266 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XII. No. 305 



stances resting thereon, and drive the products of the resulting 

 combustion into and through the flames above the rear fireplace. 



Health Officer Thompson of Chicago visited Des Moines to in- 

 spect the working of the garbage-crematory there, and in his re- 

 port says, " The cost of the operation is much less than at the Mon- 

 treal furnace. The device is simple, but it is as effective as any I 

 know of. It does not need skilled labor, and does not use much 

 coal. Two men seemed to be able to do the work there that ten 

 did in Montreal. This furnace was built by Mr. James Callanan, a 

 wealthy Des Moines citizen, to demonstrate what could be done in 

 the way of disposing of garbage quickly and completely without 

 offensive smell, and it is attracting attention all over the country. 

 . . . I think myself that the Des Moines one is the best, and it 

 is much the cheapest, and I am in favor of putting up our first one 

 upon that plan." He further says there were thrown into the fur- 

 nace while he watched it two dead horses, seven dogs, eighteen 

 barrels of garbage, three hods of manure, fifteen bushels of rotten 

 eggs, and three barrels of rotten fish. This was all consumed in 

 one hour, with no offensive smell from the combustion, and no 

 smoke. The furnace was cold when started. 



The Des Moines Leader thus speaks of the Engle cremator ; 



its use is indicated in private dwellings in any locality in the coun- 

 try or city, but especially in all places where no system of water- 

 works is in operation, and also in villas and suburban places, where 

 there may be a private water-system, but where drainage is into 

 cesspools or small streams. The great majority of dwellings in 

 the United States have neither water-closets, cesspools, nor drain- 

 age, and have none but the most cumbrous and inadequate method 

 of coping with the great evii. The very low cost of the small fur- 

 naces brings it within the means of those who occupy the smallest 

 class of houses, and its feasibility has been demonstrated for tene- 

 ment-houses and for blocks of buildings in towns, as well as for 

 detached houses. 



For seaside or mountain resorts, where sanitary measures are 

 more and more demanded by the public, this system affords the 

 means of answering the demand, and will add to the popularity and 

 desirability ol such resorts by removing the great dread which city 

 people have of typhoid and malarial poisoning. They can be placed 

 in the basement or cellar, or in outhouses built for the purpose, 

 wherever they can be connected with a chimney for draught and 

 ventilation. 



These furnaces are themselves the receptacleor vault, and no dis- 



SPRAGUE TRUCK FOR 



" The especial advantage of this apparatus is that it maybe located 

 in any part of the city without any offence. It is the invention of 

 Andrew Engle of Baxter, lo., who also invented the process of de- 

 stroying the filth of closets in houses by fire, which process, when 

 once in general use, will avoid the necessity of polluting streams 

 and lakes with deadly sewerage. A furnace built for this purpose 

 has been in use in the old Capitol building at Des Moines for the 

 past three years. It has given complete satisfaction, and demon- 

 strated its adaptability for hotels, public buildings, and private resi- 

 dences." 



The Engle Company erected one of their crematories, twenty 

 feet long, in September of this year, at West Brighton, Coney Island, 

 and had it in use until the close of the season, giving such satisfac- 

 tion to the town authorities as to induce their hearty recommenda- 

 tion of its merits as being economical, scientific in principle, and 

 cleanly and efficient in its methods of disposing of the refuse, and 

 seemed to them the best means for the treatment of such nui- 

 sances. 



One of these furnaces has just been erected at Milwaukee, Wis., 

 and was put into operation during the recent meeting of the 

 American Public Health Association in that city, and inspected by 

 many of the members. 



It is claimed for this furnace that it is not only applicable to large 

 cities, but to almost every collection of human beings, even to a 

 single family living in a private dwelling. The inventor says that 



infectants or absorbents are needed, and no removal or handling. 

 When fired, the valves are closed until the cremating process, last- 

 ing about an hour, is over. No skill beyond ordinary intelligence 

 is required for the management of the fire or the apparatus. 



For schoolhouses, large or small, it is believed this furnace will 

 remove the greatest menace to the health of the children, and be a 

 long step toward decency and comfort. 



For factories or other establishments, and for military barracks ; 

 for railroad-stations, for camp-meeting or picnic grounds, and for 

 all other collections of summer-houses; for county court-houses, 

 jails, and other public institutions in city or country; for hospitals 

 and prisons, — this system will be found to have advantages. 



THE NEW SPRAGUE ELECTRIC-MOTOR TRUCK. 



We take pleasure in presenting our readers with a view of 

 the new electric-motor truck, constructed by the Sprague Electric 

 Railway and Motor Company of New York. This truck is the 

 same that was exhibited by the Sprague Company at the last 

 street-railway convention at Washington, and one which attracted 

 such wide attention and admiration there. 



This truck is complete in every detail, and carries two powerful 

 1 5-horse power motors of a new design, and of the finest work- 

 manship. Every detail of mechanical and electrical construction 



