MILLIONS FROM WASTE
BY
FREDERICK A. TALBOT
Author of
“The Building of a Great Canadian Railway”—“Inventions and Discoveries”—“The Steamship Conquest of the World”—“The Oil Conquest of the World,” &c., &c.
PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN LTD.
1920
(All rights reserved)
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
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PREFACE
The reclamation and exploitation of waste products for a variety ofindustrial uses constitute one of the most fascinating and increasinglyimportant developments in modern industry. It is a subject of whichvery little is known outside privileged circles, and the possibilitiesof which are but scantily appreciated by the average individual.
The purpose of this volume is to indicate certain of the most obviouschannels through which wealth incalculable is being permitted toescape, as well as the narration of something concerning the highlyingenious efforts which are being made to prevent such wastage. Whilewritten essentially for the uninitiated reader, the hope is entertainedthat it may prove of certain service to those who are fully aliveto the potentialities of refuse of every description, and who areendeavouring to redeem the country from the charge of being wantonlyextravagant in its use and consumption of raw materials, both edibleand industrial.
The subject of waste reclamation is too vast and intricate, albeitromantic and fascinating, to be treated within the scope of a singlevolume. Consequently I have confined myself rather to those phaseswhich are familiar to the average person and to the losses which areincurred from their inadvertent destruction—losses which affectboth the individual and the community in general. If it succeeds inacquainting the man-in-the-street and the woman at home with theenormous wastage, both of finance and kind, which are incurred in thesemost familiar fields during the course of the year, and persuades themto observe methods[Pg 6] of thrift, a material contribution to the nationalwealth should be effected.
In the preparation of this work I have been extended liberal andcourteous assistance from numerous sources. I am especially indebtedto the War Office, the National Salvage Council, the Food ProductionDepartment, and the Paper Controller, also to several civic andmunicipal authorities, notably of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bradford, and SanFrancisco. I have also been fortunate in securing valuable co-operationfrom several gentlemen interested in the waste problem, includingMessrs. J. H. Pooley and James Macgregor, of Messrs. Ernest Scott &Co., Limited, of London, Glasgow, Fall River, Mass., U.S.A., Montreal,and Buenos Aires; Mr. Jean Schmidt, of Industrial Waste Eliminators,Limited, London; Winget Limited, London; Mr. H. P. Hoyle, of theGrange Iron Company, Limited, Durham; Mr. F. N. Pickett, Hove; and J.Grossmann, Esq., M.A., Ph.D., F.I.C., etc., as well as the Editors ofthe World’s Work and Chambers’s Journal, to all of whom Iexpress my best thanks.
FREDERICK A. TALBOT.
Brighton, July 1919.