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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 1907)
2 MODERN HERATfNG. BY WILLIAM H. ADAMS. HOW MANY of the Inhabitants of Portland are aware of the conditions existing at the present time In the northwest portion of their city, near Guild's Lake, on lands owned by the city and devoted to the purpose of storage and disposal of garbage and the wastes of every description, gathered by the scaven gers? .Are they aware how Inefficient are the methods now made use of for a proper disposition of the large tonnage of refuse matter which Is constantly accu mulating at this location? Is It known beyond the precincts of the City Hall that the Engel Incinerator, repaired so often and kept in working order by the most strenuous efforts of the faithful at tendants, is really worthless for the pur pose, liable to break down at any time, in which case the city would be In a sorry plight with Its constantly increas ing tonnage of disagreeable garbage to be disposed of either by burning in the open air or by dumping It Into the lake to make new land surface? There seems to have been an unwilling ness to approach this Important subject and the taxpayer is entitled to know the reasons for a seeming apathy and studious avoidance of action in this regard, be cause physical . wellbelng of the Inhabi tants of Portland should be the first con sideration with the officials elected to rep resent them in government, and to care for the details which go so far to adver tise us to the outside world. There is no single public utility to be compared to the methodical, thorough and economical gathering of a city's wastes and refuse, and its disposal in a manner to be the least offensive to the public. We are certainly justified tn demanding from the officials of this city energetic action in this direction. The Summer sea son has passed without result ar.d the season of moist, damp and actually wet Oregon weather will soon ba with us an entire year, in fact, wasted, since the great necessity for repairs or construction were made known by articles in the pub lic press. Competent Engineer Needed. In arriving at definite conclusions and thereafter the active construction of an up-to-date plant to which all the wastes of this city shall be sent, and incident thereto the Inauguration of a better method -of house-to-house collection- of those wastes, it would seem that the one sure way to arrive at results acceptable to our officials and their constituents Is to follow the lead of European cities and employ the most competent engineer pos sible to obtain, to whom shall be sub mitted the problem before us. So little discussion has been brought out by the action of the Council thus far and so little interest has been excited in public that it may fairly be taken for granted there is no proper education on the sub ject so vital to each one of us; therefore the absolute need of securing the highest grade of engineering talent to aid our offi cials in settling upon a comprehensive plan which shall answer all purposes for years to come and give us satisfactory re sults. First Successful Incinerator. Incineration ot the wastes of a- large city, on definite lines and for a settled purpose, is comparatively a modern idea. In the year 1876 the first successful mu nicipal incinerator was constructed in "Manchester, England, and thla plant was in use for 30 years, a model for number less plants of like character which are 'to be seen throughout Europe. An incinerator of about the, same type was first constructed in the United States in the year 18S6, which was the beginning of an era of experimental oper ations along the lines of English prac tice, yet there are not six plants in suc cessful operation in the United States to day. It has been stated in many ways that the reason for absolute failure of our American experiments has been due to the employment of low-priced labor. The business has been looked upon as belonging to the scavenger class and be neath the dignity of graduate engineers In free America, always poorest -paid and least considered In the profession, where as in Europe high-grade engineering tal ent is alone entrusted with the care and management of these city public utilities. The engineers In charge of European plants are expected to have had a train ing in each of the branches of mechan ical, electrical, steam and sanitary engi neering, with years of experience in the best of practical work, and it is thede men who have 1 made the successes in the old countries and are extending their practice all over the world. We have to a certain extent accepted the inevitable and of late have established records of a few successes among American engineers, and the literature these American engi neers have given us are acknowledged textbooks on the comprehensive subject. r DSIPOSIIKI A noticeable defect in the apparatus made use of by constructors of incinera tors for many years past, and especially noticeable in the one belonging to the City of Portland, was the attempt to se cure practical Incineration of garbage by combustion of ordinary fuel in Yhe com mon type of firebox, with generation of heats around 1000 degrees F. In our own case, the wood alone contains, from 200 to 400 pounds of water in eacn ton of fuel put into the firebox; the combustion of this class of fuel can give only re ducing gases, and the result is well un derstood to be a cost per ton of garbage Incinerated fully four times as great as really needed to do the worK, under prop er conditions'. It would seem to a metallurgist beyond all reason or common sense to build huge fires in an almost open firebox, where radiation is enormous, and to direct the products of the combusion of this fuel (incomplete combustion it must be) against a sodden body of garbage, usually of great depth above the grates. Add to this mistaken practice the withdrawing of the entire bulk of combustible- gases from the surface and depending upon a tall chimney for draft to carry off the foul fumes, anil we have the utmost limit of useless expenditure of heat units and the consequent extravagant cost of oper ation. In the homely sense this pro cedure has been likened to the burning of chip piles in the streets, wherein a moderate supply of wood waste, with an admixture of leaves, grass and general sweepings of the street, will smudge the neighborhood for an indefinite time. Expensive Training Schools. A careful perusal of the literature men tioned cannot fall to impress us with the facts, so well known to metallurgists, that the incineration plants of the many American cities have been expensive training schools, yet they have brought to notice of late successful practice the re sults approaching if not equaling that of Europe. The expense of the taxpayers has been enormous, and there should be no more failures or costly operations charged to cities like Portland which is In a peculiar ly strong position for the inauguration of well understood principles, in a modern plant to be constructed by first-class tal ent, with all due regard to the necessities of the future growth of the city.. Surely this city can afford to meet this question in a liberal way and yet meet it square ly, with no mistakes in the expenditures of the needed moneys for a modern plant to care for the widely extended popula tion. Because we have delayed the con struction of a proper' plant for the pur poses mentioned. Is no reason why the whole question' should be hurriedly dis cussed and settled at the' moment. It should be a subject of close study, and the study be directed by discussion of the recommendations of the best sanitary engineer possible to secure. In the broad sense, there is no possible way to destroy the refuse of a city except with fire. The constituent dements of garbage should pass through Incandescent fuel and thus be split up' and recomblned into elements which would support com bustion, thus destroying every disease breeding germ and odor-producing vapor Throwing: Away Fuel Collected. The millions of money spent in Amer ica in abortive attempts to handle gar bage otherwise than by fire need never have been spent had the successes of the people in Europe been copied, and bettered as is the habit of American engineers). To illustrate, the tonnage of fuel used at our city plant for the very imperfect in cineration of the small amount of garbage handled each day is sufficient to incin erate three or four times the tonnage un der proper conditions. Again, the waste material, such as w.ooa. straw paper, etc., carried to the city's plant each day, and in no way utilized, is sufficient to carry on all the necessary incineration processes without 'the need of a cord of wood. It is simply a question of proper com bustion of the materials so plentiful In the waste of the city, and a modern con struction of incinerators, located In a suitable place for handling the entire waste of the city, could be made mutih more than self-supporting by modern en gineering practice. I know this statement will be difficult to impress upon the lay reader, but it is not difficult to educate oneself by a course of study in the litera ture to be found in the public libraries, by the absorption of a few of the facts which successful engineers have put' Into book form. The question of .incineration in the large way by the city Is only an exaggerated example of the practice shown number less times within a few years, i. e.. the average garbage Qf the household can be THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 15, 1907. disposed of expeditiously and positively by simple methods, such as the placing of any and all wastes of the kitchen no matter how much water they contain. In pans or dishes which will fit into the ash pit of stoves, ranges. . grates, furnaces, etc.; anything, in the house which is used for brisk fires at any time In the. day. Such a vessel or dish placed in proxim ity to the heat of the grate will become sufficiently heated to gradually lose all the water in the waste matter, and thus the waste becomes dessicated and innox ious and can be burned like any fuel. The watery vapors pass, only as needed for the support of combustion of the fuel ly ing on the grate, and however foul smell ing the waste may have' been, no odor therefrom will be noticed after passage through the incandescent fuel, whereas if any of the garbage were placed on the fire, the odors .therefrom would permeate, the entire house, tend to rust the pipes and gradually destroy the metal. . Creating Fuel Out of Garbage. Technically, the gradual evaporation of the moisture in animal or vegetable mat ter gives rise to a steam of noxious prop erties, due to the presence of hydrogen carbides, sulphides, etc.; this steam in Its passage through Incandescent fuel, is dis sociated into its constituent elements and recomblned into gaseous compounds which burn with nearly as great a degree of heat as the fuel on the grate, therefore there Is no appreciable loss in the fire fed by this evaporated water. The Incineration of garbage In the large way need only be carried on in this man ner, to be entirely . satisfactory in the sense that no nuisance is created and the crematory can be located in the middle of each block in the residence portion of the city without being known as such; In fact, there is generally much greater nui sance created by the careless storage of garbage by, hotels and restaurants than In a properly handled incinerator. I do not wish to ba understood as stating that incineration on the large scale Is carried on in the manner advised for the house holder under stress; on the contrary, the modern incinerator is an enormous fur nace into which the garbage is dumped indiscriminately with the proper percent age of combustibles to supply the heats of cremation. In this furnace the combus tion takes place above the grates with an Intensity unheard of in small apparatus. Nothing less than 2000 degrees F. will accomplish the purposes Intended, wbich assures the dissociation of all the water and the generation therefrom of water gas; the union of carbon with oxygen from the air to form carbon dioxide gas and later on recombinations of all these elements to turn out a useful carbon monoxide gas, which is an article of c6m merce Just as much as any other of the many valuable products garnered from the wastes of a large city. Can Eliminate Cost of Fuel. Judging from an inspection of the av erage refuse materials which have been carried to, the city's plant during the past few years and calculating that the city should be much better. cared for and no wastes be allowed to cumber the streets and vacant lots, It would be fair-to state that there is sufficient fuel in the refuse materials now gathered to supply all necessary combustion to perfectly incin erate the garbage and refuse, and that no expense whatever need be incurred by the city for this Item of fuel. The true principles of incineration of garbage by which the wastes are made to support combustion mean a large saving In the costs of this constant and usually dis agreeable service. However surcharged with water, in a climate like this, there never need be a qustion of nuisance if the watery vapors are made to pass through a mass of incandescent fuel, and the great A Strictly the - Work, ol an Engineer Who Understands Modern Methods o! Turning Waste Into Fuel surplus of wood waste in this city insures the necessary fuel for this proper incin eration. There are many cities wliere the con centration and disposal of aa city wastes and refuse is much more of a nuisance and menace to the well-being of a peo ple than in this city. There could be no more impracticable method devised than the present one of carriage of all refuse materials (except those disposed In the gulches and back-lots) from all portions of ' the widely separated dis tricts of Portland to the city grounds near Guild's Lake. It would be dilfflcult to suggest a more expensive and less satisfactory method of disposal of wastes Belief in Ghosts and Recent Views of Prominent Men W'hb Have Made BY GEORGE A. THACHER. VOUR recent editorial on ghosts and immortality says that the be lief in ghosts arose from the be lief in immortality. Permit me to ask how you know that It was not the other way around? Even the man with a disordered imagination starts from a fact in forming a hypothesis. Even the victims of lunacy have an impres-. slon of a fact to start with and they govern their actions accordingly. As their 'facts don't exist, their conduct is what we call crazy. Maybe our pre historic ancestors put the cart before the horse, as you suggest, but if they predicted immortality because of some thing invisible' tha seemed to escape from the body at the moment of death, why did they claim it for men and deny it to the balance of the ani mals. The physical process of death Is identical, so far as science has been able to determine. Permit me to smuggest that primitive man was more interested in facts (probably) than in a logical expecta tion of seeing: ghosts, because he had formed the hypothesis of immortality because of escaping breath. As for your statement that phychlcal researchers- make the same argument as primitive man that if the spirit survived death it ought to show Itself now and then permit me to correct your mistake. We don't know what primitive man did, but we do know that psychical researchers are simply collecting facts concerning apparitions of both the living and the dead, and all Instances of .curious mental phenomena, like telepathy and clairvoyance. Naturally, the spiritualistic hypothesis .has been considered along with others, to explain the facts which are genuine, but the facts about these matters were the objects of search and Investigation. It was a question whether there were any facts except those of Illusion. The only claim of psychical researchers to be scientific men must rest on their discovery of facts. " There have been rumors for many hundreds, of years of these facts, but the scientific question s. do they exist? The psychical re searcher does not put the cart before the horse whatever primitive man did. He is the target for enough brickbats as it Is from Professor Haeckel down to the editor of comic papers. As for your comments on a previous letter of mine, I will say that I ventured no opinion concerning the justice of God. You had stated that the world reeked with Injustice and cruelty and I sug gested that that was a bad argument to prove Justice in the Creator. The posi tion is this as I understand it. Among than the one fostered by the city for many years. . - Differing from this and a simple solu tion of the greater problem of handling the wastes for years to come, .would be the methods employed in nearly all the cities lying along water channels, viz.: carriage of all wastes to large scows, moored at convenient points along the Willamette River. So far as the city Is concerned, and the people should be con sulted In this matter first, the quickest disposal of the wastes are the best for all concerned. Thereafter, it is a matter for consideration as to the most modern and least offensive method of ultimate disposal of the dumpage from the scows. scientific men like Haeckel there is no hesitation in denying most positively the existence of God as well as immortality of man. Haeckel's latest book, "The Riddle of the Universe," is not only sold by the hundred thousand copies, but he is quoted aa an authority by many edi tors. His reputation in his own field of biology gives an undue weight to his posi tive assertions . about other matters. Haeckel claims that all the psychic ac tivities of man must be traced to individ ual cells and consist of attractions and repulsions. Sir Oliver Lodge says that apparently Haeckel hopes no one will at tempt to trace psychic activities any far ther them the cells. The assumption that God is just as well as that God exists Is purely a matter of metaphysics. The world shows design, therefore we assume that it Is proven that It was created by a wonderful in telligence. We assume his Justice be cause we, his creatures, have a concep tion of Justice. To the people who be lieve with Haeckel those conclusions are foolish. To them there is no ethical ar gument for immortality. For them there Is no faith in it because their leaders In the scientific world have ridiculed it as absurd. How large a body of people have no faith? Take a census in the Portland churches and compare it with the population of the city and' repeat that throughout the Nation. That will give an idea. It will also suggest that people who do cherish faith in a just God and immortality should lend a friendly countenance to scientific inquiry into the nature of man's personality. If It should ultimately prove as a mat ter of scientific fact that their hope is not vain, then all mankind must adopt belief in an intelligent God. Men always accept the realities; there is no escape. Psychical research has never proposed to prove immortality, but nearly every Investigator of world-wide prominence has concluded that -survival of physical death has actually been proved by the investigations of the society. There is such general ignorance of that fact that you may give, me space to quote the opin ions of a few scientific men. Dr. J. H. Hyslop in a recent interview published In The Oregonlan expressed himself as fully convinced of a future ' life. Bishop H. C. Potter Apart from Rev elation, I do' not know any argument like ly to be of more service to you than that of Professor N. S. Shaler, of Har vard University, in his volume "The In dividual; A Study of Life and Death.- . Professor N. S. Shaler Trusting to the evident scientific faithfulness of these hardy explorers (psychical researchers) it appears evident that they have brought tap from that deep sea certain facts which, though shadowed by doubt, In Portland Admirably Situated for Economical Collection of Garbage Now Gathered at Great Expense There are several available sites in the lower harbor, where the scows could be unloaded in 'an economical manner, the several classes of wastes being carried to separate buildings to be utilized, i. e., the merchantable junk should be classi fied' into salable and workable materials; the iron -should be compressed and baled for sale to rolling mills; the - barrels coopered, cleansed by steam and mar keted for the thousand purposes of a large city; the glass should be sorted and made use of; the brick is useful for cement and mortar fixtures, and could be prepared at small expense for re newed use; the good lumber of the thou sands of boxes now unloaded upon the scavenger wagons could be sorted out, reduced In' size and made useful for many purposes; the bones are a valuable com Immortality Psychical Research. dicate the persistence of the . individual consciousness after death. Dr. Cesare Lombroso There is . great probability now given us through psy chical and spiritistic researches that there is a continued existence of the soul after death. Dr. Richard Hodgson I believe myself that some general relation between the various groups of phenomena as Mr. -Myers has exhibited will be proven true, and that eventually there will be completely satisfactory evidence, drawn from em pirical sources, and based on strictly sci entific grounds, entirely independent of what might be called theological and philosophical considerations, that man In deed does not die with the death f bis body. F. W. H. Myers, summing up what re corded facts proved to him ja) In the first place, they prove survival pure and simple. (b) In the second place, they prove that between the spiritual and material worlds an avenue of communication does in fact exist. (c) In the third place, they prove that the surviving spirit, retains, at least In some measure, the memories and the loves of earth. Sir Oliver Lodge I am, for all per sonal purposes, convinced of the per sistence of human existence beyond bodily death. Rev. Minot J. Savage I believe with my whole soul that it will not be long before immortality will be as much discovered as America was discovered by Columbus. To that number may be added a large list of names like Camille Flam marion, the astronomer. Professor Charles Richet, Andrew Lang, Sir Wil liam Crookes, and A. R. Wallace. - The Oregonlan has said recently that the question of immortality is the mofct important in the world. Is not the scientific evidence which has been col lected and is being collected on the subject worthy of careful scrutiny? Is It not Jumping at conclusions to say with out such scrutiny that there is not a single fact to prove survival of physical death? Fishing With Electric Light. ElUabethtown (Ky.) News. Bud Ashlock, who is one of the best fishermen in this section or any other section, is fixing to scoop up all 'the local sports who use the reel and line here abouts. He has a new contrivance which he thinks is sure to catch them. A small wire run's through the eyelets on the pole down the Una to Just below the hook, where a small electric light is attached. The wire is connected on the bank with a small portable battery. When the line to dropped into the water- the light is turned modity; and the great fteterogenious mass would go to the incinerator to support the necessary combustion for absolute de struction of the garbage. Everything should be made subservient to the actual destruction of garbage, and. this neces sity of modern civilization demands th , most careful and conscientious study with due reference as before stated to the future of this great city. . No parsi monious and one-day policy should be considered at this time: the best and most satisfactory methods should be em ployed without regard to immediate cost, and the greatest good to t..e greatest number we shall have in this city 25 years hence ought to be the motto of the officials to whom this Important ques tion shall come within the next few months. " on and attracts all the fish for SO yards around. Of course the first one to see the wriggling minnow' takes the cork under and the fish is landed. Everybody is wait ing now to hear from Bud when he goes fishing. Honoring His Memory. There wera two little boys who re cently went to visit a country aunt. Tbey were allowed to run about and get dreadfully dirty, and consequently were very happy. They adored their aunt and tried" to please her, and they succeeded in rather an odd way upon one occasion, as you will see. They were in the midst of a mud pie tournament when their aunt, carefully dressed, came out of the house and mounted into her carriage. "Where are you going. Aunt Mary?" asked John. "To Mr. Bailey's funeral," the -aunt replied. "Dear me!" sighed Billy, the younger, "I have never been to a funeral. I do wish you would take us. Auntie!" "If you had only asked sooner," said Aunt Mary, "I would have dressed you and taken you out. Mr. Bailey was our principal citizen and I would have been glad to have you do his memory honor." Away went the carriage, but John and Billy stood and pondered. To miss the funeral of the principal citizen was out of the. question; but they wanted to please Aunt Mary. There was no time to bathe, don best clothes and so forth, but they would honor the departed to the best of their ability. Imagine, then. Aunt Mary's surprise when she beheld her two well-meaning nephews walk into the vil lage church and solemnly proceed up the center aisle, bare-footed, deplorably dirty but with best hats on and rigid kid gloves! Xegro Prisoners Help Science. Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser. The State Board, of Health of Louisi ana is trying sugar molasses, in which sulphuric acid is used, on negro prison ers, to determine whether it is injurious to human health. The Harvesters. Denver Republican. The golden (learn ot grain, brixht In the sun. And trom the roadside cometf the sound of leaves That whisper in the hedge, the while the sheavaa .. . Are marshaled where the noisy binders run. Broad grows the stubble now, at day begun, Aad in the hymn the harsh machlnry weaves. There is no jarring note no voice that grieves I Nor grudges the keen blades their vict ry won; For on the harvest field great nations win 'TIs here they rise to power, or they fall; No shock of war, no battle's awful din, But on this peaceful field la settled all: Here, through long, quiet hours, far from all strife. Proud man comes humbly, that he may have life!