THE IMERZ PROCESS 
FOR 
Disposing of Refuse Vegetable and Animal Matter 
OWNED, INTRODUCED AND IMPROVED 
BY 
the: merz 
UNIVERSAL EXTRACTOR S CONSTRUCTION CD, 
788 Broadway, new York, 
(Formerly of Buffalo, N. Y.) 
New York : 
C. JOURGENSEN, Stationer and Printer, 
96 and 98 Maiden Lane. 
December, 1890. OFFICERS OF 
Tfte mcrz univcrsal extractor 
& CONSTRUCTION CO. 
LOUIS FLEISCHMANN, President. 
GUSTAVE FLEISCHMANN, Vice-President 
W. GREVEL, Secretary and Treasurer. DEDICATED TO THE 
American public Health Association 
SANITARIANS AND LEGISLATIVE BODIES 
GENERALLY. Gentlemen . 
One of the most important problems before the medical fraternity, and 
more particularly those members thereof recognized as sanitarians through- 
out the civilized world and especially in this country, is undoubtedly that 
of properly and effectually disposing of the refuse vegetable and animal 
matter of cities. 
The points involved may be confined to two, being those of sanitation 
and economy. It would not become us to praise our own system and to 
claim for ourselves the solution of this all-important question—hence we 
refer to mostly unsolicited expressions of recognized authorities on sanitary 
matters appended to this pamphlet—but it is with just pride that we point 
to the progress we have made during the comparatively brief period of our 
existence, and submit for your perusal a concise explanation of our system 
and its operations, trusting that it may tend to enlighten those still unac- 
quainted with our methods and desirous of recommending to the public 
at large and in their communities only “ THE BEST.” 
When we started our parent plant at Buffalo, N. Y., it was in the sanguine 
hope that we might give the public more effective service and relief from 
a great health-imperilling nuisance—that of dumping refuse vegetable and 
animal matter into low lands or surrounding water-ways—at even less cost 
to the community than of old. In this we were mistaken. We had no 
direct contract with the city and the material delivered to us by the con- 
tractor was insufficient in quantity and too poor in quality to even cover 
running expenses of the plant. The same condition of affairs prevailed at 
Chicago, where a plant was built on speculation, which failed, also for 
want of material sufficient to even approximately cover expenses. That 
neither plant failed because it was not a sanitary success is plainly proven 
by opinions Nos. 1 and 2 hereinafter following, setting forth the views of 
Health Officer Clark of Buffalo, and Commissioner of Health Oscar DeWolf 
of Chicago, expressed in the year 1888, and the explanation given to the 
St. Louis Committee on Sanitary Affairs by Hon. Chas. F. Bishop, Mayor 
of the City of Buffalo, of recent date. 
It may not be amiss to state here, that without an adequate com- 
pensation for the service rendered and a sufficient supply of material, col- 
lected under stringent ordinances relative to the separation of refuse vege- 
table and animal matter from all substances and articles foreign thereto, 
experience has taught us the folly of introducing into communities, 
whether large or small, our system, though expensive, but lasting, effect- 
ive and devoid of all objectionable features, save the inevitable, which is 
in the hauling of the material to the works, but not self-sustaining al' 
5 though in the long run much less expensive than any system designed only 
“ to destroy.” 
While theoretically perfect in its conception and construction, our 
system in its infancy proved defective in some essential points—points to 
he detected only in the course of practical operation, amongst which was 
prominently, though only temporarily, that of proper condensation. The 
gases from garbage, as such, or material principally consisting of vegetable 
matter, would readily condense in water and become completely destroyed 
by means of conducting them through the furnace before going into the 
air, but for the combined gases from vegetable and animal matter, with the 
latter in preponderance, that method of condensation and destruction 
proved inadequate. Several plants where large quantities of animal mat- 
ter were to be disposed of suffered from the defect referred to. A simple 
system of cylinder and retort combination was first introduced by our me- 
chanical engineer at the plant operating under our system at St. Paul and 
proved a perfect success as certified to in the letter from Health Commis- 
sioner Hoyt of St. Paul, reproduced on page 46 of this pamphlet. 
With an improved method of receiving, pressing, drying, extracting 
and grinding, set forth in the “ Explanation of the Merz Process ” fol- 
lowing, we feel confident of having achieved a degree of perfection and 
merit unapproachable by any other method, and of having become worthy 
of recommendation on the part of sanitarians as individuals and as a na- 
tional representative body, “that the ‘Merz Process ’ for disposing of 
refuse vegetable and animal matter is ‘ THE BEST.’ ” 
Most respectfully, 
The Merz Universal Extractor & Construction Co. 
No. 788 Broadway, New York, Dec. 1, 1890. 
6 EXPLMNHTION 
OF THE 
IMPROVED AND PERFECTED OPERATION 
OF THE 
]V[erz Process 
BY 
F. G. WISELOGEL, 
MECHANICAL ENGINEER 
OP 
MERZ UNIVERSAL EXTRACTOR & 
CONSTRUCTION CO. THE IMPROVED SYSTEM FOR DISPOSING OF 
Refuse Vegetable and Animal Matter of Cities. 
OWNED BY 
THC MCRZ UNIVCRSftb CXTRftCTOR 
& CONSTRUCTION CO. 
OF 
788 Broadway, New York:, 
(Formerly of Buffalo). 
Consists : 
I- —Of a series of iron tanks of suitable size and form, and set into the 
upper floor of a building for receiving all refuse vegetable and animal mat- 
ter, except dead horses and cattle. 
These tanks are made steam-tight, with a movable top or hood, and a 
ten-inch iron pipe is attached to the upper end of each tank and connected 
with a large suction fan, and the exhaust of the fan leads to a cast-iron 
condenser, where all the gases and vapors are subjected to a series of 
shower baths, and such gases that do not readily submit to condensation 
with water at the ordinary temperature, are blown from the condenser into 
suitable retorts walled into the fire-box of the boiler furnace, and there 
superheated, and from which they issue at a red heat directly into the fire 
of the furnace for final destruction. 
The material is dumped directly from the collecting wagons into these 
receiving or storage tanks. A certain amount of water in the bottom of 
each tank is heated to boiling before the material is thrown in, and 
as soon as the material is thrown in, the hood or top is promptly 
closed down, and steam is turned on at. the bottom, the fans taking 
all gases and vapors as fast as they are given off, and driving 
them through the condenser and retorts as explained ; thus destroying all 
disease-germs that may be in the material or vapors emanating therefrom. 
There is no possible chance for any gases to escape after the material Is 
got into the tanks, because all pipes and joints are air-tight. 
II- After the material has been properly steamed, it is drawn off at the 
bottom through valves, into close iron conveyors who convey the material 
into a crusher, wdiere it is reduced to a uniform pulp, thence into a press, by 
means of which as much moisture as possible is pressed out ; thence it 
9 passes in closed elevators to the dryers, and is thoroughly dried in steam 
jacketed cast iron cylinders, provided with rotating agitating shafts, that 
keep the material constantly stirred up during the process of drying. 
The vapors and gases emanating from the dryers, as well as from the 
conveyors, crushers, press and elevators are promptly removed by the 
suction fans, through tight iron pipes to the condenser and retorts for 
final destruction. 
III. —After the material comes from the dryers it contains less than 8% 
moisture, and it is subjected to a low-pressure benzine treatment in the 
Merz Universal Extractors, which are iron vessels of suitable form and 
size, which, after being filled with the dried material, are closed and sealed 
air and gas-tight for about six or seven hours ; the resultant solution of 
grease is drawn off into other vessels, the extractor opened and the 
material discharged free from all noxious odor or dangerous germs. 
IV. —Idle dead horses, cows, &c., are hoisted into a closed room 
immediately upon receipt, the doors tightly closed, and the animal 
promptly skinned, cut up and thrown into an iron pressure tank, partly 
filled with water. The tank is tightly sealed and steam turned on, and 
allowed to stand under pressure until the entire carcase is thoroughly 
cooked, when it is dumped into one of the receiving tanks, and follows the 
treatment of the other material as described. A suction fan is attached 
by suitable pipe to the skinning-room, and draws all odors, &c., from this 
room, and blows them into the condenser as the other gases. The pressure 
tanks are also connected by suitable pipes with the condenser, so that all 
the gases, vapors, &c., are blown directly into the condenser from the 
tank. The floors are thoroughly cleansed with boiling water after each 
operation, and this wash goes into the receiving tank below, so that if any 
germs should be among the wash they will get the benefit of the boiling 
water in the tank. 
Y.—The steam heating the dryers is first passed through a superlieator 
and heated to about 450 to 500 degrees Fall., so that the temperature in the 
dryers will reach about 450 degrees Fall., while that in the receiving tanks 
will average perhaps 280 degrees Fall., making sure to destroy all animal 
life. 
Some of the advantages claimed for this system over that of cremation 
are : 
1st. Because any escape of noxious gas, foul odors, or disease germs 
is effectually prevented. 
2d. Because no material of any kind is allowed to lie about or exposed 
to the air, but it is immediately put into air-tight tanks and is at once out 
of sight, and its power to do harm wholly averted. 
3d. Because in the Merz system of purifying the several gases by both 
condensation and incineration, they are rendered absolutely harmless, and 
all disease germs of whatever nature are effectually destroyed without 
danger or annoyance to the employees or persons living in the neighbour- 
hood of the works. 
10 4th. Because in cremating refuse vegetable and animal matter in a 
furnance, great heat is required to burn or cremate the wet and fermented 
organic matter, and it is impossible to thoroughly decompose all the gases, 
such as the ammonia, carbonic acid gas, &c., by merely passing them 
through fire or a heated chamber and out of the stack into the open air. 
The gases simply become superheated, and pass out of the stack without 
losing any of their noxious or disease creating properties, which are 
regenerated by the colder air, greatly to the detriment of smell and health 
of those who must breath it. 
5tli. Because in the Merz system all the solid matter is preserved for 
various uses, and has an intrinsic value, while in cremation all is destroyed. 
6th. Because from a sanitary standpoint the Merz Process absolutely 
provides against the danger of escape of any disease breeding germs, by 
reason of stopping or chocking of fires from any cause, or by the cooling 
of the combustion chambers, because in the Merz Process this contingency 
is guarded against by providing more than one condenser and retort, so if 
one fails another is at hand. 
7th. Because of less cost per ton for reduction of raw material. 
8th. Because under the “ Merz Process” collection of refuse vegeta- 
ble and animal matter, that all-important health measure, must be thorough, 
the operating advantages of that process being dependent upon “How 
Much ” raw material there is to be disposed of, while under the system of 
cremation all and every pecuniary advantages depend upon “How 
Little ” material there is to be destroyed. 
All this is and more might be claimed for the “ Merz Process,” as the 
most effective means of disposing, in a sanitary manner, of refuse vege- 
table and animal matter, and an inspection of the plants erected and 
operated under the “ Improved Merz Process,” as above explained will 
fully bear out these assertions. 
11 THE ME HZ PROCESS, 
Illustrating in general the Modus 
Operandi 
(The new feature of Receiving-Tanks omitted.) OPINIONS 
RENDERED BY 
Prominent Sanitarians 
AND 
s Health Officials 
RESPECTING THE RELATIVE MERITS OP 
]V[erz 
As (income instances) Compared with other Methods 
of Mechanically Disposing of Refuse 
Vegetable and Animal 
Matter. From report of Health Officer Clark of Buffalo, N. Y., concerning the 
Merz System for the disposition of garbage. 
“ I have visited the garbage extractor works, built by The Merz 
Universal Extractor and Construction Company, at different times 
in company with Health Officials from other cities, and each time that I 
visit the establishment I am more and more impressed with the wonder- 
ful system. I have observed and studied into the merits of garbage 
crematories in other cities and personally I am thoroughly convinced 
that ere long the method in use here will almost entirely displace them. 
The destruction of garbage by fire was well enough so long as no better 
methods could be employed, but since the discovery of the “ Merz” 
method for treating garbage, intelligent sanitarians have something at 
their command which commends itself as being clean, economical and 
thoroughly scientific in every sense of the word. I regard this method 
as nothing short of a sanitary revelation, and I sincerely hope that 
my praise of it may induce other cities to give it a trial and become con- 
vinced of its true value as a sanitary and scientific invention.” 
Views of Dr. Oscar De Wolf, Commissioner of Health of city of Chicago, 
given to press representatives at Buffalo, Oct. 26 th, 1888. 
Health Commissioner DeWolf holds a prsition in Chicago which 
gives him control of the great health and sanitary interests of that 
city. He desired to obtain information concerning the working of the 
crematory, for use in discussing the “Disposal of Garbage,” which 
will be one of the most interesting topics considered at the meeting of 
the American Public Health Association to be held in Milwaukee on 
November 19th. 
It is well to state that in Chicago garbage is burned and none of the 
product is utilized as is done in Buffalo. Dr. DeWolf was seen by a re- 
porter for The Express, and he talked interestingly of the problem of 
disposing of garbage. 
“ The disposition of garbage has always been to the Health Officers of 
this country the great obstacle in the way of a proper and efficient adminis- 
tration of their duties. When garbage is dumped into the ocean, as at 
Boston, it is supposed to be properly disposed of. But in the interior cites 
its disposal is a more intricate problem.” 
“ Now,” continued Dr. DeWolf, “while I’ve been an ardent advocate 
of the destruction of garbage by fire, I have never regarded this method as 
the ultimatum or the final settlement of this problem, because it was 
apparent enough that we were destroying that which some day would be 
15 recognized as valuable by which I mean that every scrap of paper, of 
cotton or wollen fabric, old rubber, hoop-skirt, broken glass, tin cans, all 
have a certain value when separated and properly utilized. I never had 
any doubt that the day would come when the utilization would appear as 
an accomplished fact. I have not believed, however, that sanitarians were 
so near a realization of this desirable result. 
“My visit here to-day has been a revelation to me. I find here a 
plant which utilizes to the utmost extent everything which has value in 
this daily accumulation of the nastiness of a great city, and it is accom- 
plished with absolutely no offense to the neighborhood so far as the 
manufacturing processes are concerned. The material is deprived of its 
moisture by hermetically-sealed dryers, the oil which the mass contains is 
extracted and it has a commercial value, and the mass, minus water and 
oil, is a fertilizer useful wherever agriculture is found. I regard it as one 
of the most interesting sanitary experiments to be found in this country. 
I believe also that the discussion of garbage crematories has had its day 
and that we are passing into a new epoch in the settlement of this great 
sanitary question.” 
Health Commissioner DeWolf was positive in his belief that the 
Merz system wTas one of the greatest inventions in the world, and pre- 
dicted that in less than a year every prominent city in America would 
adopt the plan. 
Buffalo, N. Y., Nov. 26, 1890. 
H. A. Guinzburg, Esq., 
St. Louis, Mo. 
Dear Sir.—The Hou. Charles F. Bishop, Mayor of Buffalo, has 
handed me for reply your letter of inquiry concerning our experience with 
the Merz process of disposing of garbage. The works here are now closed 
because the company has been unable to continue at a financial loss, 
but for a year and a half they were in successful operation from the 
sanitary point of view. 
Our Board of Health made several visits to the works while in 
operation and their entire satisfaction with the process is a matter of public 
record. 
Personally, I have observed the method employed by nearly all the 
large cities in disposing of garbage, and believe the Merz process to be 
superior to any other with which I am acquainted. 
Yours truly, 
(Sig.) F. P. Vandenbergh, 
Chemist to City of Buffalo. 
16 Report of Col. 8. A. Whitfield, Commissioner of Public Affairs of Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, on the disposal of garbage, made to the Board of Public 
Affairs, Dec. loth, 1888. 
“ Hon. Board of Public Affairs, Cincinnati, O. : 
“ Gentlemen.—The question of the best mode of disposing of the 
garbage of our city has commanded the attention of your Board from time 
to time, and various expedients have been suggested, all of which seemed 
more or less impracticable. 
“ More than a year ago, when on a visit to New York, I was directed 
by your Honorable Board to examine and report upon a garbage furnace or 
crematory, reported to be in operation at the foot of Seventeenth street, on 
East river. I did so, and found that although upwards of $27,000 had 
been expended on the plant, it was, according to the admission of the pro- 
prietor, a failure. 
“ Since that time several others located in different cities have been 
reported as being in successful operation, and, by resolution of your Board, 
I was directed to examine them and report upon the feasibility of establish- 
ing a plant at some point in our city most inaccessible to the sullage boat 
(located near the mouth of Mill Creek), should its cost and the sanitary 
excellence of its work seem to justify the expenditure of a moderate 
amount of money. 
“ Having heard and read favorable reports of the new Merz, or Vienna 
system of disposing of garbage, in operation in Buffalo, I determined to 
visit that city first. 
“ Upon arriving there I called at once on Health Officer Dr. Clark, who 
kindly offered to accompany me to the works, located at Cheektowaga, just 
outside of the city limits. It seemed that the prejudice against anything 
bearing the name of garbage had forced these works a long way out, the 
distance from the City Hall being, I should judge, not less than five miles, 
and necessitating a very long haul. 
“ I found the plant in active operation and the system entirely differ- 
ent from anything I had read any account of. The garbage, upon delivery 
at the works, is placed in a long iron cylinder or boiler, called a ‘ dryer,’ 
and capable of holding about three tons; this cylinder is inclosed in another 
termed a jacket, exactly similar in shape, but large enough to leave a con- 
siderable open space all around. When filled, the opening to the interior 
cylinder is closed, and the cap placed on the manhole covering the opening 
to outer cylinder or jacket through which the garbage passes into the in- 
terior dryer. Steam from the boilers, located in an adjoining building, and 
of about 250 degrees Fahrenheit, is then turned into the open space between 
the dryer and the jacket. The garbage remains in this dryer and subjected 
to this steam heat from six to eight hours, a period found long enough to 
expel the moisture or liquid found in all garbage, varying from 60 to 65 
per cent. 
“ The vapor generated by the heat acting on the liquid portion of the 
17 garbage is forced violently out into a column still containing a succession 
of perforated plates and filled with cold water. 
“ The condensation of the vapor is very rapid, and it passes away from 
the discharge pipe, or, in distilling parlance, the tail of the worm, in the 
shape of a moderately cool, entirely colorless water, having about the odor 
of water in which vegetables have been boiled—a little more perhaps than 
potatoes and less than cabbage. 
“ At the expiration of the period heretofore mentioned the dried gar- 
bage is removed from the dryers and carried by conveyors or elevators to 
the floor above, where it is placed in vats, called ‘extractors’; these ex- 
tractors, when filled, are covered with iron plates, bolted strongly down, 
the contents are then subjected to the action of benzine and certain chem- 
icals, not disclosed, which are fed into extractors from a vat elevated a few 
feet above them. The action of these materials, combined with the steam 
heat again applied, separates the oil or grease contained in the dried gar- 
bage, which is drawn off from the bottom of the extractors. This oil or 
grease has, when drawn off, something of the color of crude petroleum, 
but in cool weather soon hardens to the consistency of lard, and has then a 
dark brown color and very little odor. 
“ The garbage is then drawn from extractors and conveyed to a drying 
room having a thin iron plate floor and surrounded by steam pipes. 
“ The garbage remains in extractors from ten to eleven hours. Each 
extractor has about the capacity of three dryers. 
“The establishment I visited had two dryers and two extractors : 
additional dryers are now being manufactured, and the plant when com- 
pleted will have a capacity of about forty-five tons of ordinary garbage 
per day. 
“ The oil, or grease, was at the time of my visit being subjected to 
various experimental processes, and much of it had been refined until it 
presented the appearance of ordinary lard, perhaps a little darker in color, 
but free from offensive odor. 
“ A very large number of barrels of grease were lying in the yard, 
and the quantity indicated that garbage is unexpectedly rich in fatty sub 
stances, and that the process of extracting it must be complete and 
thorough. 
“ The principle underlying this new process, and as it appears to me, 
distinguishing it from all other known processes of treating garbage, con- 
sists in disposing of the noxious gases by evaporation and condensation, 
and then the removal of all organic matter by the chemical process to 
which it is subjected in the extractors. The completed product, when 
finallv placed in the drying room, is dark brown in color, considerably finer 
than ordinary ground tan-bark and comparatively odorless. It is sold to 
fertilizers upon the basis of weight, and a chemical analysis showing the 
amount of ammonia and other valuable properties it contains. It finds, I 
fancy, a ready sale, as not more than five hundred pounds were found on 
the premises. A distinguished chemist informed me that the completed 
18 product would not ferment heat or give out any noxious or offensive odors 
if dumped on any street, and would form a fill as safe and free from dan- 
ger of disease as an ordinary dirt fill. The odor inside the factory is not 
unpleasant—a great deal less than a candle or soap works of latest and 
most improved construction. There are faults in the practical arrange- 
ments of the work largely incident to the fact that the contractor for re- 
moving the city garbage has no ‘ dump ’ wagons or carts (at least I saw 
none), but is compelled to shovel all the garbage out by hand. 
“ Dr. DeWolf, the distinguished Health Officer of Chicago, visited 
this plant and speaks of it in high terms. He has given permission for 
the construction of a similar one in Chicago, and an old distillery located 
on Archer avenue, on the West Side, is now being remodeled. A glance 
at the map, or a knowledge of the location, will show that this is in a 
populated district. No one who knows Dr. DeWolff will believe that he 
will show any mercy if they ‘ create a nuisance.’ 
“ Dr. Clark, Health Officer of Buffalo, a most intelligent and capable 
officer, speaks of the new plan in enthusiastic terms and gives it his hearty 
approval. 
• ‘ He called my attention to the important fact that the immediate 
necessity for the construction of some system in Buffalo arose from the fact 
that a permanent restraining order was issued recently forbidding the 
dumping of garbage into the Niagara River. The point heretofore used 
was about two miles below the intake of the Buffalo Water-works, and 
when it is remembered that the current at this point is not far from seven 
miles an hour, and very rapid all the way until it takes its final plunge over 
the falls and then goes tearing along at racehorse speed, it would seem that 
it is about time to hang out the danger signals in cities dumping into com- 
paratively sluggish streams having along their banks a population to which 
that along the Niagara River is insignificant. 
“ I find the Merz system has attracted very general attention, and has 
been visited by representatives of public bodies from nearly every large city 
in the country. 
“ Were it not that the system does not destroy but converts the garbage 
into valuable commercial commodities, it would unquestionably be very ex- 
pensive. The machinery is somewhat costly, and a good deal is required. 
It will, however, not burn out and require replacing, as in the ordinary 
garbage furnaces. It is not more destructible than ordinary machinery. 
“I submit for your inspection samples as they come from the dryer 
and extractor, and also a sample of the water as it comes from the 
condenser. 
‘ ‘ The completion of my examination of this plant left for consideration 
the Mann, DeRyder, Kilvington, Engle and Gray Furnaces. Some of 
these, though excellent in theory, and in practice in a small way, did not 
seem to warrant the time and expense of a personal visit,and I determined 
to visit Chicago and Milwaukee and examine the furnaces at those points, 
about which flattering reports had reached us through medical magazines 
and other sources. 
19 “On reaching Chicago I called on Dr. DeWolf, Health Officer, but to 
ray great regret found he was not in the city. I then went to the garbage 
furnace, located on the edge of an extensive stone quarry,near the junction 
of Indiana street and Western avenue, and in the extreme north-western 
portion of the city—at least, the extreme portion inhabited. I found the 
Mann furnace in operation here, and the result of my examination was, on 
the whole, disappointing. It is an ungracious task, and perhaps a hazard- 
ous one, to say anything in criticism of a furnace about which so many 
good things have been said by so many good men and recognized authori- 
ties. It is, however, the great privilege or the humblest American citizen 
to entertain and express an opinion, and while I have the highest regard 
for Dr. DeWolf’s scientific attainments and long experience in sanitary 
matters, I have too much respect for his practical good sense and business 
capacity to believe that he will ever construct another furnace of this 
character in Chicago, or that he would permit this one to be duplicated in 
any reasonable thickly populated portion of the city. 
“ The location of the furnace is admirable, except that it necessitates 
a very long haul. The furnaces are placed at the bottom of the excavation 
made by quarrying stone, and the building surrounding and covering them 
has its flat roof almost flush with the street, and upon this roof the teams 
drive and unload their contents into one of the twelve chutes leading down 
to the floor nearly level with the furnace doors. The building covering the 
furnace is about ninety feet in length. Through the center rises a chimney 
one hundred feet in height. (The height of this chimney is the best feature 
of the concern, and conduces most, I should think, to the enjoyment of life 
in the neighborhood). There is a double furnace with coal fire at the 
extreme ends, and a strong draught causes the flame to rush fiercely over 
the garbage that is placed in the furnace. Each furnace is about twenty- 
two feet in length, eighteen feet in height and sixteen feet wide. They 
contain, I am informed, about thirty-two thousand firebrick. One of these 
furnaces was about to undergo repairs,having probably yielded to the great 
heat to which it had been subjected. 
“ Perhaps my chief disappointment grew out of the manner in which 
the garbage was hauled, which on the day of my visit was exactly as 
follows : A wagon drove up to one chute and two men began to unload it 
by shoveling the contents into said chute, stopping at frequent intervals to 
throw a shovelful of some substance over the edge of the building into the 
deep quarry below. I asked if they did not dump at once into thes 
chutes, and they said, ‘No, they shoveled it in.’ And this reminds me 
that I did not see either in Buffalo, Chicago or Milwaukee a single wagon 
so constructed as to dump its contents—the very first requisite, it would 
eem, for a garbage wagon. They may have some but I did not see them 
“ Going down a couple of very straight ladders we reached the base 
of the crematory, and after long and loud knocking were admitted to the 
inside. On examining to see how the furnaces were fed I found a man 
with the ubiquitous shovel busily engaged in shoveling in the garbage that 
20 had come down the chute and accumulated in a large pile on the floor. I 
am certainly not hypercritical when I say the inside of this building was 
filthy. Black, slimy liquid dripped from the sheet-iron pans, placed about 
six feet from the floor, to catch the oozings as they came from the wagons 
above, through cracks in the floor, and at the lower end of the building, at 
the outlet of the pans, a considerable quantity of this concentrated essence 
of nastine-s had collected. 
“ The ashes were being drawn out, or had just been drawn out from 
under one of the furnaces. The consumption was by no means perfect, 
and the sample I examined certainly contained organic matter that would 
become more or less offensive when deposited on a dump. I examined 
several other samples after going out, and found some of them to be of a 
similar character. I am not mistaken when I say that the odor of the 
dump at this furnace is as objectionable as that at our city dump at Eighth 
street, where complaint is made that garbage and ashes are sometimes 
mixed. What the furnace might do under the most favorable conditions I 
would not presume to state from so brief and cursory an examination, but 
that it can never achieve practical business results under the present system 
of feeding and handling the garbage I think I can state. The garbage of 
a great city can not be fed into a furnace shovelful by shovelful, let alone 
repeating this process in emptying it into a chute that carries it within reach 
of the furnace. I can not say what the effect would be of dumping a load 
of two cubic yards of garbage (about w hat one of our city wagons holds) 
into one of these furnaces, and even the experiment could not be tried as 
the furnace is constructed ; but the presumption is strong that it would be 
disastrous, or certainly some less primitive arrangement would be devised 
for feeding them. 
“ It is claimed that, by running night and day, one hundred and fifty 
tons of garbage could be burned in this furnace. I can not, of course, 
controvert the statement,but my judgment is strongly against the accuracy 
of the estimate. 
“ The furnace cost, I am informed, $11,000. I could not, from my 
present information and observation, conscientiously recommend the ex- 
penditure of a like sum by this city in the construction of a similar plant. 
Not less than four would be required to burn the garbage of this city in 
the event of our being cut off from dumping in the river. 
“ The expense of consumption after delivery to furnace is variously 
estimated at from seventeen to twenty-nine cents per ton. It is perfectly 
safe to say that the cost of consumption in this city for at least six months 
in the year would not be less than $50 per day. I do not mean to say that 
the Mann furnace in use in Chicago is not a great advance over the old 
system of dumping in running streams, vacant lots, on the outskirts of 
cities, feeding to hogs, or, worse yet, making fills and streets, and thus 
handing down a legacy of disease to posterity ; but it does not,in my judg- 
ment. make that speedy and effective disposition of garbage that is impera- 
tively demanded by the growing necessities of great cities. 
21 “The next and last point visited was Milwaukee. There are two 
furnaces at that place ; one was in active operation. It differed somewhat 
from the Chicago furnace in the application of the heat, which appeared to 
be from directly underneath instead of being carried over the garbage. 
“ There was in addition a cupola containing steam pipes,and into this 
cupola the garbage was elevated and subjected for some time to the heat, 
applied for the purpose of drying out and evaporating the moisture. But 
here, as at Chicago, there was an utter lack of effective handling of the 
garbage. 
“ The everlasting shovel seemed to be in prime demand. The garbage 
was shoveled from the one-horse wagon into the elevator, which carried it 
to the cupola. It would certainly seem that after having been dried it 
should have been fed from this cupola by the chute directly into the fur- 
nace ; instead of this, however, it was passed down the chute on the floor 
into a heap, and at the time of my visit a man was engaged in feeding it 
into the furnace a shovelful at a time. The destruction of the garbage in 
this furnace, as indicated by the samples of asbes I examined and by tbe 
appearance and odor of the dump where they were placed, seemed to be 
superior to the work done by the Chicago furnace ; the ashes were finer 
and there were fewer ‘ clinkers’or large masses of'matter fused by heat 
but not disintegrated. 
“ The second furnace was not in active operation at the time of my 
visit, and I was informed that it had been disposed of to The Merz Ex- 
tractor and Construction Company of Buffalo, who propose introducing 
their system in that city. I did not, therefore, examine it carefully, but 
noted a great improvement in the way of feeding, which was by driving 
up an incline to the top of the furnace and feeding directly into it. The 
character of the wagons used in Milwaukee would necessitate shoveling 
into the manholes or openings on the top of the furnace, but this would be 
the fault of the wagons and not the furnace. 
“ The question of the escape of noxious gases by the destruction of 
great quantites of garbage by fire is one I do not care to discuss. The 
confident assertion of the several inventors that there is such destruction is 
not sustained by the great height to which they carry their chimneys, or 
else their confidence is not shared to a great degree by the Health Officers 
and the communities where the furnaces are built. That many of these 
furnaces work well on a small scale there can be little doubt, and they will 
be utilized in many places with profit to the public. 
“ When any furnace can be found that will receive at once the con- 
tents of a cart or wagon holding from one and a half to two cubic yards of 
ordinary garbage—equal to about one and a half to two tons weight—as 
often as the necessities of the city demands, and turn that garbage out in 
the shape of clear, clean ashes, I am ready to shout Eureka ! louder than 
anybody ; and if the Health Officer of our city will certify that there is no 
danger from the escaping gases, I will earnestly recommend to this Board 
its immediate adoption. 
22 “ All wagons or carts should be constructed so as to dump their con- 
tents promptly ; when emptied, should be flushed thoroughly with water, 
in which might be mixed some cheap form of disinfectant or deodorizer. 
A long sutfering public would be gratified, if not benefited, by seeing 
garbage wagons and carts pass through the streets with their contents care- 
fully covered, and return for fresh loads without offending one of the most 
valued senses. 
“ A non-absorbing, steel-bodied cart, carefully covered, is no doubt 
the best adapted to hauling garbage, and they are being used in New York 
with much satisfaction to the city officials and the public. 
“ The Merz or Vienna system seems to me a great advance over the 
furnaces, and I shall be able in a few days to submit for your consideration 
a proposition from the proprietors for the erection of a plant that it is hoped 
will permanently relieve a populous portion of our city that will otherwise 
I fear, suffer inconveniences and discomforts by reason of its long dis- 
tance from the sullage boat. 
“ It will of course be required that the crudities of handling the gar- 
bage as delivered at the Buffalo factory shall be remedied. 
“ The dryers are capable of receiving at once three tons of garbage 
and closing it at once from all contact with the air, and there is no reason 
why it should not be done.” 
From report of Dr. Horlbeck, Health Officer of Charleston, 8. C., made to 
Board of Health of Charleston, Jan. 23d, 1888. 
“ We now come to a problem which is occupying the very serious con- 
sideration ot the American sanitary world, and that is the disposal of 
garbage. 
“Dr. Kilvington, of the Minneapolis Board of Health, read a very 
full and comprehensive report of the methods of destruction now in 
use. He characterized the present as the era of tilth formation and 
strongly advocated the necessity of an old-fashioned gehenna for every 
modern city. Dr. Kilvington described the workings of several methods 
now in use. 
“ Commencing with the Mann crematory now in successful use in 
Montreal and Chicago, I visited the one in Chicago, and found it in 
active operation. It is in condition to destroy by tire 100 tons of garbage 
every 24 hours, and costs the city about 23 cents a ton ; it consists of a 
furnace, and the garbage is subjected to an intense heat, which destroys it 
pretty effectually, dense volumes of black smoke escaping from a high 
chimney. The furnace is situated in a deep lime pit, and the garbage is 
thrown into the holes above with great facility. It was not very cleanly, 
and there was some odor of an unpleasant nature. Dr. DeWolf, Health 
Commissioner of Chicago, informed me that it was a great boon to the city, 
and had been in successful work for the past twelve months. It has cost 
about $13,000, but a similar one, he thought, could be put up for $9,000, 
23 and were there not a better one offered he would continue the use of this 
one, and perhaps have others built. 
“ The next furnace was described as the Engle patent. This one has 
been in use in Des Moines, la., and at Minneapolis, and at Milwaukee 
there was some improvement designed by Dr. Kilvington. These fur- 
naces were described as entirely satisfactory, destroying garbage, offal, 
street detritus, etc., etc. Recently sixteen horses had been thrown into 
the one at Minneapolis and were rapidly consumed, the cost was about 
twenty cents a ton, and the cost of erecting a furnace in Charleston would 
be about $6,500. 
“ The Ryder furnace is in use in Pittsburg. It has not been entirely 
satisfactory, as the cost of consuming the garbage with fuel at a minimum 
low figure was between twenty-five and thirty cents a ton. 
“ At the conclusion of the paper, Dr. DeWolf, of Chicago, remarked 
that while he had believed in, and was still practicing the destruction of 
garbage by fire, a process that might be fairly defined as an economy of 
extravagance, he had been recently converted to the truly economic, yet 
sanitary, disposal of garbage by the Buffalo system, which was described 
by Health Officer Clark, of that city, as a complete and perfect method of 
garbage disposal at no cost to the city except the placing of it at the desig- 
nated point. I was so much pleased with the report made that I deter- 
mined to accept a kind invitation from Mr. Fleisehmann, who patented 
the method, and who brought the idea from Vienna, where it is known as 
the Merz method, and accompanied him to Buffalo, where the whole busi- 
ness was seen. 
It would be too difficult for an unpracticed hand to describe the 
machinery in detail for this most admirable scheme, but suffice it to say 
that the garbage is received in a room with several holes which communi- 
cate with two long iron cylinders or boilers with a shaft running down the 
long diameter, with hollow rakes, through which is introduced super- 
heated steam, entirely drying the garbage ; as soon as this is effected the 
garbage is received into an iron tank, and, by means of benzine, the oil is 
separated from what is known as tankage. 
“ The result of the process is a merchantable grease or oil, and the 
tankage is a valuable commercial fertilizer. In this process the ammonia 
is retained as well as potash, phosphate lime, etc. 
“ I cannot leave this subject without strongly urging your earnest 
consideration in this direction, viz.: the rapid and early removal of our 
garbage from the streets. As at present arranged there is a long and 
costly haul to a point destined at no distant period to be occupied by 
human habitations, and while the necessity is upon us now and we are 
obliged to do the best one may, it is incumbent to utilize every modern 
scientific resource at our disposal. With the Buffalo method we can place 
the crematory or garbage receiver at almost any point within the city lim- 
its.” 
24 “ During a recent trip to Buffalo in the capacity of Medical Health 
Inspector of Toronto, I had the pleasure of visiting the premises lately 
•erected there for the disposal of garbage, and of becoming acquainted with 
the “ Merz system.” I am very glad to have the opportunity of saying 
that after carefully observing all the details, I was forced to the conclu- 
sion that the Merz system was more thorough and economical, and at the 
same time less disagreeable and obnoxious, than anything I had ever seen 
or read of. There was no bad odor, and as it seems to me to be adaptable 
to any city and under any possible set of circumstances, I believe the pro- 
blem of disposing of the garbage and refuse of large cities economically 
and without offensiveness to the citizens has been solved.” 
I have the honor to be yours faithfully, 
W. Leiimann, M. D., 
152 Spadina Ave., Toronto, Ont. 
To The Merz Universal Extractor and Construction Co. 
February 25th 1889. 
From Paterson Daily Press, Tuesday, April 22,1890. 
Paterson’s Traveling Committee find the Morz System the thing.—The 
•Crematories a Failure. 
Health Inspector Leal, who has just returned from an extensive trip 
through the West with City Physician Agnew and others, on a tour of 
inspection of the different systems in vogue there of disposing of garbage 
in the large cities, is enthusiastic over the Merz or Vienna System, which 
he says is the only successful one, all others having thus far proven flat 
failures. A Press reporter this morning had an interesting talk with the 
inspector. The doctor says that previous to making the trip he had writ- 
ten to the health authorities in the different cities where it was known that 
garbage crematories existed, and also to the officers of the companies con- 
trolling the crematories. Glowing accounts were received from Chicago, 
Minneapolis, Detroit and other places, concerning the work done by the 
crematories, and the amount of material they were capable of disposing of 
daily. The Inspector says that his trip developed one thing, and that is, 
that there are some very competent liars in these Western cities. 
Of the places from which the most glowing stories came about crema- 
tories and their work, those from Chicago were the most glowing. The 
doctor was accordingly anxious to see the plant there, and he visited the 
Windy City He had been written that the Mann furnace, which was 
used there, burned up the garbage at the rate of sixty tons a day, and 
when he reached Chicago all he could find of the furnace and plant was 
some ruins of brick buildings. 
He was informed that the ruins were the result of the populace rising 
up in its might and declaring war against the rendering establishment. 
Following the declaration of war against the stinking institution the estab- 
WHAT TO DO WITH GARBAGE. 
25 lishment mysteriously caught fire and was burned to the ground and no 
regrets were expressed over the conflagration. Dr. Leal was informed that 
the place was a menace to health and unbearable to the nostrils. A greasy 
smoke was given out from the refuse that settled down upon the buildings 
in the neighborhood and made the residents in the vicinity wish that they 
were in almost any other place than Chicago. The Mayor of Chicago, 
health officers and various citizens that the doctor conversed with on the 
subject pronounced the system a dire failure. 
In Detroit the doctor found that a furnace known as the Patrick fur- 
nace had been in use, but at the time of his visit was closed down and had 
been for some time. The Patrick furnace was an Engel furnace with 
some alleged improvements that Mr. Patrick had applied to it. Mr. 
Patrick was a member of the Health Board of Detroit, which had been 
greatly vexed and tried over the question of what to do with the garbage. 
The city was in a bad plight and a solution of the question was sought. 
Mr. Patrick was sent to Europe at the city’s expense to inspect the differ- 
ent systems in use there and he also made a tour of many cities in the 
United States, with the result that when he went hack to his native city he 
made a contract with Detroit, whereby he agreed to make way with the 
city’s refuse in a furnace of his own devising, the result of his studies 
abroad of the subject. The furnace was an Engel, with a number of 
improvements constructed by himself. 
This furnace and plant were set up in a thinly settled part of Detroit, 
and its fires were lighted. The odor given out from the placo was un- 
bearable, while the smoke was stifling and unhealthy. People began to 
move out of that section of the city, and finally Mr. Patrick had an 
injunction served on him restraining him from continuing the business. 
The city of Detroit then made an effort to make Mr. Patrick move his 
plant outside of the city limits, but he in some way or other had the city bound 
in such a way that he could not he forced to move, and it was not until the 
Aldermen paid him $2,500 that he agreed to take his establishment out of 
the city. The Patrick system proved a failure—the garbage refused to be 
burned. 
In Minneapolis the Forestal system had been tried ; this was also a 
crematory. Mr. Forestal had a contract with the city to destroy the 
garbage, but his furnace could not destroy the stuff, and threw out such a 
stench that it had to be abandoned. A Mr. Kilvington, of the Health 
Board, had devised a furnace that he claimed would do the work, and the 
result was that he built one and put it in operation. The furnace was 
burned for three weeks, when it burned itself out, and to-day the plant 
stands abandoned. Minneapolis was another city from which glowing 
accounts had been received. Minneapolis is still dumping its garbage in 
low lying lots, while the furnace remains closed by an injunction. 
The inspector found that all of those health officers who had been fore- 
most in advocating the burning of garbage were now a unit in saying that 
the stuff could not be burned. The crematories in Chicago, Minneapolis, 
26 Milwaukee and Detroit were flat failures, and highly objectionable on 
account of the vile odors that were given out by them. 
At St. Paul, the doctor found the Merz or Vienna system in operation, 
and the health officers loud in their praises of its work. This was also the 
report in Chicago, Milwaukee and Buffalo. The Merz system seemed to 
afford the only solution to the vexed problem. No objections were found 
against the system on account of bad odor or anything else. Dr. Leal says 
that no one would know what the place was if they did not see the carts 
going to and from it. By this system the first process of disposing of the 
garbage is to put it in huge dryers, which resemble tanks or boilers. These 
boilers have two shells. Between these are coils of steam pipes. In the 
interior shell the garbage is placed and subjected to great heat ; inside of 
this there is also a wheel that resembles the propeller of a steamboat, 
which, as the boiler revolves, keeps constantly stirring up the contents of 
the boiler. The stuff is then transferred to a condenser, from which the 
gases and vapors are sucked out of the material by means of a steam fan- 
like arrangement. The only refuse left is a fluid that is as clear as water, 
and this is allowed to run off into the sewers. The non-condensable gases 
are led off by means of pipes to the fires in the furnaces, and are destroyed 
there without emitting any odor. The refuse, after a certain number of 
hoars manipulation in this machine, is ready to be placed in the extracting 
machine, by ,wliich the oils and greasy substances are extracted. What 
is left after this is run through sieves, is ground up and forms fertilizers, 
and sold. 
The Merz system has been in operation in Buffalo, but has not proven 
a success financially there, because the company did not have a contract 
with the city to dispose of the garbage. The plant will be opened again 
soon if contracts are secured with the city. The Committee selected by 
the Board of Aldermen of this city to inquire into the best method will 
report in favor of the Merz system at the next meeting of the Board. If 
the Merz Company can make a contract with the city to dispose of all the 
garbage, it will erect a plant here, as it is desired to establish themselves in 
Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Elizabeth. 
27 CITIES’ 
COMMITTEE-REPORTS. Report of a Committee of the Newark Board of Health on the disposal of 
Garbage, to Common Council of that City. 
Your Committee visited in order Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit and 
Cleveland. 
In the disposal and separation of the Refuse matter different methods 
are adopted : Some burn, some carry into the lakes and deposit, some bury 
it, some use it to fatten swine, and two or three have adopted the only 
sanitary method, The Merz or Vienna system. 
At Chicago we visited the Garbage works (“ Merz system”) without 
announcing our arrival and found them in full operation. They are located 
upon the outskirts of a densely populated neighborhood near the lumber 
districts. We observed nothing but the so called chicory smell upon the 
outside, and we may say here that we have very many worse smelling 
places in the centre of our own city. On entering we found a Garbage 
wagon being unloaded of its reeking mass, which was soon put into a 
hopper and carried to the dryers. In this we think the process could be 
improved as well as in some minor details since the construction of the 
plant. The plant has the capacity of eight dryers five feet by fourteen 
feet, of 5,000 lbs. capacity each, and, as the process takes eight hours, if 
worked the entire twenty-four hours each dryer will have the enormous 
capacity of 15,000 lbs., and the entire plant sixty tons. The result in 
tankage would be about eighteen tons, worth according to the amount of 
ammonia it contained from $2.50 to $11.00 per ton, while the yield of oil 
would be about sixty pounds per ton and worth $2.00 per ton. All this 
saving from waste. Nothing as the surroundings and conditions existed 
but what would be satisfactory to the sanitarian. While they operated a 
Mann crematory in Chicago for the destruction of garbage, we take it that 
Colonel Whitfield’s statement “that while good of its kind it was the 
consummated essence of nastiness ” would hold good ; its cost was 
$11,000 and the cost of consumption after delivery to the furnace from 
twenty-seven to thirty-seven cents per ton, to say nothing of repairs on 
furnace which the intense heat quickly destroys. 
From Chicago your committee went to Milwaukee. Here until two 
weeks ago the crematory Inn been the old method. This furnace, a 
modification of the Engel by Dr. Kilvington, we find still running, foul 
and disagreeable, giving off noxious gases felt almost a block around and 
yet we were told that they were well satisfied when they compared it with 
their plans of the past, the filling in of low places with the ashes and 
garbage. Here we found that the city had contracted for.'the Merz pro- 
cess, paying $15,000 per annum to the company for its disposal, the city 
to haul to the extracting works. This has been completed to the satisfac- 
tion of those concerned, and since our visit St. Paul and Denver have both 
31 given up the furnace system. The next city visited was Detroit, where 
the Glasgow method and furnace is in use, and just entirely rebuilt and 
improved. This has been claimed to be the best in use ; the fire was 
intense ; through it jets of crude oil were forced which intensified the 
heat, yet we were informed that during watermelon season the fire had 
been put out in the old furnace more than once. From Detroit we went 
to Cleveland. There we found it but partly looked after publicly, the 
house-holder looking after the destruction. That gailiered by the city 
was removed about eight miles out into the lake and dumped, the Cleve- 
landers hoping to have it carried away by the current. We have always 
till now been impressed that destruction of garbage by fire was the only 
process to be recommended by sanitarians. If we should adopt such it 
would be a great advance on the present plan of dumping on vacant lots, 
filling ponds and outlying low lands and streets. 
Your committee would recommend the destruction of all garbage, 
and urge the passage of an ordinance requiring the separation of garbage 
and other material. 
They would recommend the Merz or Vienna system, because it is 
free form all objections from a sanitary point which is not the case with 
any of the present known methods of destruction. They would recom- 
mend the Vienna system because it will be erected and run by a private 
corporation, and all expense borne by them and would so come under the 
care and supervision of this department, except so far as the payment of 
the $15,000 to the company by the city. 
Dr. F. B. Mandeyille, 
Ald. A. II. Johnson, 
Tyler Parmley, 
Committee. 
Extracts from proceedings of the Common Council of St. Paul, Minn., 
meeting of April 29th, 1889. 
Special Meeting. 
St. Paul, April 29th, 1889. 
President Bickle in the chair. 
Present — Aldermen Blom, Bock, Cullen, Conley, Fisher, Gelian, 
Cavanagh, Leithauser, Minea, Melady, Sullivan, Yoerg, Mr. President 
—13. 
COMMUNICATIONS. 
From His Honor the Mayor—Call for the Meeting. 
His Honor the Mayor called the meeting for the purpose of hearing, 
considering and acting upon reports of Special Committee on disposal of 
refuse matters. Accepted. 
REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE. 
Of Special Committee on disposition of refuse matter—Report of 
results of trip to Buffalo and other cities— 
32 To the Honorable- Common Council of the city of St. Paul : 
Gentlemen—Tlu- undersigned, your committee, appointed to 
investigate and report what in their opinion was the most practicable 
system and the best method of disposing of the refuse matters, consisting 
of ashes, night-soil, garbage, dead animals, etc., that accumulate in this 
city, we beg leave to report that, pursuant to your direction, they pro- 
ceeded to the cities of Chicago, Buffalo, Boston and New York, and care- 
fully investigated this subjeet. 
Aside from the ordinary method of removing these materials from the 
city, to some place without its limits, and there deposit them, we found 
two systems that are now, or have been in practical operation, for the 
disposal of these materials within the cities, one of which consists in the 
cremation of the materials and the other is what is termed the “Merz 
system.” 
The city of Chicago has built a large plant, costing about $70,000, 
which it has been using to cremate that portion of these materials that it 
could dispose of in this way, aud during the season of 1887 had this plant 
in active operation. The operation of the plant established the fact that 
it required a ton of soft coal to burn about twelve or fifteen tons of gar- 
bage, and counting the expense of running the plant and handling the 
material after it was collected, the statistics prove that it required an 
expenditure of 17 cents a ton to burn this material. The practical opera- 
tion of this cremator}" also established the fact that to obtain satisfactory 
results it was necessary to separate the ashes and incombustible materials 
from the garbage, and this, in the city of St. Paul, has proved a very 
difficult undertaking. 
This system of cremation has been tried in the city of Milwaukee, but 
it proved unsatisfactory there, and the city of Chicago has endeavored to 
obtain another system, and Dr. DeWolf, the Health Commissioner of the 
city of Chicago, is about to introduce in that city, the “ Merz system.” 
We are unanimously of the opinion that the crematory system xvould 
be unsatisfactory, and should not be adopted by this city, namely, for the 
following reasons : First—It is very expensive ; second, in operation, it 
necessarily throws off gases and creates odors that are not desirable within 
the limits of the city, and third, it requires the separation of the garbage 
from the other materials and leaves the ashes, night soil and dead animals 
to be disposed of by some other method. 
CREMATORY SYSTEM. 
“ MERZ SYSTEM.” 
About ten mouths ago a company of gentlemen under the name of the 
“ Merz Universal Extractor and Construction Company,” erected a plant 
outside of the city of Buffalo, N. Y., for the purpose of disposing of the 
garbage from that city. The Merz company assured the people of Buffalo 
that the operation of this plant would not be objectionable in the heart of 
the city ; but the officers of the city so feared its operation that they com- 
33 pelled them to construct it beyond the city limits. This plant has been in 
operation for several months, and, when we visited it, we found it in active 
operation. As it is operated at present, it handles and disposes of only that 
portion of the refuse matter covered by the term garbage ; and this excludes 
night soil, ashes and manure ; all the other parts of the refuse matter of 
the city are disposed of by the use of this plant. The mechanical construc- 
tion of the plant it is not necessary to describe, but the material is treated 
substantially as follows : It is placed in large iron cylinders, capable of 
holding about 6,000 lbs. each, within each of which is contained a hollow 
revolving shaft with hollow arms,which can be, and in operation are, filled 
with superheated steam. In a jacket around the cylinder and in this hol- 
low shaft and projecting arms is contained superheated steam during the 
operation of the plant, and the shaft is constantly revolving. 
At the end of about seven hours the material is removed from this 
cylinder. It comes out of the cylinder dry and free from all offensive 
odors; and in the operation of drying it in this cylinder all the moisture 
and organic gases are removed and condensed into water, without the es- 
cape of any offensive odors. In this part of the process about 65 per cent, 
of the green garbage is destroyed or removed, and the remaining 85 per 
cent, is then taken and placed in close tanks or extractors, in which it is 
treated with chemicals, and there is extracted from it in vegetable and ani- 
mal oils about 8£ per cent, of the amount of green garbage, and the bal 
ance of the material is found to be of considerable value as a basis for mak- 
ing fertilizers. The oil is used for making candles and the material which 
forms the basis of the fertilzers is of a brownish color, dry and appar- 
ently cleanly and without any offensive odor. 
As we found this plant in operation there was nothing offensive or an- 
noying to the people residing in the vicinity, or to those employed about 
the plant. There was no offensive odors whatever, except such as arise 
from handling of the garbage before it commenced to be operated on in 
any city or place, and there was nothing in connection with the plant that 
could be termed a nuisance. A plant like this might, in our opinion, be 
constructed and operated in very many portions of the city, without the 
least annoyance to the residents in the vicinity. 
At Buffalo we found that there were four of these diyers or cylinders 
for drying in active operation, and it was estimated that it would require 
four more to dispose of all the garbage from that city. From the best in- 
formation we can obtain, we estimate that it would require a plant consist- 
ing of four or five cylinders or dryers, with the corresponding extractors, 
to dispose of the garbage of this city. This system which we have de- 
scribed has been investigated by the health officers of the cities of Milwau- 
kee, Chicago, Cincinnati, New Orleans and Detroit, and since this investi- 
gation a plant has been constructed in the city of Chicago, with the per- 
mission of the authorities, in a part of the city which is thickly settled and 
inhabited, and it is now in operation ; but, at the time we visited it, it had 
not been started. The Chicago plant was the best constructed of any we 
34 saw, and, in mechanical construction, far superior to the one in operation 
in Buffalo. At the time we visited the Buffalo plant, the Merz company 
was about commencing to operate another dryer for the destruction of 
night-soil and manure ; but this was an experiment which we understand 
has been successful since we returned. 
We have no hesitation in saying that we think Ihe “ Merz system,” which 
we have described, is the best and the least offensive, and the most econom- 
ical, of any system of which we can obtain any information, for the dis- 
posal of green garbage, if it is to be disposed of within the city. 
We understand that the Merz Company, or the gentlemen operating it, 
would be willing to enter into a contract to dispose of this garbage, but we 
do not know as yet the terms upon which they would undertake it. 
The great practical question which the Council has to determine is, 
how to dispose of all the refuse matter gathered throughout our city, con- 
sisting of night-soil, manure, dead animals, ashes and garbage. If the 
Merz Company can dispose of the garbage and dead animals, of which 
there seems to be no doubt, we estimate that the night-soil, manure and 
ashes would still constitute at least 75 per cent, of the whole amount of 
refuse matter to be disposed of, and that would have to lx* disposed of in 
some other way. 
In conclusion, your committee would recommend, in order to bring 
the whole question of the disposal of garbage in a more definite form rela- 
tive to the cost, etc., that the City Clerk be authorized to a ivertize for the 
bids for the collection and disposal of all refuse matter within t' e limits of 
the city of St. Paul. Proposals to be made in such a manner that separate 
bids c m he obtained for the collection of all refuse matter and itsdisposal ; 
for the collection of garbage alone and its disposal, and for the collection 
of all other matter except garbage and its disposal. 
Respectfully submitted, 
Anthony Yoekg, Jr., 
O. O. Cullen, 
John F. Gehan, 
Com mittee. 
L. W. Rundlett, 
Henry F. Hoyt, M. U. 
Commissioners of Health. 
lo the Honorable, the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen : 
Your Committee appointed to examine into the different methods for 
the disposing of garbage now in use in this country, would report as fol 
lows.: 
In the opinion of this Committee, there are only two ways for the 
disposing of garbage which are worthy of consideration from a sanitary 
point of view, viz.: 
1. Cremation. 
2. According to Merz System 
35 Taking up the method of cremation first we would state that after a 
careful study of all the literature upon the subject obtainable, we deter- 
mined that the following methods of cremation were worthy of our con- 
sideration, viz.: The Mann or Montreal System, the Forestal, the Kilving- 
ton or modified Engle, the Patrick, the Engle and the Rider. 
The Mann System which was very thoroughly tested in Chicago, 
under the personal supervision of that eminent sanitary authority, Dr. De 
Wolf, we found to have been an utter failure. 
An examination of the scorched and blackened ruins which are all 
that remain of it now, shows that the outraged and indignant citizens of 
the neighborhood who set the to it in a spirit of poetic retributive justice, 
cremated the furnace far better than the furnace ever cremated the gar- 
bage. The Forestal and modified Engle, which were tried at Milwaukee, 
under that experienced and conscientious Health Officer, Dr. Martin, failed 
most signally to do their work, and Dr. Martin, who in his attempts to 
solve the garbage problem was instrumental in starting them, was obliged 
to close them up, not only as failures, but as public nuisances as well. 
The furnace at Minneapolis designed by the Health Officer of that city, 
Dr. Kilvington—the foremost advocate of cremation, and probably the 
man best posted upon the subject in this country—is now closed, as a 
failure and a nuisance. 
The Patrick Furnace which was formerly in operation in Detroit has 
some good features, and we believe that in lack of something better, its 
use would be an improvement over the method of filling in water courses 
and low lands with decaying animal and vegetable matter. However, the 
difference would only be one of degree, as it was such a nuisance to the 
neighborhood in which it was located in Detroit, that the city was obliged 
to purchase, at the price of twenty-five hundred dollars, its removal to the 
grounds of the Small Pox Hospital. Probably the theory acted upon that 
no one w ould be likely to go near enough to that neighborhood to be an- 
noyed by the smell. We w'ere also assured by the Health Officer—Dr. 
Duffield—that the process of combustion was very imperfect, and the appa- 
ratus itself a great disappointment. The Engle was seen at New York 
and at Coney Island and was not at all satisfactory. Complaints of its 
failure and also of the expense of running it, are coming in from the South 
where they have established several recently. 
The last furnaces examined were at Pittsburg and Allegheny and 
are of the Rider patent. We have no hesitation in saying that, in our 
opinion, this is the best furnace in existence in this country to-day, It 
will burn garbage of all kinds and will burn it throrougly, and that is 
more than, in our opinion, any of the others will do. We put it to the most 
severe test possible—piled it up full of wet tan bark refuse, ordinary gar- 
bage, rotten sauerkraut, pickles, slaughterhouse refuse, etc., then carefully 
examined the residuum,and found the combustion was almost perfect. The 
cost of running it is astonishingly lowr—at least in Pittsburg and Allegheny, 
where fuel is so plentiful and so cheap. What the cost would be here we are 
36 not in a position to say. The fuel used in Pittsburg is natural gas which 
costs three hundred dollars per month to burn at least sixty tons of garbage 
daily. The furnace at Allegheny which burns waste coal is said to cost 
much less in proportion. There is little odor or nuisance of any kind 
about the cremator or the premises or in the smoke as one could expect to 
find. Of course, it must be understood that it is practically impossible to 
consume garbage in any quantity without some odor and some nuisance 
about the premises, but iu this system it seems to be reduced to the min- 
imum. 
This finished the list of the systems of cremation we decided to in- 
vestigate. To sum up briefly we would state that, in our opinion the 
Rider System is the best, the Patrick next, and that the others have mis- 
taken their vocation. 
In the second place we take up the Merz System. This method we 
found in operation in the following cities, viz.: Chicago, Milwaukee, St. 
Paul, Detroit and Buffalo. We critically examined each plant and con- 
sulted the Health Authorities in each city iu which they were located. 
In Chicago, we found a plant capable of disposing of fifty tons of 
garbage daily. It was situated in a closely built neighborhood, and 
according to the testimony of neighbors and that of the Health Officer— 
Dr. Wickersham—there were no complaints of any nuisance. There was 
nothing about the premises which would lead one to suppose that it was a 
garbage factory unless they saw the carts unloading, The only percep- 
tible odor was an agreeable one. and it would be hard to find a neater and 
cleaner manufacturing establishment of any kind. 
At Milwaukee the capacity of the plant is thirty-five tons daily. It 
meets with the full approval and approbation of Dr. Martin, the Health 
Officer, who after a long and varied experience with cremation feels that 
at last the difficult problem of garbage disposal is scientifically and satis- 
factorily solved. There are several improvements in this plant over that 
of Chicago, and all that has been said of the latter plant may be repeated 
here. 
The St. Paul plant disposes of thirty tons daily to the satisfaction of 
Dr. Hoyt, the Health Officer. 
At Detroit we found the most perfect plant of all, and one on which 
very little improvement c an be made. It is in a very good section of the 
city and is disposing of thirty tons daily, and meets with the unqualified 
approval of Dr. Dutfield, the Health Officer, who expresses himself as per- 
fectly satisfied with its workings in every respect. 
The works at Buffalo were the first ones erected and are hardly up to 
the standard of the other mentioned, although about the only grounds for 
criticism there are iu the methods of handling the garbage, and not faults 
appertaining to the system itself. It meets with the full approval of the 
Board of Health, which takes great pride in the lactthatit was the pioneer 
in introducing this system into this country. Dr. Vandenbcrgh, the 
Chemist of said Board, a gentleman of high position and great attainments 
37 in his specialty, has ma le a special study of the chemistry of the Merz 
process, and declares it to be scientifically perfect and the one system in 
the world which can dispose of garbage in a sanitary manner. 
This completes the lists of plants of the Merz system inspected by 
your committee, and we would sumarize as follows : 
First.—That these plants can do and are doing the work claimed for 
them and required of them 
Second.—That this work is being done in a thoroughly sanitary and 
scientific manner. 
Third.—That no nuisance of any sort need exist on the premises of 
these plants, or be incidental to the process. 
Fourth. — And therefore that the works may be located at any point the 
most convenient for the delivery of the garbage. 
Fifth.—That this system has the unqualified approval of the Health 
Authorities in every city in which it is in use. 
Sixth.—That most of said authorities have had previous unfortunate 
experience with other systems. 
In conclusion and in performance of the duty for which we were ap- 
pointed, we would now state to your honorable body that we are unani- 
mously of the opinion that the Merz system is the best and the only perfect 
sanitary system for the disposal of garbage in existence to-day; and we 
woul 1 re i > n n: r 1 thu your honor ible body relieve us from our greatest 
evil—and one which is growing worse year by year—by at once adopting 
this system for our city. 
(Dictated.) 
Respectfully submitted, 
(Sig.) J. L. Leap, A. M. M. D., 
Health Officer. 
“ S. Van Riper. M. D., 
Board of Healtti “ Frank Agnew, M. D., 
“ Alderman, Wm. Ryan, 
Committee. 
38 REPORTS 
TO 
ttte LftDies neftLTH PRoxecTiue 
ASSOCIATION 
OF THE 
CITY OF NEW YORK Newark, N. J., Jan, 25, 1S90. 
To the President of the Ladies Health Protection Association of the City <>f 
New York: 
Within the past year the Newark Board of Health has examined the 
various methods for the disposition of garbage, it being the intention of 
the authorities of the City to erect a plant for that purpose within a short 
time. The members have visited the cities of Buffalo, Chicago, Milwau- 
kee, Detroit and Cleveland for this purpose. 
All the methods in use at the present time, with the exception of the 
Meiz or Vienna system, cremate the material, destroying it entirely, and this 
is attended with the escape of noxious gases in more or less quantities. 
With the Merz or Vienna system, we have certain constituents of the 
garbage extracted and its valuable products utilized and rendered com- 
mercially valuable. Then by this process no poisonous or noxious vapors 
are allowed to escape and pollute the air, but are disposed of by evapora- 
tion and condensation. 
In the estimation of this Board, the Vienna system is the best in use at 
the present time, and we are satisfied that it is only a matter of time when 
cities which have no plant at the present time will adopt it, and that those 
using other methods will abandon them and adopt this process. 
I am, very truly yours, 
(Sig.) David L. Wallace, M. D., 
Secretary and Health Officer. 
Milwaukee, Wis., Jan. 24th, 1890. 
President Ladies' Health Protective Association of the City of Netc York : 
Madam.—I have been requested to make a statement regarding the 
merits and the working of the Merz system of garbage disposal, and I 
assure you it gives me pleasure to say that, despite the claims of theorists 
who favor cremation, that the facts are well against them. Probably no 
city in the country has a more varied experience in the direction of garbage 
disposal than we have had, while other cities were talking of the best cre- 
mators we were using them, and have a practical experience for more than 
eighteen months, during which time the entire garbage of the city was cre- 
mated . 
Of the many plans adopted for this purpose how few are in use to day 
and how many of them do the work required of them. I do not know of 
one that is a sanitary success, true almost any one of them will burn 
mauure .and like material, but that is not what is wanted, that is not 
41 garbage, that can be burned at less cost in the open country. When our 
cremator was replaced by the present Merz system, many feared a nuisance 
might be created by an industry handling such material and located so 
near some of the best residences in the city, but all were happily disap- 
pointed, and a person who would call at our establishment at any hour of 
the day or night, would fail to discover anything that could be called a 
nuisance either to sight or smell. Many of our best citizens have visited 
the works. Ladies, representing the Eastern Press, have gone through 
the works, not without fear lest an offensive odor might cling to them, but 
they too were disappointed and pleased, and all unite in saying that this 
is the system that will fulfill all the requirements of the sanitarian of to- 
day. 
For myself I cannot say too much in its favor. It has been my fortune 
to be identified with the question of garbage disposal in this city for more 
than eight years, and I am gratified to know that at last for us the great 
question has been settled to our entire satisfaction I have claimed this the 
crowning sanitary success of our age, and any city that has had a like 
experience, will, when fully made aware of its merits, gladly welcome it 
as I have done. The cost is a most unimportant factor, but one that some 
of our smaller cities seem inclined to consider and to which they attach, I 
believe, too much importance. The question of dollars and cents in such 
a matter should be put against the nuisance, and all will find this to be 
money well invested. 
If 1 can be of any service to you in solving this question, either by 
answering any question you might wish or even by calling and talking on 
this subject, much information might be gleaned from the trials we have 
undergone. 
Freemont Hill, C. E., sent by the Mayor of Chicago to inspect and 
report on our system of collection and disposal of garbage, writes me under 
date of December 31, 1889. 
“ I consider yours one of the most advanced scientific and successful 
systems in use to day.” I shall be pleased to hear of the adoption of the 
same system in our city. 
Yours respectfully, 
(Sig.) It. Maktin, M. I)., 
Commissioner of Health. 
St. Paul, Minn., Jany. 24, 1890. 
To the President of the Ladies Health Protective Association of New York 
City : 
Madam.—For many years the problem of the disposition of the refuse 
material that accumulates in a city, has proved more difficult to solve than 
almost any other. After years of experience, experimentation and inves- 
tigation of many systems and methods, we have finally adopted what we 
42 believe to be the best and most scientific system in the world to day. It 
will take your garbage and by a process that is simple, but effectual, it 
destroys all unhealthy odors and disease germs that may be stored in the 
material and converts the residue into an oil and a fertilizing material, thus 
utilizing what was formerly wasted. 
I take pleasure in informing you that the system that I have just 
briefly outlined, that is to day taking care of the tons of garbage and dead 
animals in our city, in the finest plant of the kind in the United States, is 
the “ Men," which in my opinion is a wronderful advance in that branch 
of sanitary science to which it belongs. 
I have the honor to remain, 
Yours very respectfully, 
(Sig.) Henry F. Hoyt, M. D., 
Commissioner of Health. 
(Copy.) 
Chicago, 111., Jan. 24, 1890. 
To the President of the Indies’ Health Protective Association, New York 
City: 
I have been the Commissioner of Health of this city for the thirteen 
years ending last August, and have interested myself much in the matter 
ofgaibage disposal; I am familiar with the practical operation of every 
method or system in use to-day, in this Country or Europe, and I unhesita- 
tingly declare my opinion that from every standpoint of economy, freedom 
from offense and practical every day work, the Merz System is superior to 
all others, indeed there is nothing to compete with it for the disposition of 
pure garbage. 
(Sig.) Oscak C. De Woi.f. M. D. 
43 tADDENDUM-^ 
PORTS AND OPINIONS 
RENDERED SINCE 
OCTOBER 1st, 1890 City of St. Paul, 
Office of the Department of Health, 
Henry F. Hoyt, M. D., Commissioner, 
St. Paul, Minn., Oct. 13, 1890. 
The Men Universal Extractor tfc Construction Co., Mew York City: 
Gentlemen.—Your esteemed favor, requesting my opinion of the Merz 
System of disposing of garbage, dead animals. Ac., is duly received, and I 
take pleasure iu replying as follows: In the fall of 1889 the Merz System 
of disposing qf garbage and dead animals was formally adopted by our 
City Government, and a contract entered into with the Azotine Manufact- 
uring Company of St. Paul, for a period of five years, said company 
agreeing for a certain compensation to dispose of all garbage and dead 
animals by the Merz Process, that might be produced by said city during 
said time. They erected a plant in our city according to the Merz Method 
aud commenced work January 1st, 1890,‘since which time it has been in 
constant operation day and night, taking care of about twenty-five tons 
every twenty-four hours. It takes that part of our waste material that 
formerly was allowed to decompose in our back yards and alleys, poisoning 
the atmosphere, or being dumped in our rivers and lakes, polluting the 
water supply, distributing disease and death in every direction. And 
instead of the dire results that followed the old method, we now have 
these dangerous substances converted, by a scientific, sanitary, odorless 
process, into products that are useful and in no way detrimental to health. 
The material is first dried bjr superheated steam. The gases that are 
evolved are passed through a conductor and part condensed. Those that 
are not susceptible to condensation are then carried into a retort, built in 
the furnace, and there consumed. 
The solid material remaining after the drying is completed, is then 
subjected to the action of chemicals, that extract from it all the grease that 
it may contain. The residue is a dark dry mass of about the same con- 
sistency of dry earth and is used for fertilizing purposes. 
Garbage is composed of about (50 per cent, water and 40 per cent, 
solid. About 10 per cent, of the solid matter is grease. The balance of the 
solids are valuable as fertilizers, according to the amount of ammonia they 
contain. 
In conclusion, I would state, that in my opinion the Merz Method is 
a success. It is thoroughly scientific, absolutely free from disagreeable or 
unhealthy odors, and I regard it to-day as one of the greatest, if not the 
greatest, sanitary invention of the age. It has satisfactorily solved 
the most difficult sanitary problem that our city has ever encountered. 
Wishing you continued success, gentlemen, in your great undertaking, 
I have the honor to remain, 
Yours very respectfully, 
(Sig.) Henry F. Hoyt, M. D., 
Commissioner of Health. 
46 INSTITUTIONS NOW IN SUCCESSFUL OPERATION 
UNDEK 
T He TA. erz Process. 
DETROIT : Detroit Sanitary AVorks, 
Office, No. 957 Woodbridge St., Detroit, Mich. 
Hon. M. H. Chamberlain, President, 
W. C. Glines, Secretary. 
MILWAUKEE : Foriustal Crematory and Garbage Co., 
Office, No. 89 Oneida St., Milwaukee, Wis. 
Hon. Joshua Stark, President. 
Frederick L. Wilmanns, Secretary. 
ST. PAUL : Azotine Manufacturing Co., 
Office, No. 31 East Fifth St., St. Paul, Minn. 
James Forristal, President. 
Wm. Dawson, Jr., Secretary and Treasurer. 
DENVER : Denver Sanitary and Fertilizing Co., 
Office, No. 1609 Blake St., Denver, Colorado. 
J. F. Brown, President. 
H. M. Porter, Secretary and 'Treasurer. 
IN COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
PATERSON : The Paterson Sanitary Co.’s Plant. 
Office, No. 207 Main St., Paterson, N. J. 
Hon. James Inglis, Jr., President. 
T. A. Wall, Secretary. ILLUSTRATION OK 
THE FLANNIGAN STEEL AUTOMATIC GARBAGE 
CART. 
RECOMMENDED AS AN AUXILIARY TO THE “ MERZ PROCESS.” Supplement to “ The Merz Co’s ” Pamphlet, December, 1890. 
IJeport on the Merz l|roeedd, 
F@R THE DISPOSAL OF GARBAGE, 
By WM. M. CHAUVENET, 
PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, St. Louis, Mo. 
Hun. C. P. Walbridge, President of the Council. 
Dear Sir—According to instructions received from the Council of the 
City of St. Louis, I have, as one of a committee of four, visited the various 
cities in which the Merz system for the disposal of garbage and animal 
matter has been introduced and beg to make the following report: 
The cities visited were St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, and Buffalo, 
in the order named. 
The Merz or Vienna system, as it is sometimes called, is a method of dis- 
posing of animal and vegetable refuse, not by cremation or rendering, but 
by dessication—that is by drying at a high temperature in closed retorts ; 
and a chemical extraction of the oils in the dried residue. 
To inquire into the sanitary nature and fitness of this process as well as 
to thoroughly investigate its possibilities for the disposal of animal and veg- 
etable refuse is the purpose of this report. 
A minute description of the plant cannot well be given without complete 
dra wings which are not at hand, but an explanation of the process may aid 
in a better understanding of the discussion following. 
The thirty ton plant in St. Paul, a description of which will answer for 
all the others, consists of six dryers and three extractors. 
The dryers consist of concentric cylinders—one within the other—hung 
horizontally below the receiving floor. 
The inner cylinder receives the garbage through a hopper opening to the 
delivery floor and carries a reel made of riveted steel and revolving through 
the longitudinal axis of the dryer. 
The outer cylinder is nothing more than a jacket into which super-heated 
steam is admitted at a temperature of about 300 degrees F. Each cylinder 
holds about three tons of garbage and the drying operation requires about 
six hours. 
A steam tight door is then opened in the bottom of the dryer and the 
contents withdrawn upon a carrier which conveys to the extractors. The watery vapors from the dryers are passed through condensers and thence 
into the sewer. 
The extractors are square upright tanks with a false bottom in which, 
during six hours, the product from the dryers is subjected to a benzine hath 
by means of which the oily constituents are wholly removed. 
The benzine is then driven off, and recondensed, the oil withdrawn to 
storage tanks and the, now perfectly dry, residue drawn and conveyed for 
storage. 
Dead animals are separately treated, in separate dryers similar in every 
respect to those used for garbage except that they have a special 
pipe for filling. 
The larger animals are first cut up, in a room above the dryers. The 
skins are saved and the rest is thrown into upright boilers sealed from the 
air and boiled for some hours by super-heated steam under the influence of 
which the parts are reduced to such a size that they slip at once into the 
dryers upon opening the valve of the shute. 
In the dryers the animal matter is subjected to exactly the same drying 
process as the garbage. 
The engine and boiler plants need no description as they differ in no re- 
spect from those in general use. 
The question as to what takes place in this drying process is perhaps diffi- 
cnlt to answer, theoretically, and would demand the most exhaustive chem- 
ical analysis to determine. Practically the results are easy of explanation. 
As long as vegetable organic matter retains its water of composition it 
undergoes continual change and decomposition when exposed to the air, 
during which its malignant gases are set free and given off The Merz 
system drives off all water of composition and all moisture in a closed re- 
tort, protected from the air and at a high temperature; alters and fixes the 
decomposable acids and delivers a product no longer subject to decomposi- 
tion even upon long standing. 
The first question asked in regard to the Merz process even by those, who 
visit the plants is, “ What becomes of the gases given off from the dryers 
during the process of drying garbage?” 
After visiting three Merz plants inactive operation and after a long dis- 
cussion of the matter with other chemists I am of the opinion that there is 
little or no gas given off in the process of drying, since I do not think the 
temperature within high enough to decompose vegetable fibre. 
In regard to this temperature there has been some question in my mind 
throughout. The figure 350 degrees F. given us at the vaiious plants was 
not the result of direct measurement in any instance, since this is a difficult 
question to determine ; but since lard oil will begin to smoke and decompose 
at a temperature of 350 degrees in air and since no such decomposition of 
the animal fats in the dryer taires place in any large degree, I think we are 
safe in concluding that the temperature of 300 F. is nearer the truth. The 
very dark color of the fatty oil as it comes from the extractor is doubtless 
due to a slight carbonization or burning, but it must be very slight. This conclusion has nothing to do with the sanitary nature of the process 
except in so far as it shows that there are probably no burning greases and 
gases of decomposition to escape from the works and that therefore it is not 
a surprise that they do not come through the condenser, which I think they 
would do if generated. 
We have had no time to make the chemical tests which would determine 
these questions, but as I said above it is of no practical importance under the 
circumstances. Our investigation must lie wholly with the sanitary nature 
of the process. 
THE WORKS IN OPERATION. 
Though unprepared for such" a result on leaving St. Louis, I am able to 
report as follows in regard to the offensiveness of the operation and the 
nature of the dry product: 
On approaching the works in St. Paul no odor was perceptible outside the 
building excepting a faint smell of crude petroleum used for running the 
engines and stored in tanks some distance in the rear of the works. 
In the delivery room where garbage was being unloaded and where sev- 
eral dead horses were being treated at the time, the smell was offensive. In 
that part of the works devoted to the process of drying and extracting there 
was no offensive odor whatever other than a faint smell of benzine. 
The establishment as a whole was far less offensive than a soap factory and 
had none of the disgusting features of a rendering works. After the garbage 
and animal matter is once in the dryers, (and it goes there at once), there is 
no possibility of offense whatever even to the most squeamish nostril, and 
were it not for the pile of garbage and the animals on the delivery floor 
above, the works would be as free from offense as a linseed oil factory. 
That they are not so, is entirely due to the crude way in which the gar- 
bage is delivered from carts out of which it is shoveled upon a floor instead 
of into hoppers direct, an improvement which we understand is already in 
operation at the plant recently constructed at Paterson, N. J. 
The dried residue before the extraction of the oil, has a faint oily smell, 
after the extraction, as it lies in the warehouse it is as inoffensive as garden 
loam which it much resembles, and can be handled with impunity since it is 
odorless. 
In the St. Paul Warehouse was a pile of this product which had been ex- 
posed to the air for some five months which showed no evidence of decom- 
position and which was as wholly inoffensive as when made. 
The Milwaukee plant has a capacity of forty tons and is located in the 
heart of the city. We found this plant treating from 35 to 50 tons a day. 
Outside of the factory there was no offensive smell to indicate what was 
going on within. The garbage was being delivered in quantity and in the 
delivery room the smells were very offensive. The machinery was running 
in an orderly manner and that part of the factory given up to the process 
proper was inoffensive and smelled only of benzine. 
THE MILWAUKEE PLANT. There are 39 wagons delivering garbage in Milwaukee and the shoveling 
system in use strikes one as slovenly and unclean. The product which was 
stored in an open shed was totally inoffensive after six months’ storage. 
THK CHICAGO PLANT. 
The forty ton plant in Chicago was not in operation. It is unfortunately 
located in the lumber districts and in an old building. The elevators in 
this plant for lifting the garbage to the dryers, are a mistake and should not 
be used. 
THE DETROIT PLANT. 
In the Detroit plant the delivery room was open to the same objections as 
those of the works above described and the garbage shoveled from box 
wagons upon a wooden floor raised above the street with its wide doors open 
to the air was the cause of much complaint. The condensing engine in this 
plant was an experiment and a failure, giving rise to a sour smell due to 
escaping gases of an acetic nature, a fault not existing at other plants. 
The Buffalo plant was not in operation and was not visited, though com- 
plete figures as to the result of an eighteen months’ run in which the Merz 
Company lost $16,000 were submitted and copied from their books. They are 
at the disposal of the Council but cannot be entered into here. 
THE QUESTION OF NUISANCE. 
I cannot too severely criticise the methods of delivery.in use in all the 
cities visited by your committee. 
It is my opinion that the odors existing within the works of the various 
plants visited were wholly from the freshly delivered garbage lying upon the 
floor and had nothing to do with the process of drying and extracting of the 
Merz process which is inoffensive from its nature 
The plants in (hicago, St. Paul, Milwaukee and Detroit are badly lo- 
cated. It is not surprising that there should he complaints, which there 
certainly have been, in view of the present methods of delivering the 
garbage. 
These complaints have in all instances come from those living close to the 
works, and were due not so much to the process of conversion as to the 
unclean method of delivery arid the congregation of so many garbage carts 
in one locality. 
As to the process in the works themselves we did not hear one complaint 
throughout our trip. 
THE REPORT OF HEALTH OFFICERS. 
To report in detail, the whole of the information given us hv the health 
officers of the various cities, would be to write a book on sanitary matters in 
general. I shall attempt, while condensing the whole, to give the signifi- 
cant facts and especially those which bear on this investigation. THE 
FLANIGAN PATENT 
AUTOMATIC 0TEEL ODERLESS 
DfclnP GART. 
JYo. /. 
of which I beg to present in the following pages three different 
views, showing the position of the body when loaded, when about 
to be loaded, and after the contents have been dumped, is the result 
of years of study and experiments. I am confident, and trial and 
examination will outbear me in the assertion, that no cart ever 
put upon the market has at once combined as many advantages 
as my patent cart. 1Vo. 
The body of mv cart is made of sheet steel plates, joined and 
riveted together in a manner that will effectually prevent any leakage 
of liquid substances, such as are contained in garbage, slush and 
other reluse matter, and is provided with a cover, hinged to the 
foretop portion of the body, and so arranged that the driver may 
raise the same without leaving his seat. When the cover is down the 
cart is closed, water and air tight. Pressing the foot on the lever will 
cause the body of the cart to turn and dump its contents, while by 
means of a lever, chain and sprocket wheels located on the opposite 
side of the cart the body is again thrown into its orignal position, or 
may, if desired, be placed in a position as indicated in Cut No. 2. JVo 
In constucting this cart I have been particulary careful in consid- 
ering and overcoming all objections that are made to the old style 
dump-carts, and I believe have succeeded in putting before the public, 
and especially the Sanitary Officials of larger cities, a cart that will 
meet all requirements, and forever rid the people of the dust, smell 
and general nuisance that exists wherever garbage, ashes, street sweep- 
ings, etc., are conveyed through our thoroughfares in old style carts, 
distributing part of its contents on our streets. This cart unloads with- 
out driver stopping his horse or leaving his seat, and no part touches 
the ground while unloading, as is seen in Cut No. 3. They are being used on Fifth Avenue, New York with much 
satisfaction to the city officials and the public and recommended by 
II. S. Beattie, Commissioner of Street Cleaning. 
To be used in the collecting of garbage by the St. Louis Sanitary 
Co., in connection with the Merz Extracting Plant. 
'‘The street department of Boston is making an effort to 
abate one of the worst nuisances which is daily inflicted upon 
the public in this city, by doing away with the wooden offal 
carts and their sickening ardor.”—Boston Globe. 
“The Superintendent of Streets was so much pleased with the 
steel cart which was here on trial, that he has purchased some for 
the city.”—-Boston 7'ranscript. 
Awarded First Prize and Diploma at Wisconsin State Fair 
Sept. 19, 1891. 
Adopted by the City of Milwaukee and recommended by 
U. O. B. D., Commissioner of Health. 
I use the best wheels and material that can be obtained; ms- 
cart is evenly balanced, light running and painted and finished 
in a manner that will make the adoption of the same a credit 
to any city. 
I am prepared to furnish my patent cart in lots at reasonable 
prices, or will sell City, County or State rights to those who 
may prefer to manufacture the cart for their own account. 
The capacity of these carts is from 1 to 2 cubic yards. 
Respectfully, 
T. R. FLANIGAN, 
188 Broadway, New York, (Room 8.) 
Inventor and owner of United States Patent, and England, 
France and Germany. Patented Feb. 10, 1891. Throughout our journey we found no health officer or public official of 
any kind who was opposed to the Merz system. The following gentlemen 
•were interviewed, and all were in favor of the introduction of the Merz 
-system: 
Dr. Hoyt, Health Commisioner of St. Paul. 
O. O. Cullen, President of the Council. 
The Mayor of St. Paul. 
Dr. U. O. B. Wingate, Health Commissioner of Milwaukee. 
The Mayor of Milwaukee. 
Dr. Oscar DeWolf, for fourteen years Health Commissioner of Chicago. 
Mayor Roche. 
Dr. Duffield, Health Commissioner of Detroit. 
The Mayor of Detroit. 
Dr. Green, Health Commissioner of Buffalo. 
Dr. Clark, former Health Commissioner of Buffalo. 
Dr. F. P. Vandenbergh, City Chemist. 
The interviews were conducted in open meeting and resolved themselves 
into a sort of cross-examination. 
In reviewing, then, the many interviews and debates in regard to the 
Merz system, continuing through many days, I find the representatives of 
the several communities in which the Merz plants have been in operation 
universally in favor of its introduction. My own investigation, both sanita- 
ry and chemical, leads me to the following conclusions: 
1st. That the Merz system from a chemical standpoint is an ingenious 
and ■perfectly rational process. 
2d. That it is a perfectly inoffensive and sanitary process for the conver- 
sion of offensive animal and vegetable refuse into an odorless and inoffensive 
product. 
3d. That the complaints against the system are wholly due to the method 
of handling and delivering the garbage for which methods the Merz system 
Is in no way responsible. 
4th. That with proper methods of collection, proper steel dump wagons, 
and properly arranged hoppers for the reception of the refuse the Merz 
system will be perfectly free from objectionable features, and a decided ad- 
vance from a sanitary point of view over the unclean and shameful methods 
of disposal now in vogue. 
We are told that at Patteson, N. J., the improvements in delivery and 
the arrangement of hoppers is complete, 
Improved dryers are also there introduced which together with the hop- 
pers were minutely described to me by the engineer of the Plant, Mr. Fred. 
G. Wiselogel. 
So constructed with the improvements suggested above the Merz plant 
will be free from all offense as a factory. 
The most objectionable feature of the present system of delivery in use in the 
various places where the Merz plants are established is the stupid closed wooden 
cart without even a movable tail board. From this cart the garbage has to be lifted over the side with a shovel at times as in the Milwaukee system. 
There can be no escape from foul odors as long as so slovenly a plan is allowed 
to remain. 
Automatic dump carts are already in existence and are an essential part 
of any delivery system. The garbage boxes too must be designed for the 
purpose and maintained by ordinance before the system will be orderly or 
cleanly. 
Before concluding this part of my report, I wish to clearly state that I 
consider the Merz process as successful in the treatment of dead animals as 
of garbage and a godsend to any community now suffering the outrage of 
the rendering process by the old and only too well recognized plan. 
It may be well, since we looked thoroughly into the matter to include in 
this report such facts as we gathered in regard to Crematories. 
By cremation is meant the destruction of garbage and refuse matter gener- 
ally by fire, in furnaces built for the purpose. 
Such a system has been in use in Minneapolis, in Milwaukee, in Chicago, 
Detroit, Buffalo and in many other places. 
In the five cities named the furnaces have been condemned as nuisances by 
the present health officers. 
The furnace known as the Engle Furnace was tried by Dr. Kilvington, 
health commissioner of Minneapolis, both there and in Milwaukee, proving 
a complete eailure in both places. 
From Dr. Wingate, of Milwaukee, we learned the following in regard to 
the Engle furnace built by Dr. Kilvington in that city, where it was tried 
for a period of some months : 
The furnace would not consume the garbage and it took from three days 
to two weeks to consume twenty loads, in the ashes of which there was still 
considerable unconsumed matter. 
It was very expensive and a decided nuisance and was abandoned. 
Dr. DeWolf, of Chicago, long experimented with crematories, pro- 
nounces them a failure. The Mann furnace placed in a quarry near Chieago 
failed to consume the garbage, even that which went through the furnace 
being but partly consumed. 
Its capacity was very limited, its stench abominable. 
Dr. Duff eld, of Detroit, considers crematories a failure. One crematory 
there could consume imperfectly only eight tons a day, creating a nuisance 
at the same time. 
Dr. Clark and Dr. Vandenbergh, of Buffalo, after special investigation of 
the crematories in Milwaukee and Chicago pronounce them expensive and 
inadequate for the. purpose and condemn the cremation plan as a failure for 
sanitary reasons as well. 
Personally I regard the attempt to cremate garbage a mistake because it is 
almost impossible to utterly consume it, even at the most intense heat, the 
furnaces have therefore but limited capacity. 
DISPOSAL OF GARBAGE BY CREMATION. It creates the foul odor and incondensable gases consequent upon burning 
vegetable refuse to sav nothing of old leather, old rubber and old cats and 
dogs, which invariably find their wav into the garbage pile. 
It gives oft' to the air the very foul gasses and odors which it is intended 
to destroy, while it dissipates and destroys the valuable ammonia compounds 
which it should be its purpose to save. 
For the burning of sweepings and dry refuse on a small scale I believe it 
would be useful, but far the destruction of garbage and animal matter I regard 
the crematory a failure, and. from a sanitary standpoint, a mistake. 
Your committee also investigated the question of the disposal of garbage 
and sewerage by other methods, giving special attention to the practice of 
garbage farming which unclean method of disposal has been tried in various 
cities. 
The garbage farm I consider the very worst method ever resorted to for 
the consumption of the city refuse. It is a failure from the start, since 
greasy garbage is of little or no use as a fertilizer, and it converts the 
suburbs of a large city into an unsavory and unclean district since there are 
certain portions of the garbage which never seem to decay or to wholly lose 
their odor. Sewerage farms are not much better and it is time that the 
communities in this country wake up to the fact that the larger communi- 
ties in Kuropo are in a distressingly unclean condition from the abuses of 
the garbage and the sewerage farms. 
The farming system teas condemned by every health officer interviewep 
throughout our trip. 
We therefore return to the Merz system. 
The question of cost of the Merz system it is not my purpose or my busi- 
ness to discuss. For the sake of reference I append such figures as w. re 
gathered from the best authorities in the various places visited. 
St. Paul, with a population of 125,000, spends $26,000 for collection and 
disposal of garbage and animal matter. 
Milwaukee, $24,000 for collection of garbage alone, and $15,000 for the 
disposal of same. Total $39,000. Merz system. 
Chicago, $400,000 for the collection and disposal of garbage on the old 
plan. This figure seems extraordinary but was given us in the health office 
from reliable sources. 
Detroit spent $40,000 for collection and disposal of garbage from July, 
1888, to July, 1889. Under the old system. 
Under the present Merz system 10.000 tons of garbage were collected and 
delivered to Merz plant at a cost of $35,000. 
Buffalo spends annually $106,000 for sanitary matters. 
The figures given us at Buffalo show that the cost of running the Merz 
plant for eightean months was $4.90 per ton, of raw garbage. A loss of 
$16,718.22 is reported for the time. 
Before concluding I wish to point out the necessity of proper collection of 
garbage and refuse under any system you may adopt. 1st. Complete separation of ashes and tin cans from all vegetable garbage- 
must be insisted on and commanded by ordinance. Separate bins must be 
provided for such matter, in every case and on no account should any dead 
animal be put into the ash piles. Householders should be made intelligently 
to understand the reason for this and the importance of it. 
2nd. The garbage carts must be of iron or steel and be closely covered and 
dumped without the use of the shovel. 
In Milwaukee the ordinance commands that the collection be made before 
12 noon in Summer and before 2 o’clock P. M. in Winter. The collection 
is made by any one who will furnish the proper wagon at the rate of two 
dollars per day for each man so employed. 
I regard the Milwaukee system the most successful of those we saw. 
There is, however, room for vast improvement in the methods of collection,, 
a subject to which Dr. Wingate is now giving his attention. * 
I trust that the important facts as to contracts and ordinances gathered by 
the committee will be furnished you by them in order to supplement the 
matter which I have brought together here and to which the short time at 
my disposal and my inexperience outside of my profession naturally confine 
me. 
In conclusion allow me to state that I fully appreciate the honor of being 
chosen for so important a mission. 
• Very respectfully, 
(Sig.) WM. M. CHAUVENET. 
To Hon. C. P. WALBRIDGE, 
President of the Council. 
St. Louis, Dec. 10, 1890. LOUIS FLEISCHMANN, President 
WILLIAM GREVEL, Secy.8c Tress 
To the Surgeon General, 
U. S. Army, 
Washington, D. C. 
Sir,- 
We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your highly 
esteemed favor of 9th inst. and in prompt compliance with your 
request thereby conveyed, have taken the liberty of forwarding 
to you this day, all printed matter pertaining to our process for 
the disposition of Garbage. 
Respectfully recommending our pamphlet and auxiliaries to 
your kind perusal, more especially with a vierr towards its adop- 
tion and employment by the District of Columbia in the City of 
Washington, we beg to express our sincere appreciation for the 
kind consideration shown us in the premises, and remain, 
Slr,- 
Most respectfully, 
Your obedient servants, 
The Merz Universal Extractor & Construction Co. 
Secy. & Treas. ■ | - iUjUV-UiUl 
nq~T~' " two bids. 
<>r which were referred to the Committee on 
r" Public Buildings with instructions to report next 
.Tuesday at 10 a. m. 
Sundry documents were referred. 
Adjourned. 
EAfORY S. FOSTER. 
Secretary. 
SPECIAL NOTICES. 
PROPOSALS FOR REMOVING DEAD ANIMALS. 
In accordance with tile provisions of article 2, 
chapter 14, of tile Revised Ordinances of 1887, 
sealed proposals lor the removal of the carcasses 
and remains of all dead animals from the streets, 
alleys and public places of the City of St. Louis, or 
on private premises therein, as provided for in 
said ordinance, will be received by tlie Board of 
Health, at tlie office of said Board, till December 
19. 1890, at 4 p. in. 
The contract for the removal of carcasses and 
remains, or parts thereof, of all dead animals, will 
require that the contractor shall move the same 
outside of tlie city limits, and one mile beyond the 
jurisdiction of tile Board of Health, and that lie 
shall observe every care and use the utmost pre- 
caution that the same, may be conveyed away in the 
most Inoffensive manner possible, and cause them 
to be covered with tarpaulins or removed in tight- 
ly covered wagons, as the Board of Health may 
direct. 
Tlie period of time to lie covered by said propo- 
sals to be for the term ending November 30, 1893. 
Two classes of bids will be received: 
First—Bids offering to pay the City of St. Louis 
a specific sum of money, in monthly installments, 
for the privilege guaranteed bv article 2, chapter 
14. Revised Ordinances of 1887, for the period of 
time as above stated. 
Second—Bids offering to do the work provided 
to be done by said article 2, chapter 14, Revised 
Ordinances of 1887, for the period of time above 
stated. for the lowest amount of moi»y to be paid 
by the city, said payments to be paid in monthly 
Installments. All bids must be in duplicate and 
free from alterations or erasures, and lo each 
there must be attached a copy of this advertise- 
ment. 
Each bid must be accompanied by a certificate 
showing that $200 have been deposited with the 
City Treasurer as an earnest that the bidder, if 
awarded the contract, will enter into satisfactory 
bond with the city for the faithful performance of 
his contract. 
In the event that the Aierz or anv other system 
of disposing of the Head animals in the City of St. 
Louis is adopted and put into effect d uring the ex- 
istence of the contract made under tills advertise- 
ment, the contractor hereunder shall, on order of 
the Board of Health, deliver the dead animals at 
the stations of said system or at such points as may 
be designated by said Board; and the contract is 
let subject to the provisions of ordinance 15,718. 
The Board reserves the right to reject any and 
all bids. 
Bids will be opened at the office of the Board of 
iMifAt alth on December 19, 1890, at 4:30p. m. 
•ioj Hini G. F. DUDLEY, 
lio.i puith Commissioner and Presiding Officer Board 
o.i.) A<i iealtlJ* 
hi est: 
niteji oa«vahd a. Finney, AI. I)., 
jjriu nip Health Commissioner and Board of Health. 
.vain }[ 3-19 
pill! * |>H 
:jl tfuj.io 
jssoiiou PUBLIC NOTICE. 
|.ll!0|0 O 
0.IOJ.1SI 
* "In1?.,',Office of the President of the ) 
,w ,7, Board of Public Improvements. > 
ST. Louis. December 11, J890. ) 
’ ', 1 , bile notice Is hereby given that tile Board of 
11 ... ,lc Improvements will hold a special meeting 
uiBui.'.g Uonr of 10 a ln of the 
I! -s.iop« 30TH DAY OF DECEMBER, 1890, 
: office in the City Hall, for tlie purpose of 
-ideriug the matter of opening, widening and 
ging width of carriage way of streets and 
s as hereinafter mentioned, viz.: 
i. 2740. Petition No. 4039. For opening 
luir avenue from Old Manchester road to AVil- 
ivcnue. 
>. 2747. Petition No. 4040. For opening 
lleton avenue from Kenuerly avenue to Nat- 
1 Bridge road. 
>. 2748. Petitions Nos. 4050 and 4272. For 
ling alley In city blocK No. 3976, from Tower 
ve avenue to Mount Vernon avenue and be- 
in Norfolk avenue and Swan avenue. 
> 2749. Petition No. 4070. For widening 
ni avenue between Manchester road and 
Itenhaui avenue. 
a. 2750. Petition No. 4105. For opening 
icrt avenue from Knight street to Page ave- 
o. 2751. Petition *No. 4111. For opening 
ittier street front Evans avenue to Easton 
6 ue. 
o.2752. Petition No. 4132. For opening Rut- 
street from Grand avenue to Cabaune street, 
o. 2753. Petition No. 4133. For opening 
a avenue from Grand avenue to proposed Van- 
enter avenue. 
a. 2754- Petition No. 4134. For opening 
tory street lrom Grand avenue u> Cabaune 
et. 
>.2755. Petition No. 4135. For opening al- 
ii city block No. 29S1, from Haven street to 
t street, and between Aiiunesota avenue and 
iiigan avenue. 
o. 2756. Petition No. 4152. For changing 
til of carriageway to 30 feet on McPherson 
line between Boyle avenue and Taylor avenue. 
0.2757. Petition No, 4174. For opening al- 
ia city block No. 3775, from Deer street to 
•cus avenue, and between Evans avenue and 
ton avenue. 
o. 2758. Petition No. 4186. For opening 
miuation street from Broadway to Virginia 
uur. 
o. 2759. Petition No. 4211. For opening east 
west alley in city block No, 2153, between 
n-aska avenue and Todd avenue, and between 
Vincent avenue and Park avenue, 
o. 2760. Petition No. 4212. For opening 
lift, avenue from the west Hue of the Papin 
•t to Union avenue. 
o. 2761. Petition No. 4246. For opening 
ginia avenue from Rappahannock street to 
nandoah street. 
o. 2762. Petition No. 4247. For opening Iowa 
nue between Geyer avenue and Lafayette ave- 
a, 2763. Petition No. 4248. For opening 
y in city block No, 3974, from Mount Ver- 
avenue lo Taylor avenue and between Swan 
me and Manchester road. 
>. 2764. Petition No. 4251. For opening 
■s avenue from tlie east line ol Henry B. Belt's 
livision eastwardly to Union avenue." 
>. 2765. Petition No. 4256. For opening 
isiana avenue from Rappahannock street to 
landoah s.reet. 
•• 2766. Petition No. 4264. For opening 
in city block No. 2205, from Theresa avenue 
and avenue, and running north of and pa- 
1 with Clark avenue. 
. 2767. Board’s Motion. For opening Me- 
son avenue 80 feet wide, from Union avenue 
vardly. and 195 and ten twelfths l'eet uorth of 
ntr&llel with the north line of Forest Park 
tlon, to its intersection with McPherson 
le, as now laid out near Walton avenue. 
2768. Board's Afotion. For opening West- 
er Place 70 feet wide, from Union avenue 
ardly, and 650 and ten twelfths feet north 
uut.-. (Ah toiil- (4). five (5), six (6), seven 
(7). eight (8), nine (9) and ten (10), in 
City block 4,781 south; sain lots 
nine (9), ten (10) anti eleven (11) having 
an aggregate frontage of 153 feet 8 inches on the 
South line of Duncan avenue, said lots twelve (12), 
thirteen (13), fourteen (14), seventeen (17), eight- 
een (18), nineteen (19) and twenty (20) have an ag- 
frontage of 424>i feet on the north side of 
Audubon Place. Lots one (1), two (2), three (3), 
four (4), live (5), six (6), seven (7), eight (8), 
nine (9) and ten (10) have a frontage of 518 
8-12 feet on the south side of Audubon 
Place. For a full and complete descrip- 
tion of the above lots see Shield’s Duncan avenue 
subdivision in Plat Book No. 12at page 99 Recorder 
of Deeds for City of St. Louis. In trust to secure 
the payment of certain promissory notes in said 
deed of trust fully described, and whereas one of 
said notes is past due and remains unpaid, and 
whereas the taxes and Insurance on said property 
are past due and remain unpaid, notwithstanding 
the terms and conditions of said deed of trust re- 
quired their payment. 
Now, therefore, at the request of the legal 
holder of said notes and in pursuance of the terms 
and conditions of said deed of trust, I, the under- 
signed trustee, will on 
MONDAY, THE 29TH DAY OF DECEMBER, 
1890. 
Between the hours of 10 o’clock a. m. and 4 o’clock 
p. in. of that day proceed to sell the above des- 
cribed real estate at the eastern front door of the 
Court House in the city of St. Louis, Mo., at public 
vendue to the highest bidder for cash to satisfy 
said deed of trust and the expenses of executing 
the same. 
HENRY L. SUTTON, 
Trustee. 
Dec. 4. 1890. 
TRUSTEE’S SALE OF REAL ESTATE. 
DY VIRTUE OF THE PROVISIONS OF A DEEE 
of trust dated the 23d day of February, 1888, 
and ol record in the Recorder’s ollice of the City o; 
St. Louis, in deed book No. 857, at page 205, mad* 
by Kittie Clyde Payne, William H. Payne, her hus- 
band. and John A. Agee, trustee for the said KittU 
Clyde Payne, to the undersigned trustee, pubiii 
notice is hereby given that the undersigned will 
for the purposes of said trust, on 
THURSDAY, THE 8TH DAY OF JANUARY', 
1891, 
between the hours of 10 o’clock a. m. and 3 o’cloci 
p. m. of that day, at the East front door of th( 
Court House in said City of St. Louis, at publh 
auction, to the highest bidder for cash, sell thi 
real estate conveyed to him by said deed, viz.: 
The following described real estate and improve- 
ments thereon, situated in the City of St. Louis and 
State of Missouri, to-wit: 
Lot number twenty-one (21) in block numbei 
seventeen (17) of the third (3rd) sub-division o: 
the Wash estate in city block thirty-six hundret 
and eighty-six (3686) of St. Louis, Missouri, a pla 
of which said sub-division is on file and duly re- 
corded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds for tin 
City of St. Louis, Missouri, said lot having a fron 
of fifty seven feet (57 ft.), eight and three-fourths 
(8%) inches on St. Ferdinand street by a depth o: 
130 feet to an alley. 
R. M. NICHOLS, 
TRUSTEE. 
TRUSTEE’S SALE OF REAL ESTATE. 
T1Y VIRTUE OF TIIE PROVISIONS OF A DEED 
of trust dated the 29th. day of June, 1876, anc 
of record In the office of the Recorder of Deeds foi 
the City of St. Louis, Stale of Missouri, in Deec 
book No. 548, at page 429. made by Samuel S. 
Hawkins to the undersigned trustee, public notice 
is hereby given that the undersigned will for the 
purposes of said trust, on 
THURSDAY, THE 8TH DAY' OF JANUARY, 
1891, 
between the hours of 10 o’clock a. in. and 3 
o’clock p. in., of that day at the East front door ol 
the Court House in said City of St. Louis, Mis- 
souri, at public auction, to the highest bidder for 
cash, sell the real estate conveyed to him by said 
deed, viz.: 
The following described real estate in “Fair- 
mount,” a suburban villa of St. Louis, in St. Louis 
County (now city) to-wit: 
Theeastern one hundred (100) feet off of lot 
number two (2) In block number seventeen (17) of 
saidit'Falnnount Addition said 100 feet fronting 
on the north line of YVilson avenue by a depth 
northwardly of one hundred and sixty-five (165) 
feet, in city block No. 4075. 
.JKPTIIA H. SIMPSON, 
TRUSTEE. 
THE CREMERIE, 
212 North Seventh St. 
Try Our Great 15 c Dinner, 
Consisting of Soup. 2 kinds of Meat, 2 kinds 
of Vegetables. Pie and Pudding. Bread.Butter,Ten, 
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Cakes and Coffee 5e. 
H. P. STUDDIFORD, Proprietor and Manager. 
OPEN ALL NIGHT. 
ARRIVALS. 
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DEPARTURES. 
Alice Blair Memphis 
City of Sheffield Florence 
Josie Alton 
The gave registers 3.1 feet and the river 
is still failing. 
Height of middle span of the Eads 
bridge, 83 It., 3 in., side spans 5>* feet 
less. 
Height of middle span of the Merchants’ 
bridge, 81 feet; side spans, 2>4 feet less. 
This was a dull day on the levee; only 
one arrival, the Alton Packet Josie. 
Only two boats at the wharf to-day; and 
they are laid up. 
The work of repairing the Fred Herold 
is progressing rapidly. The will be able 
to take her turn in trade in about 10 days. 
The next valley boat will be the Jay 
Gould. She leaves next Saturday with a 
string of barges loaded for the Southern 
market. 
The ferry boats are doing good business 
at present. 
The City of Sheffield left last night with 
all the freight she could handle on the stage 
of water—one item being 2,000 sacks of 
grain, which she will discharge at East 
Cairo, for the Mobile & Ohio railroad. 
The Wiggins Ferry Company finds trou- 
ble in getting to the Spruce street landing 
on account of low water. The company 
has fitted up another wharf boat and land- 
ing at the foot of Locust street. 
The outgoing boats are having much 
trouble in getting out to Cairo, as the 
water is tooglow to allow even the light 
boats to load to their full capacity. 
Nellie Speer went South after a couple 
of barges of lumber consigned here. 
The steamer My Choice, of the Barge 
Line, has laid up at Cairo, and her crew 
will come up by rail. 
The Henry Lowery took ten cars of grain 
at Cairo, and left for New Orleans with 
four barges loaded with bulk grain and 
merchandise. 
The “Floating Bethel’’ is still at the 
foot of Carr street, and services are held 
nightly and are immensely crowded and 
the evangelists are making a good impres- 
sion. Many sight-seers from the city 
come down through curiosity. The exer- 
cises are somewhat emotional, such as 
are likely to attract and influence the 
people in that neighborhood. 
If the river men will send up items to 
The Caul they will be received with 
thanks and will be cheerfully published. 
Our “river column’’ is not perfect, but 
will be as nearly so as possible when wre 
get in running order. 
The Ohio, of the Cincinnati and Memphis 
Packet Co . sank in eignt feet, near Cot- 
tonwood Point yesterday morning. She 
had a light cargo. The wrecking boat, 
Hill, with divers, has been sent down to 
raise her, and the prospects are that she 
will be afloat in two or three days. 
The Buckeye State arrived at Cairo and 
put off 2,000 kegs of nails and will lay 
over till the superintendent, R. W. Wise', 
of the Line arrives from Cincinnati. She 
will then take the wrecking boat Hill and 
divers to the sunken Ohio. 
The Thomas Sherlock arrived at Cairo 
loaded flat and refusing all offers. 
A'R the boats out of Cincinnati can get 
more freight than they can handle. 
There is pretty fair water (8 feet) at 
Caseyville, and stationary. 
Pilots Harry Eldridge and Enoch Kin", 
Engineer Geo. Deeters, and other mem- 
bers of the crew of the Steamer City of 
Baton Rouge, which was destroyed near 
Port Hudson last Friday, arrived here 
yesterday. Capt. Horace Bixby went on 
to New Orleans, then returned to the 
scene of the wreck. He will come to St. 
Louis in a few days. 
Many of the steamboatmen spoke of 
the “superstitious three theory’’ in re- 
ference to accidents. This has asrain been 
fulfilled within the past four days by the 
sinking of the City of Baton Rouge, the 
Nellie Hudson and the Ohio. 
The steamer B U. Barnsdale has been 
libeled in the United States Court at Col- 
umbus, O., for transporting benzine be- 
tween Parkersburg and Marietta contrary 
to lawr. The penalty for the offense is 
,+2,500 fine and eighteen months’ imprison- 
ment. 
Capt. T. P. Leathers has received his 
insurance on the lost T. P. Leathers, 
which burned some twTo weeks ago. The 
companies in which the Natchez was in- 
insured are still trying to avoid settling. 
The boat sank on January 1, 1889. 
List of snags removed by the United 
States snag boat McComb in the Missis- 
sippi River during the week ending Satur- 
day, December 13, under the supervision 
of Maj. A. E. Miller; 1 at Kemp’s, 2 at 
Bieller’s, 1 at Buckridge, 1 below Omega, 
4 at Island 102, 1 at Brunswick Point, 1 at 
Hall’s, l at Shipland, 3 at Homochitto, 2 
at Wilson’s Point, 2 at Wilderness, 2 be- 
low Sterling, 1 at Seven Oaks, 2 at Wal- 
nut Point, 1 at Sunnyside, 1 at Point 
Chicot, 1 at Point Comfort. 4 in George- 
town Bend, total 31; cut 933 in Louisiana 
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