WORK AMONG BONES

Southland Times, Issue 21090, 23 May 1930, Page 3

WORK AMONG BONES

HEALTHFUL OCCUPATION. LONDON’S UNKNOWN INDUSTRY. An industry of great importance flourishes at Marshgate Lane, London, where thousands of tons of bones from London’s abattoirs and butchers’ shops are daily deposited. They are piled in enormous heaps at this spot, and from them valuable products, such as glycerine, lubricants of many kinds, fertilizers, and handles for brushes, tools, and cutlery, are obtained. The bones are collected in special vans, and on arrival at Marshgate Lane are sorted into separate heaps according to size and shane. Only the shin and marrow bones are used for handles, and the knuckles at each end are cut off by huge powersaws. The marrow-fat is then extracted and from this come glycerine and lubricants of the best quality. Rib-bones and others of a shape that cannot be utilized for handles are thrown into enormous steam-heated vats, where they are boiled continuously for many hours. When all the fat has been extracted the bones are put into powerful crushing machines, which reduce them to a powder that is sold to farmers as bone-manure. Nothing is wasted, and, as the products come from material generally regarded as valueless, the industry is prosperous. In spite of the necessarily unpleasant atmosphere, hundreds of men are employed 'in various denartments of the great boneyards. Moreover, those who work there have the best of health, for the overpowering odour from tons of decomposed bones contains properties which prevent and cure disease of the chest and lungs. Many people suffering from asthma have been 1 completely cured through working continually in the greasy, steamy atmosphere which hangs, like white billowy clouds, about the boiling sheds.