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!