The Fryer furnace is altogether too costly for general adoption. It contains what is called a concretor for the destruction of night-soil and a carbonizer for other refuse. The grate is formed upon the same general model as that of the Healey patent, and the refuse, therefore, is dried and then burned. Its capacity, equally with that of the Wilkinson furnace, which we may also mention in passing, is small, and the cost of operation in both is relatively large. The Hewes, Hewes & Geary plant is a

model of scientific construction, but its operation has not been practically demonstrated in this country. Unlike the furnaces to which we have already referred, whose product is only of value as a factor in the making of mortar, the Hewes, Hewes & Geary crematory produces a high quality of fertilizer, which is secured, however, at a cost too great to make its sale profitable in this part of the country.

The Glasgow plant is only in a limited sense a crematory. It really constitutes a station for the receipt, sorting, sale and distribution of refuse, collected in a wonderfully systematic way, by the bucket-system, from all parts of the great city it serves. Animal manure and the more valuable kinds of miscellaneous refuse are not cremated at all. The cinders are sorted from the ashes collected and are economically used es fuel to feed the furnace fires, while the finer residue of the same is mixed with night-soil which is thus deodorized. A large quantity of this material is thus disposed of, and the product is mixed with the unburned refuse to form a fertilizer. The forms of refuse that are not available for fertilizing purposes are burned, and the product of their combustion is ground up and used in mortar-making.

The Bee-hive crematory, patented by Mr. Stafford, of Burnley, is perhaps the most prominently and favorably known of any of the English models. As constructed at Richmond, England, it has a furnace in beehive form situated upon each side of its chimney shaft. Each bee-hive is six feet in diameter, is built of fire-bricks, and is dividedi nto three parts, vertically, by two tiers of grate bars. Upon the lower rectangular tier of bars the fuel is received, while the refuse is thrown through the openings in the furnace dome upon the upper inclined grate. It belongs, therefore, to that class of furnaces which dry the refuse before burning it, while it carries the gases and smoke of combustion over, through conducting flues, from one Bee-hive furnace to the other, passing the same over the fire and measurably consuming them. It is used for the destruction of garbage and miscellaneous refuse, and has a capacity of some fifteen tons a day. But a slight odor is discoverable in the smoke and vapor issuing from its chimney shaft. The product of combustion is slacked and then ground up and used for making mortar. I am fortunate in being provided with illustrations of the Bee-hive crematory. Closely related to the Beehive in manner of construction, and closely rivalling it in public favor in Great Britain, is the "Nelson Town's Refuse Destroyer." It is built upon the same plan of a group or row of furnaces, connecting with each other. These furnaces, excepting the one nearest to the chimney-shaft, are employed in the indirect consumption of all kinds of refuse, including ashes, garbage, and human and animal excreta. An inclined grate, the upper part of which serves as a drying hearth, is supplied to each of these furnaces. Upon this the material to be burned is thrown. As it drys, it falls upon and maintains the fire, producing a form of clinker which is constantly raked out by the fireman, thus making room for fresh supplies of unburned refuse. The smoke and gases of combustion are carried from one furnace to its next adjoining neighbor, until they reach the last of the series. Before entering the latter, they are passed through a chamber partly filled with water upon which a thin film of petroleum is kept burning; and, finally, they are conducted into the last furnace which is supplied with a coke fire, which completely consumes the remaining smoke and gases, but is not used for the destruction of the raw refuse material. The chimney-shaft

is but moderately high. This destructor is said to be entirely free from any suspicion of nuisance, to be economical in cost of construction and in cost of operation, requiring the services of but one man, and affording sufficient heat to generate steam from a boiler for mechanical uses.

With pleasure I turn to the fuller descriptions, which I am able to afford, of the four principal crematories which have been in use during the last three years in the United States and Canada.

CROSS SECTION..

"NELSON" REFUSE DESTROYER.

The Forristal furnace, which has been operated until recently in the city of Milwaukee, consists of a two-story building. Teams drive into this building and dump their loads into a hopper, whence it is carried by elevators into the drying-room above. Here it is treated by steam heat, and liquid residue is drained off. It is then shovelled through a tubular chute to the floor below, where it is deposited in

front of the furnace doors. Thence it is shovelled into the fire and kept constantly stirred. The fire itself is operated upon the principle of a blacksmith's forge, with the aid of a blast fan. The latter, together with the refuse elevators, is run by a small steam-engine, which also furnishes. steam for the drying-room. The furnace is of brick, with a square form and an arched top. It maintains a single fire, which is relighted every

day. A single row of doors upon each side of the furnace serves for the admission of fuel, for the supply of refuse and for the work of stirring or stoking the fire. Smoke and gases are carried out directly into the chimney shaft. An engineer and four laborers are required to run the plant. To sum up, the Forristal crematory is designed for the destruction of miscellaneous refuse; it is not adapted to the disposal

of night-soil; it has a single fire which directly consumes the waste material, but it

has no special provision for destroying smoke and gases.

The Rider garbagefurnace is, as we have already said, in use in the city of Pittsburgh. It has been largely used in that city for the destruction of spent tan-bark, and has performed this task, as also that of the destruction of garbage, to the apparent satisfaction of its owners and the public. Its construction seems to require the primary investment of a large sum, but its patentee claims, as one of its most desirable features, great economy in the expenditure of fuel. It is said to require an amount of fuel equal to less than five per cent. of the material cremated, this being used as an initial supply to bring all parts of the furnace to a proper temperature, after

which it is claimed that the garbage itself, if furnished in sufficient quantity, will provide all the fuel necessary to maintain its operation. It is needless to say that this must depend, in any furnace, upon the degree of combustibility of the refuse matter discharged into it, as also upon the disposition which is made, throughout the whole extent of the furnace, of these fuel-forming materials.

The Rider furnace is of an elongated form. It consists of a front chamber 121⁄2 feet in length by 6 feet 5 inches in width. This chamber is surmounted by a dome in which are eight circular openings 15 inches in diameter. In the rear of this is another chamber, 91⁄2 feet in length by the same width, which is floored with a tile hearth. This is separated from the first chamber by a bridge wall, 3 feet in thickness, and has in its rear a second bridge wall, over which the products of combustion pass to enter the chimney. This second chamber is also surmounted by a dome, in which are six circular openings the same size as the first. The products of complete combustion in this furnace are said to be completely innocuous, while the solid residuum is valuable as a fertilizer. This crematory, then, belongs to that class which can be adapted to the destruction of excreta as well as miscellaneous refuse. It disposes of its supply by immediate and direct combustion, and, although no special means are provided for the consumption of smoke and gaseous products, experience with it up to the present date would indicate its freedom from any objectionable or insanitary features.

After the remarkably complete description of the Mann crematory to which this Association listened a year since, it is hardly necessary that I should go at length into the details of its construction. Like others of its class, it can be adapted in form and size to the location it occupies and the needs of the community it is intended to serve. It shares with the Engle patent the beauty of simplicity of structure. As built in Montreal, where its operation is reported to be very satisfactory, its .combustion chamber is quadrilateral, with dimensions 16 feet plus long by 9 feet broad and 10 feet high. This is fitted with a grate, of approximately the same dimensions, which is laid with a slight incline upward in the direction of the chimney flue. At the lower end of this grate is its single fireplace. It has upon each side of it three tiers of three doors each; the upper tiers are at the level of a staging floor, upon which the loaded refuse carts are driven, the refuse being emptied directly into the furnace through these doors, or placed upon the floor in front of them. The second tier of openings is situated just above the line of the grate, and these are used for stirring the fire. The lowest tier is at the level of the ash-pit, and gives opportunity for the removal of the ashes. The grate bars are laid two inches apart.

In Montreal two forms of the Mann furnace are in operation,-one for the destruction of miscellaneous refuse, the other for the burning of night-soil. There, as in Chicago, where the same furnace is used, the smoke emitted has not amounted to a nuisance nor has any perceptible odor been noticed from either, excepting during the cremation of chicken feathers.