USES OF A DESTRUCTOR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7002, 18 January 1901, Page 1

USES OF A DESTRUCTOR.

■_ + ■ WHAT IS DONE AT BRADFORD. The city of Bradford has gone in ettenshcely for the use of destructors, having 'erected no fewer than four since 1880, anS •the Cleansing Committee has decided to invite tenders for the erection of five additional refuse destructors- in dierent parts of the city, capable of destroying altogether .180 tons a day. . Mr J. MTaggart, Cleansing Superintendent of Bradford, writing to the " Electrical Review," states that " if the successful design complies with all the conditions, there is no doubt that the Cleansing Committee will have completely disarmed the sentimental objectors who generally appear in a neighbourhood in which it is proposed to erect a destructor. Tlie pricipal depot of the city is in Hammerton Street, and there there are the general offices "of the department, % twelvecell Horsfall destructor, stabling for thirty horses, mechanics', blacksmiths', and cartwrights' shops, a. slab-making plant, an sleetric-lighting installation and a diainfeothrg station. The destructor proper consists of two blocks of six cells, and an important adjunct is an overhead railway for the removal of clinker (cinder or slag) from the furnaces. Up till 1894 it costj the Corporation of, Bradford over £1000 4, year to cart the clinker 1 to tips. Since then, howevec, it lhas been very successful ia its, efforts to utilise in various ways the laa'ge amoui't of clinker and produce. Additional mortar nulls have been erected, and clinker and screening machinery has been introduced, and at two of the destructors the whole of the olinker is sold. At the saoiietime, eight mortar mills are at^work, and the Corporation is now turning out mortar at the rate of 12,000 tons a year. The uses of the screened' clinker are many and varied. It is used for concrete • work, foundations and engine beds, work in connection with the sewage and street oleansing departments, plasterers' work, the manufacture of artificial stone: and concrete bricks. Another portion of the residuum from the town's refuse which was formerly a source of considerable trouble, is the old iron, Vbins and other articles collected from the ashpits. Now, however, the Corporation chemical works take a small proportion of the tins and similar refuse, their ultimate use being in connection with the treatment of the city sewage. The "remainder is put on a railway an consigned to a neighbouring Chemical works. The scrap ir«m is add to local dealers ar.d ircuifoTinilt-rs. Besides a slabMnaking iplant, an artificial manure plant is at work at one of the destructors, the fish refuse being treated and converted into a valuable lnanuve. The whole, of the infected clothing and bedding collected in the-city is treated 'at the disinfecting, station. The machine*elong& to the Health Committee, which works in conjunction with the Cleansing Committee. In the new cells which will be added to . the principal destructor, the usual "pit" or 'tip" will be abolished, and the refuse, on its arrival at the destructor, will be tipped into' the furnaces directly. It is anticipated that When the destructor .is cqmplete it will be one of the most economical plants yet erected, and capable of destroying ashpit refuse- at a cost of s£d a, ton for labour only, at the present rate of wages in Bradford. This will be I accomplished owing to the abolition of the~u3ual-tipmeaj , and.slinger?*