The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, DECEMBER 7, 1901. UTILISING WASTE.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 282, 7 December 1901, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, DECEMBER 7, 1901. UTILISING WASTE.

The subject, of utilising waste products is being given great attention in scientific circles, and an astonishing advance has been made in the direction of economical production by die way in which the bye-products are made of economical value.

Probably the great slaughter houses which furnish the most familiar illustration of the modern thrift in the utilization of what was formerly considered waste ; and even the smaller abattoirs while they haven’t attained the scientific perfection of the Chicago packing-houses, are reformed characters. Chemists have been called in. Methods for drying the refuse and extracting all the grease have been developed. The grease goes into the manufacture of soap. The residue is converted into fertilizer. After jelly has been made from the hoofs,' the hoofs and horns are used for buttons, knife-handies, etc. The health of the neighborhood and the health of the slaughterman went up. The development of the tremendous analine color industry is altogether due to chemical experiment witli waste products, in the dry distillation of coal or wood for gas, the gas passes through a succession of washers which take out its impurities. These impurities, including ammonia, carbolic acid, acetic acid, and various nitrogen compounds were formerly waste, but are now separated and used. Five per cent, of the coal used in gas manufacture is coai tar, and. by experiment, chemists found that this coal tar, always regarded as waste residue, contained substances useiui in the making of dyes. The dairy business is one of the industries with which the chemist is busying himself, and the results so far have been most satisfactory, although a much bioauer held lur tne use in casein is prophesied. The large creameries, having turned out then: cream and butter, were confronted by great quantities of skim milk for which apparently there was no use. The chemist stepped in and changed all that. The milk is curdled with alkali, and a dried product is produced which is soluble in water. This casein has been used for paper sizing, fcalsomining, etc. and successful experiments have been made with it. Moistened with water to a gelatinous consistency, put under a hydraulic press and then washed in acid, it. forms a ahard and insoluble acid, it forms a hard and insoluble substance, oi which buttons and similar articles are made. The glucose manufacturers have cal-

Jed in” chemists, and Jomid a new source of profit, The corn-grain lias in addition to its starch product', a tiny germ in which lies its life principle/ This germ was formerly crushed with the starch and then separated and thrown aside as waste. Very lately it has been shown that this germ is rich in oil which can be utilised. The germ is now separated from the starch and crushed. When steel is melted in a Bessemer converter the phosphorus, which used to be a nuisance, is separated from the steel by the introduction of lime, with which the phosphorus combines readily. This phosphorus is then used as a fertiliser. The slag from iron furnaces is converted into cement. The tin is taken from old tin cans by chemical process and is used over and over again. Kven the acids used for chemical purposes are not allowed to outlite their usefulness with The accomplishment of their purpose. The Standard Oil Company formerly wasted great quantities oi sulphuric acid after it had been used tu remove the impurities from the oil Now it is used in a fertiliser particularly adapted to soil where phosphate rock must be dissolved.