A DESTRUCTOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11368, 10 May 1900, Page 4

A DESTRUCTOR.

Much has been said lately about a destructor for the purpose of getting rid of the city refuse, which hitherto has been dumped down at any convenient or inconvenient spot all round the city, tho preference being given apparently by the authorities to some, place near the source of our water supply. A Berlin paper gives an account of what has been done there. At Berlin, the refuse was carted beyond the city, or was used to fill up hollow, swampy land, until it was recognised that these garbage heaps might become veritable hotbeds for disease germs. This is just the stage which Auckland has reached. Following the example of those English cities that had begun to burn their garbage, Berlin erected an incinerating plant on the banks of the Spree. The furnace in which .the refuse is cremated is composed of iron and fire-brick. The garbage is carried to the plant either by boat or cart, in tightly-closed iron boxes, each having a volumne of 18 cubic feet, and is raised by electric elevators to the third and top storey, then to bo dumped into hoppers, by which it is discharged into huge rotary drums in the second storey. The garbage is forced by the drums into the upper part of the furnace and burnt, coal dust being used as fuel. Simultaneously a blast of hot air and coal dust is discharged into the garbage, the intense heat (1500deg. C.) converting the mass into vapour and liquid. This volatilised and liquefied garbage, forms a vitreous, liquid mass, which, when allowed to drip into water, congeals and forms a substance which is afterward sold at a fair price, thus somewhat reducing the cost of running the plant. We do not know whether the Council can contrive to "finance" a destructor, but it is obvious that such a thing is greatly required.