Garbage Disposal

Furnaces for burning garbage were first used in the U. S. at military posts ab. 1880. In 1885 one was built at Governor's Island which consumed from 10 to 30 cubic ft. per day on a grate through which the fire pa ed. and another at Allegheny, Pa., in which natural gas was used. Furnaces have since been put into operation at Pittsburg, Montreal, Des Moines, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, and other cities. Cremation is a far more effective method of garbage-disposal than that of dumping it into rivers and harbors, though generally more costly. Another method of disposal is to extract the fat from the dried garbage with naphtha, the residue being sold as a fertilizer. The naphtha is recovered by distillation from the fat.