionally mackerel—is available, are primarily responsible for the extravagance which rules. This state of affairs offers another interesting illustration of the fact that extremely cheap living promotes waste. We need only to recall the experience of the war to assure ourselves upon this point. Under the system of price control, coupled with abnormally high rates, fish purchases had to be conducted by the trade with extreme caution to obviate financial losses, while, similarly, the consumer was compelled to be more economic and less fastidious in his, or her, tastes. Under such conditions far less of the single fish was wasted, while greater ingenuity was exercised in the preparation of the less attractive edible portions for the table.

Nevertheless, no matter how extreme the care or economy manifested, a certain degree of wastage is unavoidable. For the most part the offal, which in itself is appreciable in volume, is regarded as irreclaimable and valueless except as a fertilizer. But this reasoning is fallacious. Fish-waste is capable of furnishing raw material in several forms to feed other industries. As yet this notable circumstance has not become fully appreciated in these islands, the practicability of using such refuse only having been established during the past few years.

Ability to turn fish offal to distinct profitable advantage not only solves the problem in its economic aspect, but at the same time indicates a promising outlook for glut catches and to which the ordinary markets are often denied. In this country the conventional disposal of surplus fish is decidedly deplorable for the reason that it follows the line of least resistance. A glut or late catch is generally sold at an absurd price in bulk to serve merely as manure.

If the fish could be turned directly into the soil such a use might not be exposed to severe condemnation, although it is to be deprecated because it represents a serious misuse of valuable food. But, as a rule, this cannot be conducted with the essential promptitude for obvious reasons. Then the farmer suffers a heavy loss. Vigilant gulls and other birds having a well-defined penchant for fish diet raid the land to enjoy a Gargantuan feast with the minimum of effort on their part. The birds will even follow a train, or road wagons, bearing a manurial consignment of their food, for miles from the point of landing and then, after it has been dumped, will swoop down to gorge themselves to the full. In many instances a farmer has been known to lose at least 50 per cent. of his purchase in this manner. He may essay alert and effective measures to combat the birds’ attacks, but he will find it an unequal contest. In one instance, which came before my notice, the insatiable birds, catching sight of one or two open trucks laden with a freshly-landed catch en route to the land, attacked the wagons so vigorously as to cause a very perceptible shrinkage in the load before it reached its destination. Another farmer, who had been persuaded to buy two or three truckloads of freshly-landed fish just because it was cheap, subsequently expressed his doubt as to whether he had driven a good bargain after all. The birds attacked the field over which the loads were distributed in such overwhelming numbers as to prompt the opinion that the field really contained more gulls than fish! So, after all, it is extremely questionable whether the purchase of a bumper catch for use as a fertilizer is really such a bargain as it may appear from a cursory reflection.

In our large cities and towns the treatment of fish offal and surplus supplies drawn from the markets, stores, and retail shops, as well as the hotels, restaurants, and clubs, for industrial exploitation, should present no difficulty whatever. It is an offal apart and a noisome one. Its susceptibility to rapid decomposition and the emission of obnoxious odours during the process demand its prompt removal. It cannot be handled with other refuse owing to its offensiveness. Consequently the system of special collection by vehicles of the closed tank type has become the general practice. In this manner the disconcerting factor pertaining to the utilization of organic waste—effective segregation at the source—is assured.

Although, so far as we are concerned, the record of practical achievements concerning the industrial utilization of fish-waste is slender, owing to the few firms having been persuaded to embrace this phase of trading, it is consoling to learn that we possess what may be described as the leading authorities competent to deal with this issue in all its varying aspects, and to be equipped with the best approved facilities for conducting this work along the latest and most promising lines. There is one firm in particular which has built up a unique reputation in this direction, having been responsible for the design and construction, as well as installation, of the largest fish-waste reclamation plants in operation throughout the world. Some of these equipments are most elaborate in character, and their very dimensions, activity, scale of operations and prosperity, serve to demonstrate, in the most convincing manner, the enormous wealth capable of being won from fish scrap when the task is conducted along the lines advanced by scientific development. The British firm in question, to whose apparatus I have devoted extensive description in a previous chapter, has been responsible for the complete installations forming part and parcel of the huge canneries scattered along the western seaboard of the North American continent.

It somewhat redeems our own short-sightedness and lack of enterprise to know that we have a firm in our midst which has achieved many distinct triumphs in the great issue of waste reclamation. It retains an imposing staff of highly-trained chemists who have become specialists in this privileged province, and they have devoted especial attention to the exploitation of fish-scrap in the anticipation that this may yet develop into a pretentious British industry. The presiding genius of this organization has also associated himself intimately with the problem from the severely scientific side, as well as becoming thoroughly familiarized with the latest methods as practised in Germany, Scandinavia, and other countries in order to reap full advantage from the lessons which they are able to extend in point of equipment and practice. In the opinion of this active-minded and enterprising authority we have nothing to learn from the foreigner either in point of processes, plant, or efficiency. We merely lack the necessary imagination, initiative, and commercial acumen to be able to reap the full financial and trading harvest to be gathered from the exploitation of fish-scrap. While we are apathetic and backward in this connection our Dominions are alert and astute. We need only to turn to the extensive installation recently laid down in Australia—a model of its type—and which was completed by the firm in question, to grasp what can be accomplished in this peculiar field.

It was extremely fortunate for us, as a nation, to be possessed of the knowledge and creative resources of a progressive firm. During the war, when the economic conditions became so tense, the question of the economic disposal of fish-waste to full commercial advantage suddenly assumed an unexpected significance. Specific raw materials were urgently demanded, and it was decided to search sedulously for additional domestic sources of supply. In the conduct of these investigations the potentialities of fish-scrap were forced to the forefront. The enemy was exploiting this field to its absolute limits, so why should we continue to ignore it? Cognizant of the precise possibilities of this industry and the financial attractions which it possessed the head of the firm of which I have written expressed his readiness to extend all assistance in his power. His knowledge of the craft, together with that of what the enemy could and could not do, proved invaluable, and enabled us to place the recovery of the wealth from this waste upon a solid foundation, and in such a manner as to allow of its indefinite expansion in the future.

So far as turning fish-scrap to commercial account has been concerned in these islands the axiom pertaining to the prophet and his own country has not been wholly applicable. The Germans endeavoured to establish an industry upon this raw material among us but signally failed. One or two small plants were laid down along the broad lines in vogue upon the other side of the North Sea, but they fell so far short of expectations or requirements, and were so strikingly inferior to British thought as to fall into disuse. They have long since been broken up.

The Teuton, however, was not solicitous of the welfare of the British nation in exploiting British fish-waste. He was merely prompted to plant himself here because the necessary refuse—raw material from his point of view—was obtainable in such huge quantities and at a low figure. The output was shipped to Germany, where it commanded an attractive price and was in keen demand. The spurned and rejected of Britain became the highly prized of Germany.

Fish-waste falls into two broad classes, which are yet somewhat sharply defined. These are white fish and oily offal respectively, the herring being the best example of the latter category. Consequently, to conduct fish-waste reclamation and exploitation for the by-products upon a sufficiently comprehensive scale in these islands it would be necessary to separate the offal into the two distinctive classifications at the source. However, this would not be such a perplexing problem as it might appear at first sight. Such segregation is imperative for specific technical reasons, while one must also remember that the salt content of the offal varies widely in the two classes of fish.

Scrap of this character can be induced to yield three commercial products as a result of inexpensive treatment. They are respectively meal for poultry and cattle, oil, and fertilizer. A fourth commodity might be included, namely, fish-glue. Hitherto we have been content to draw upon other countries for our supplies of this article, although abundant raw material for its production has always been readily obtainable. But manufacture was doubtless regarded as being extremely speculative for the simple reason that the demand for this article was severely limited. For some reason or other fish-glue, though extensively used by the peoples of other nations, has never been regarded with pronounced favour in British circles although it cannot be excelled as an adhesive. Probably its peculiarly pungent odour has been responsible for our indifferent appreciation of its virtues. One or two small factories were equipped to conduct domestic manufacture, but they were far from being pretentious in their scale of operation.

Fish-glue has attained its greatest vogue in Germany, Scandinavia, Canada, and the United States of America—the last-named more particularly. Yet there is no reason why it should not become equally popular here. All that is required is to enlighten the community concerning its properties, and here is a grand opportunity for propaganda in support of a new industry. There is no secret associated with its production as might possibly be imagined. The quality most essential to secure its widespread appreciation is merely a display of grim energy, push, and go. It is not a case of being called upon to advance the claims of an entirely new product. It is known more or less throughout the country from the circumstance that it is being exploited in varying degree throughout the world. In these circumstances the manufacture of British fish-glue from British fish-waste presents enormous possibilities, capable of illimitable development.

There are signs that we are bestirring ourselves in this direction. Heretofore fish-glue has always been made from the skins of white fish. It has now been suggested that, in this country, the bones might be put to similar account, the gummy content thereof being quite pronounced. Expert opinion favours the contention that such might be carried out to advantage, but there is one supreme difficulty—the adequate supply of the essential bones. They could be drawn from the filleting trade, but the extent of this supply is somewhat problematical. Fish-bones as such have not yet attained the high estate of recognition as a distinct article of commerce. Nevertheless a possible way out of this difficulty has been suggested. It should be quite practicable, when employing the oil extraction process to which I refer later, to sift out the larger bones before submitting the dry residue to the grinding process. In this way it would be possible to secure a ready supply of the necessary raw material for the production of the glue.

It has also been suggested in certain home circles that herring offal might be treated in such a way as to yield fish-glue, but this represents a venture upon untrodden ground. From such a statement it must not be inferred that this residue could not be induced to yield the substance desired, but so far as is known the offal has never been devoted to this purpose. Nevertheless, the suggestion is to be applauded. It is indicative of the new spirit attending the disposal of fish offal and goes to prove that British commercial pioneering is far from being numbered among the lost arts. The mere launch of the inquiry has sufficed to spur the chemist to investigate the problem, and any success achieved in the laboratory in this direction will represent an enormous progressive stride owing to the magnitude of our herring fishery.

At the moment it is the recovery of the oil, meal, and fertilizer which constitutes the primary objectives of the industry. Of the three possible by-products the meal is doubtless the most remunerative. To a certain degree the contemporary concentration of effort upon the conversion of the offal into meal is due to the fact that this constituted the essence of German endeavour in these islands before the war. This meal was in keen demand in Germany, and the bulk thereof was dispatched to that country and Japan. The interruption of this supply to the former, as a result of the outbreak of hostilities, hit the enemy somewhat severely. Not only was he thus deprived of the crude meal prepared in Britain, but he was also denied the opportunity to turn the waste accruing from the consumption in the Fatherland of the heavy imports of British herring which were also summarily cut off. Doubtless Germany cherishes hopes that her industrious sons, who specialized in this distinctive craft, will be permitted to return to the scene of their former labours and to exploit British fish-scrap once again to the advantage of the German nation upon the conclusion of peace. May the wish become no more than father to the thought. We have not failed to profit from the many lessons taught by the war: we have been forced to recognize the many virtues of fish-meal and have made, and still are making, spirited efforts to repair the losses in this line of trading which, from our indifference and lack of imagination, we lost.

To galvanize British effort the fish-meal and fish-manure (guano) manufacturers have joined hands. Propaganda has been waged vigorously by the association, while agricultural societies and colleges have willingly co-operated to spread the gospel of enlightenment. Farmers have been canvassed sedulously, and the value of these by-products for feeding stock and soil have been brought convincingly before them. As a poultry food fish-meal is declared to be unsurpassable, and this circumstance has been driven well home. The result of this onslaught has been to force the farmer, an admittedly difficult individual to convince, into the admission that these products are possessed of far-reaching potentialities, the result being that, to-day, an increasing demand for fish-meal and guano prevails, which has exercised the obvious effect of stimulating the exploitation of fish-scrap to a very pronounced degree.

During the war circumstances militated against the fulfilment of any impressive programme of development along modern lines. Plant and machinery could not be procured owing to the prior claims advanced by other industries. Consequently the problem became resolved rather into the modernization and adaptation of existing plants, many of which suffered from being woefully inefficient. But even in this direction much was achieved which cannot fail to be of distinct value, since it has served to illustrate what can be done in this field to financial profit. Now that trade is returning to the normal we may safely anticipate a striking advance along the whole industrial line in the installation of comprehensive plants coinciding with the very latest expressions of scientific thought, and which will not fail to conduce to the winning of impressively additional wealth from this hitherto sadly-neglected material.

So far as the white fish is concerned the conversion of the offal into meal represents a straightforward operation. It is merely dried under vacuum along the lines already described, a steam-jacketed drier or concentrator being used for the purpose. If the waste be stale or heavily impregnated with salt it cannot be used as food, the product in this instance being bagged for sale as a fertilizer. But the manufacturer, owing to the enhanced profit to be derived from the sale of the product in the feeding-meal form naturally strives to secure this article, and so, if designed for this use, the meal, after issuance from the drier, is passed through a disintegrator and is then graded through a sifting reel.

It is the exploitation of the herring and the sprat, both in the form of offal, glut catches, and condemned consignments, which presents the most attractive future in these islands. When it is remembered that the annual yield of the sea to the fishermen of Britain represents a round 4,000,000,000 herrings, it will be conceded that here must be a Klondyke of waste. Unfortunately, however, the issue is not so straightforward as it would seem to be. An enormous quantity of the catches are set aside for salting and curing to allow of export to foreign markets. In the past Russia and Germany were our largest customers for this foodstuff, their combined purchases running to a round 800,000,000 lb. and exceeding £4,000,000—$20,000,000—in value. When the fish is salted the treatment of the offal presents a rather teasing problem. Its excessive salt content reacts against its conversion into poultry-meal except in very small quantities which are almost too insignificant to demand attention. When a fish-meal carries salt in excess of 5 per cent. it can be used as a constituent of blended or compounded foods, and then only sparingly. Consequently the possible consumption in this field can only be relatively trifling.

By salting the herring the saline content is increased to 20 or even 25 per cent., and the removal of the added salt offers a supreme obstacle. Fortunately it crops up only at certain seasons, but, at these periods, the quantities of offal and scrap to be treated assume imposing dimensions. As may be imagined, from what has been related, salt is the bugbear to the meal manufacturer and he is hard put to it to bring the figure down to one coinciding with trading requirements. What he desires is a simple, inexpensive process whereby the excessive salt may be eliminated without impairing the other virtues of the material in any way. Needless to say the discovery of such a preliminary treatment, meeting with his desires, will be received with unfeigned delight.

The suggestion has been advanced that the extraneous, or added, salt might be removed by subjecting the offal to a washing process. Undoubtedly, in this way, the desired end could be consummated to a certain degree, but, at the same time, there is the danger that the water would not only carry away the salt but would bear with it an appreciable proportion of the valuable nitrogenous matter which it is imperative should be retained. Unfortunately the salt is not completely free; it permeates the fish through and through and is held by the tissues. In view of the difficulty obtaining the manufacturer, as a rule, converts the heavily salted offal into fertilizer, but the enhanced salt content of the manure is regarded with certain misgivings even by the farmer.

This problem assumed its maximum intensity during the war. Huge quantities of barrelled herrings, destined for export to the countries upon the other side of the North Sea, were held up by the authorities, who feared that they might ultimately find their way into enemy countries. As there was no other outlet for this produce, the salted herrings not being regarded with favour here, these prohibited exports were ultimately thrown upon the hands of the meal manufacturers. Such an instance is decidedly abnormal, but as already mentioned the issue arises to a lesser degree under conditions of ordinary trading, and, consequently, demands a certain amount of attention.

The engineering firm specializing in plants for the exploitation of fish-scrap, to which I have alluded, is attacking this problem in its extensive well-equipped laboratories. The chemist favours the theory that the extraneous salt is capable of ready removal. He also realizes that the perfection of a simple and cheap process to this end will probably accomplish a further beneficial purpose. Traces of blood are occasionally encountered in the offal, and their presence tends to discolour the resultant meal. These might possibly be eliminated contemporaneously with the removal of the added salt.

While I have dealt somewhat at length with the artificial salt problem, as it were, it must not be imagined that it constitutes a constant or inseparable feature of the fish-waste by-product recovery industry: far from it. Herring offal, while extremely varied, falls into certain distinctive classes. There is the scrap, or waste, as well as condemned consignments and surplus incidental to the fresh fish trade, which during the recurring periods undoubtedly touches a very high figure. Then there is the kippering and curer offal, the yield of which is much more formidable and easily recoverable from accumulations at central plants where such work is carried out upon a large scale. The kippering refuse, of course, represents that incurred in the process of kippering the herring and, comprising for the most part the gut of the fish, presents a material having little body or substance.

This waste is difficult to treat except along the most modern lines. For this reason, in pre-war days it was exploited only to a limited degree. Yet its accumulation was enormous. At some plants the piles of such refuse, which were to be seen, contained several hundred tons. It failed to arouse earnest attention until the famine in oil burst upon us during hostilities. Then these dumps created interest because it was realized that such residue is rich in oil, enormous quantities of which were lying dormant. Forthwith plants were erected and equipped with the very latest types of machinery, which augurs well for the continuation of this manifestation of industrial enterprise in the future, owing to the great possibilities attending such reclamation.

Curer offal presents the heads and other waste portions as well as a material quantity of broken fish. This refuse has far more body, and so can be more readily treated to allow the valuable by-products to be recovered.

While we undoubtedly lagged behind our competitors in turning fish-scrap to commercial account it must not be imagined that we completely ignored this potential source of wealth. Nevertheless, for the most part, we were content to conduct operations along obsolete, inefficient lines, obtaining a return far below what might have been recorded. Had these plants been of modern design and equipment fish-waste reclamation would have advanced by leaps and bounds during the war period. As new machinery could not be obtained the main task was to adapt the existing plant to satisfy the demands of the authorities, which proved a task of distinct magnitude in itself, because the majority of the installations in operation possessed no striking feature other than that of being extremely wasteful from every point of view, offering, in fact, the most convincing illustrations of How not to do it!

In some works the practice was to cook the offal in steam-jacketed cookers. Now, when kippering offal, for instance, is being treated, the material, owing to lack of body, tends to coagulate at a certain stage in the process, a large volume of oil being liberated. This oil was skimmed and the residue, resembling a stiff mud, was removed to be wrapped in cloths for submission to extreme pressure in hydraulic presses. This action served to express a certain proportion of the oil remaining in the sludge. The compressed cakes were then transferred to a steam-jacketed drier to be reduced to meal.

This process, which has not yet been completely superseded, suffers from being involved and prolonged, although these do not constitute the most adverse features. The greatest objections to it are the retention of an appreciable quantity of oil in the residue, even after subjection to pressure, which accordingly becomes associated with the meal. The last-named being sold for fertilizing purposes, the presence of the oil is objectionable, while the product also suffers from being low in ammonia. Furthermore, while the sludge is being pressed a pronounced volume of watery liquid is driven out to be lost down the drains. Seeing that this liquid carries valuable manurial constituents its loss is greatly to be deplored, and materially lowers the fertilizing—and financial—value of the meal.

A variation of the foregoing process is made in other works, but it only tends towards greater inefficiency and heavier losses. In this case only the oil resulting from treatment of the material in the hydraulic press is recovered! A third system involves the passage of the pressed cakes through a continuous direct fire-heated drier. This method is particularly objectionable, not only from the offensive odours which are thrown off, but because the ammonia content of the waste undergoes serious depreciation, owing to the high temperature employed. In certain instances the herring offal is even charged into the apparatus without any attempt having been made to separate the oil! Such a system, as will readily be recognized, has nothing whatever to recommend it.

It is the observance of such indifferent and unscientific methods as the foregoing which has been responsible for the commercial possibilities of fish-scrap to be belittled. The oil is undoubtedly ignored intentionally because fish oils are generally held to be worthy of inclusion only among the lowest grades of industrial oils. Nevertheless, were a chemist to be attached to such wasteful plants much needed reforms could be promptly introduced, although it is highly probable that the plants would be scrapped instantly at his instigation because of their lamentable inefficiency.

But we need labour no longer in ignorance. Modern science, as represented by chemistry and engineering, is able to offer an equipment capable of extracting the whole of the oil content down to 1 per cent. In other words, 99 per cent. of the oil contained in the raw offal and scrap can be recovered both cheaply and easily. The loss of such a minute fraction as 1 per cent. undoubtedly represents a remarkable chemico-mechanical achievement.

The new process completely coincides with the dictates of contemporary science. The fundamental features are cooking the refuse under vacuum and the ultimate extraction of the oil by the aid of a suitable solvent such as benzine or other equally volatile spirit, or the benzine extraction system may be used from the very beginning, in a single and complete process. I have described this highly ingenious system in a previous chapter together with the system of operation followed. Obviously while the highest efficiency can only be derived from the installation of the complete plant, the processes being interrelated, the designer found it possible to modernize some of the old-fashioned and wasteful equipments to a very striking degree by the introduction of certain features to meet the exigencies of the moment.

A very convincing illustration of what can be achieved in this connection may be related. A firm specializing in the exploitation of herring offal desired to extend its plant, but was baulked in its intentions owing to the various restrictions which were in force. Accordingly it was compelled to consider the situation of how to derive more from the existing facilities without adding to them, at least only to an insignificant degree. At first sight this may seem to have presented a somewhat intricate, if not actually impossible, undertaking. Yet it was effected.

The modified arrangement introduced is decidedly interesting. The offal is cooked in the steam-jacketed cooker, as much as possible of the oil being skimmed from the mixture at the critical stage of coagulation. The sediment, or mud-like residue, is then transferred to an extractor where the remaining oil is recovered. This converts the residue into a still stiffer substance to be finished off in the ordinary steam-jacketed drier, instead of being completely dried in the extractor as originally designed.

This solution has proved to be exceedingly simple and eminently efficient. Although considerable handling is involved the extracting capacity of the plant has been nearly doubled. The advantages to be recorded are:—

(1) Ability to handle very much larger charges of waste when not reducing the material to a dry meal;

(2) Reduction of the raw material to the extent of the oil removed from the cookers;

(3) Reduction of the time required for the oil extraction by approximately 50 per cent.

Consequently, although the adapted, or modified, process entails the employment of extra labour, a result entirely due in this instance to the disposition of the plant in the works, the firm in question is able to obtain the value of the oil which would otherwise be lost, and which more than offsets the cost of the extra labour involved.

As a result of this development a review of the whole problem associated with the recovery of the by-products from fish-scrap was made. Cooking plant is not so expensive as extraction equipment. The question arose as to whether, or not, it would be possible, by the introduction of suitable automatic handling and other labour-saving devices, to obtain highly satisfactory results and efficiency from a combined plant. If this could be done then it would be comparatively easy and inexpensive to bring many of the existing recovery plants up to date to the advantage of the firms concerned. But the factor of capital outlay demands careful consideration, more especially in all matters pertaining to the utilization of waste products, because costs must be forced down to the irreducible minimum to show the necessary return to render them attractive. The result of close investigation of the issue led to the ultimate conclusion that the cost involved in connection with the cookers, extraction plant, and driers, in all probability, would be heavier than that incidental to the laying down of a straightforward extraction plant, pure and simple, to deal with the raw material and to turn it out as a dry product in one operation. One admitted advantage accrues from subjecting the material to preliminary cooking in steam-jacketed cookers. The oil thus obtained is somewhat better in quality than that derived by recourse to the solvent.

The modified or combined process above described enables one distinct end to be achieved. The objectionable and wasteful, as well as expensive pressing plant can be dispensed with. It also enables the ammonia content of the finished meal to be improved very noticeably, as the following analyses of typical meals produced by the respective processes prove somewhat conclusively.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the enhanced yield of phosphates and ammonia fully justifies the additional expenditure incurred in regard to the plant and labour in connection with the extraction process, quite apart from the main duty of the plant. This is to extract all the oil, multiplying the usual yield many times over. Moreover, the quality of the oil-free meal obviously is superior.

With herring offal the extraction process by benzine ensures nothing being removed except the moisture and the oil. None of the liquor with its valuable ammonia is lost. Consequently the whole of the nitrogenous matter is combined with the resultant fertilizing meal.

To indicate the advantage of the benzine extraction process over the old-fashioned method of cooking, pressing, and subsequently drying the pressed cakes the accompanying analyses may prove informative. They refer to herring-mixed meal produced from kippering offal and damaged herring respectively.

Benzine Extraction Process.

Old Process.

Both essential fertilizing constituents are lower by the second than by the first process. This is not surprising in view of the fact that the subjection of the sludge to pressure drives off the watery liquor which is allowed to escape into the drains, notwithstanding that it carries a pronounced proportion of the ammonia and phosphate. Then it will be seen that the benzine process yields a manure carrying a less proportion of the oil which the farmer regards with misgiving, because the oil has been recovered for sale as such. In other words it will be seen that, under the old process, 14.4 per cent. of oil is allowed to pass to the land where it is not required, instead of to industry where it is in keen request. At the prices which prevailed during the war this represented a wastage of £7—$35—per ton of fertilizer.

Under the extraction or solvent process the meal is turned out in a perfectly dry condition, either for use as a poultry food or fertilizer, the recovery of the oil and drying being completed in the one operation. The method is not only the acme of simplicity but it assures the maximum yield of oil, only 1 per cent. being lost. It is also rapid, it being possible to treat a charge of 8 tons of offal in 10 to 12 hours in one unit.

White fish and general offal do not contain sufficient oil to warrant the expense of solvent extraction. If it should be desired to secure 99 per cent. of the slight proportion the offal carries then submission to the benzine process is imperative, for the simple reason that it cannot possibly be recovered in any other way. The modern system of drying such offal is by steam heat under vacuum or reduced pressure.

This process, to which I have also devoted adequate attention previously, not only enables a product of high quality to be obtained, enabling it to command an enhanced price in the market, but it also conduces towards the retention of the nitrogenous contents of the meal. From the fertilizing point of view this is the main end to be achieved. Colour of the meal is another factor which demands recognition. It plays a far more prominent part in the commercial value of the product than might possibly be conceived. The American drying system, operating along direct fire-heated lines, while efficient so far as it goes, namely, the elimination of the moisture, yields a darker coloured meal, owing to the high temperature which has to be used, while, of course, the nitrogen content is lowered by such practice.

The vacuum system has also proved highly efficient for the production of cod-liver oil. The temperature of rendering being low gives an oil of superior colour and odour, two factors of vital importance when the oil is being extracted for medicinal purposes. This is a somewhat delicate product to manufacture, especially when the livers are in a state of partial decomposition, because in this instance colour and sweet taste are particularly vital and difficult to assure.

I have referred to the circumstance that fish oils commercially rule low in the scale of industrial oils. But even fish oils possess one feature common to the highest grades of oils. They carry a certain proportion of glycerine. During the war the oil extracted from fish-scrap and offal was subjected to further treatment to swell our domestic supplies of this indispensable commodity. Even under normal conditions the reclamation of oil from fish waste to secure this glycerine offers further inducement to this phase of industry, and is also capable of considerable development.

Fish oils are also destined to play a more prominent part upon the table than has been the case heretofore. Their inherent fluidity and refusal to solidify, except at low temperatures, have hitherto reacted against their use in this direction. But the increasing demand for margarine as a substitute for butter, and the discovery of the hydrogenating process for eliminating the two outstanding defects, have invested the future for fish oils with additional significance, more especially as by the hardening process, as it is called, the pungent taste and aroma so distinctively of the sea and its inhabitants are removed. By virtue of this discovery fish oils are entering more and more extensively into the manufacture of margarine. The circumstance that they yield a product so closely allied to the genuine article from the dairy as to be difficult of detection, except by elaborate investigation and specialized methods, has served to accentuate this tendency.

We must derive far-reaching benefits from the utilization of our fish waste of every description—not only the offal arising from the preparation of the foodstuff for the table either in a fresh, kippered, cured, or canned condition, but the inedible contributions from the trawls. Those members of the sea’s vast and varied population, such as the whale, which are trapped for certain highly-prized portions of their bodies, must be fully exploited. For decades the whale fishery has been conducted along the most wickedly wasteful lines for which we are paying to-day. The Scandinavian whalers have been among the worst offenders in this respect, but they are now being compelled to turn from the folly of their ways and are endeavouring to utilize the whole of the carcases of their prizes.

So far as the average member of the community in these islands is concerned it is a moot point whether he, or she, has any tangible idea of the magnitude of the British sea-fishing industry. From the abundance and cheapness of the food a vague notion obtains that it must certainly be somewhat impressive. To obtain a graphic idea of its enormous proportions we must venture beyond the limits of domestic consumption and see how we help to feed the foreigner. Under normal conditions we ship approximately 1,250,000,000 lb. of fish every year, representing in value a round £7,750,000—$38,750,000. Of this huge total the humble herring represents nearly 1,120,000,000 lb., valued at approximately £6,000,000—$30,000,000. Of the total herring catch about one thousand million—1,000,000,000—lb. are subjected to curing or salting for the foreign markets, the value of those exports being £5,350,000—$26,750,000—so that the herring may truly be said to form the backbone of the British sea-fisheries. In these circumstances, and bearing in mind the huge quantities handled, the item of waste must necessarily loom heavy. It cannot be avoided. Therefore it behoves us to turn our harvest from the sea to the utmost advantage and to eliminate the item “loss” from our operations.

As the by-products from fish-waste become appreciated we may even proceed to the lengths pursued along the northern Atlantic seaboard of the United States. There the harvest of the menhaden, a fish totally unfit for human consumption, is carried out expressly for the oil obtainable therefrom. It has become a flourishing trade—one which is steadily expanding—special vessels being engaged in the fishery. While it is questionable if much fish of a comparative character and totally unsuited to the table is to be caught in the waters around our coasts, Farther Britain can point to a different state of things. Our Dominions should find it profitable to emulate the American example and exploit adjacent waters essentially for inedible fish to extract the oil and to convert the residue either into fertilizer or poultry food. There is a lucrative and developing market for all three commodities.

But the problem of to-day, in so far as it particularly affects Great Britain, is to solve the issue incidental to the glut catches, so as to prevent the wasteful distribution of the raw fish over the land as the easiest way out of a perplexing dilemma. If we can divert such unwanted hauls from the sea to reclamation factories, confident in the knowledge that there they will be worked up to their utmost in the interests of commerce, we shall be able to record an industrial and economic achievement of incalculable consequence to ourselves. To dump newly-caught fish upon the land merely because it cannot be absorbed by the community as a foodstuff constitutes one of the most deplorably wasteful, if not actually criminally extravagant, charges ever levelled against contemporary civilization.

CHAPTER VII
WINNING WEALTH FROM SLAUGHTER-HOUSE OFFAL, CONDEMNED MEAT BONES, AND BLOOD

Undoubtedly one of the wonders of civilization is the ability to preserve and transport such a readily perishable foodstuff as meat in a chilled and frozen condition for an indefinite period of time. By this means cattle roaming the extensive ranches of North and South America, Australia and New Zealand, are rendered available in a fresh form for presentation upon the tables of Britain to supplement the severely limited domestic supplies. During recent years the growth of this traffic has been remarkable, and it will not be long before we touch the million-tons-a-year mark for imported beef, mutton, pork, exclusive of ham and bacon.

Yet the development of this trade has reacted directly against our own interests. The dispatch of the carcases to these islands in the dressed condition has deprived, and still is depriving us, of much valuable raw material to which we should have access were we to raise sufficient meat to satisfy our own needs. This is the exploitation of the offal or inedible portions of the beast, the products obtained from which are not only of marked intrinsic value, but enter into so many other and varied industries. From this statement it must not be imagined that we are entirely prevented from establishing a meat-waste industry, since our domestic killing trade is of distinct significance and is supplemented to a certain degree by the “home-killed” business. The latter, as is well known, represents the shipment of cattle to this country in the live condition to be slaughtered upon landing.

In these circumstances it would be perfectly feasible for us to establish the meat residue exploitation industry upon a comprehensive scale but for the fact that existing conditions are decisively adverse, although we could scarcely aspire to attain the magnitude and operations of the huge meat-packing plants of Chicago. It is extremely doubtful if we really appreciate the possibilities of this business, and, because of our ignorance, we, as a nation, are the losers. We have permitted the local or territorial slaughter of cattle to be carried to an extreme length. The municipal abattoir constitutes the feature of the slaughtering trade of these islands, and although this practice was introduced to overcome the shortcomings of the private slaughter-house, which were many, and to ensure killing and dressing animals under the most hygienic and scientific conditions, yet it is a matter for serious consideration as to whether the municipal practice should not be superseded by a centralized system, acting under State or private control, the latter for preference, so as to give full rein to the display of initiative.

There is no logical reason why the slaughter of domestic cattle should not be conducted at a central point. Such a plant conducted along the lines practised at Chicago would be of far-reaching benefit to the community. Supervision would be more effective, simpler and less expensive, inasmuch as it would be possible to dispense with the multiplicity of officials now obtaining—another form of waste. It would also enable the residues from the trade to be turned to utilitarian advantage along the most economic and profitable lines, owing to their very bulk. A visit to the Chicago stockyards brings home very forcibly the magnitude of this trade and the wealth to be won from the residues which accrue. It has been declared, and with considerable truth, that at the American stockyards the development of the by-products is every whit as extensive and as important as the preparation of the ostensible staple product. It is actually more profitable, and brings in as great if not greater revenue.

The arguments which would be levelled against the establishment of a central meat-packing plant in this country are many and obvious. In the first place full voice would be given to the apparent futility of sending a live animal from 20 to 600 or 700 miles merely to be killed, and to return the dressed carcase to be sold. Superficially it does appear to be a senseless employment of transport and to incur needless expense. Yet such a practice is followed upon the North American continent. Animals are shipped alive over hundreds of miles to be killed and returned to the point where they were bought, in the form of dressed meat ready for consumption. But the argument is fatuous. Centralized slaughtering facilities secure equitable distribution, as well as prompt movement, since the trade is sufficiently heavy to demand the inauguration of a special handling and transportation system. Then again such a practice allows bulk shipment combined with long haulage, two essential conditions to economic transportation. If the method were practised in these islands, not only would it be possible to take full advantage of the latest manifestations of science in so far as it affected the industry, but it would enable the residues forthcoming in enormous quantities to be treated upon the spot in the reclamation plant forming an integral part of the stockyard equipment. The revenue derived from the disposal of the by-products rendered available in a commercial form would not only more than offset the charges incurred concerning transportation, but would tend towards the primary product—the meat—being sold at a lower figure to the public.

Under the present system of local killing much of the offal escapes reclamatory treatment for the simple reason that the quantity forthcoming is so limited as not to be deemed worthy of exploitation, or else is subjected to obsolete or inefficient by-product recovery methods. In many instances it is sold to a contractor who endeavours to conduct bulk treatment upon a reduced scale, paying a relatively low price for the refuse and one quite disproportionate to its true value. In some instances the contractor does not attempt to carry out by-product recovery, but merely acts as a middleman, dispatching the various residues to the quarters where he knows they will be taken in hand to be worked up.

During the past few years the science of winning wealth from slaughter-house offal of every description has made enormous strides, effort having been concentrated upon the recovery of the very utmost yield of by-products for the simple reason that the demand therefor is exceedingly keen, while prices are necessarily attractive. This applies particularly to the fats, the value of which ranges up to as much as £50 per ton, according to grade, although other commodities simultaneously secured, such as meal for cattle-feeding and fertilizers, are able to command equally impressive prices. A graphic idea of the degree to which this science has been advanced is obvious from the dimensions, comprehensiveness and modernity of the by-product installations which have been laid down as adjuncts to the mammoth cattle-killing plants in various parts of the world, the majority of which, as I have pointed out in a previous chapter, are of British origin, design and construction, and many of which have been, and still are being, supplied from this country. Surely it is somewhat anomalous that other countries should come to us for the latest expressions of ingenuity and invention in this province when we are unable to point to a single pretentious plant in this country! At the same time it is distinctly gratifying to learn that if Britain cannot display sufficient imagination or commercial acumen to use plants of this character, she certainly can build them, and is not only able to keep well astride of the times, but is fertile in thought concerning a highly specialized ramification of industry.

As a matter of fact it may come somewhat of a surprise to learn that British thought is far in advance of American practise, as manifested by the stockyards at Chicago in regard to the utilization of appliances and process for the treatment of meat residues. The interests at the mammoth plant were approached with the latest British development in this line—the solvent extraction process described in a previous chapter—it being recognized that its introduction to the American stockyards would apply the seal of highest approval to the invention and represent a great achievement for the British interests which had evolved and perfected it. It possessed every virtue likely to make appeal, more particularly the means of enabling the American packers to add to their already huge profits. The process was investigated, and its superiority over the methods in vogue was frankly conceded. But the Chicago industry firmly declined to embrace the invention, not from feelings of hostility, but because the interests concerned had developed their own plant along lines, and to a degree which would not readily permit a revolution. To have introduced the new idea would have been to disorganize the whole business of by-product reclamation and would have demanded the revision of methods, knowledge, practice, and routine. Questions of cost did not enter into the issue at all. The packers merely declined to disturb the system they had standardized and had carried to such a level of perfection.

But the packers were not wholly opposed to progress. Although not willing to introduce the system into their plants, they were quite ready to turn over their wastes, after they had extracted as much as they could of material value therefrom under their system, to the British interests. The inventors accepted the proposal, and to-day one may witness the strange and anomalous spectacle of British interests taking over the residues from residues from the packing plants for further treatment, and conducting the unusual method of trading to their financial profit. It was confidence in the superiority of the new idea which brought such signal success. Yet this exploitation of wastes from wastes is not peculiar to Chicago. It is even being practised to a limited degree in these islands, which suffices to prove that certain quarters are fully cognizant of the wealth awaiting to be won from waste, and that it pays to conduct the process to the recovery of the uttermost retrievable ounce even from such material.

Certain of our municipalities, fully alive to the value of the waste incidental to the operations of their abattoirs, are sparing no effort to utilize such material to the full. However, in many instances, their enterprise is thwarted by the circumstance that the butchers making avail of the Corporation facilities extended, possess certain vested interests which must be honoured. Accordingly it is not possible to conduct reclamation to such limits as would be attainable were methods comparable with those prevailing at the Chicago stockyards in operation. To be able to extract the utmost from the refuse it is imperative that the authorities should be given unrestricted control of the animal, preferably absolute ownership. This is the reason why the big private packing plants are able to achieve such eminent success. They purchase the live animals, and consequently are free to exploit them in accordance with the principles they have elaborated. Nevertheless, despite the difficulties obtaining, much good work is being accomplished in British circles concerning abattoir waste exploitation.

The case of Edinburgh may be cited as an illustration. I purposely select the Scottish city for the reason that—so far as municipalities are concerned—it is possessed of one of the most up-to-date installations in the country, is enterprising, and serves to bring home how vested interests can mar a record of possible achievement by restrictive action. The blood is sold to a contractor, who, however, is compelled to sell back to the meat trade such quantities of this article as may be required. A proportion of the offal is also sold by the meat trade.

Diseased meat, condemned as unfit for human consumption, is treated by the authorities in the Scott plant which they have acquired. The waste is thoroughly sterilized by steam, the residuals, comprising non-edible tallow, meat fibre and bones being sold. The plant cost £600—$3,000. The working costs may be set down at approximately £200—$1,000—per annum, while the income from the sale of the uncertain quantities of meat of which disposal is made averages about £430—$2,150—per year. The hoofs and spurs of the feet of cattle, the parings of ox-feet, a small proportion of waste offal, and the manure originating in the slaughter-house, are sold by the Corporation. The sum derived from these sources during the 1917-18 financial year amounted to £533 5s.—$2,666.25—while the revenue from the sale of blood was £437 11s.—$2,187.75. All things considered it must be conceded that the by-products resulting from the operation of the slaughter-house by the Corporation of the Scottish city are fully utilized, although the defects arising from divided responsibility for the development and disposal of the wastes are obvious.