THE DISPOSAL OF REFUSE 



practically all the refuse. It must lie rememben <!. 

 however, that it produces clinker to the extent of one- 

 half the original bulk of refuse, and that this must be 

 disposed of. Sometimes the clinker can be utilized by 

 substituting it for sand in making mortar and concrete 

 blocks. Often it can only be used for filling low land. 

 Refuse furnaces are common in some parts of Europe, 

 particularly in England, but reduction works are practi- 

 cally unknown abroad. 



Some cities situated by the sea carry the refuse of 

 their houses and streets to sea and there dump it over- 

 board. There is no objection to this proceed- 

 ing if the point selected is far enough from 

 land and the barges do not produce a nuisance going in 

 and out of the harbor, two requirements which are 

 rarely fulfilled in practice. Sometimes fragments of the 

 refuse float ashore and cause annoyance. Barrels and 

 boxes, corks, bottles, and the remains of fruit and 

 vegetables are likely to come ashore. Lumps of grease 

 and the dead bodies of small animals are the most 

 offensive portions. When the garbage of New York 

 City is dumped at sea, it fouls the beaches for a distance 

 of from fifty to seventy-five miles. After being dumped 

 this garbage has been observed to move through the 

 water in masses at the rate of nearly two miles an hour, 

 under the influence of a moderate wind. 



The term ashes means, as a rule, simply ashes and 

 cinders of coal and wood, although garbage, refuse, and 

 broken bricks and even earth may be, in some 



Utilization of 



measure, mixed with it. This material is Ashes and 

 useful chiefly for raising the level of low- 

 lying land. Ashes produced in steam-raising plants may 

 be useful for making cement, mortar, paving-slabs, etc. 



35 



