about twice what it was at that time for the brick, and your salvage, you see, will be somewhere near a hundred per cent. The City of Lakeland, Florida, has been doing the same thing, and we make a still bigger Florida story of that because the pavements there were originally laid on the edge, four inches. deep and three inches wide. When we took them up we laid them on the side, and you see we could widen a 30-foot street to 40 feet and not have to buy any new brick. We had a pavement we widened from 42 to 46 feet and had brick enough left to nearly finish paving a 20-foot alley behind the business blocks. If you consider the difference in cost of the old brick and new brick, you have somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 per cent salvage.

EQUIPMENT FOR THE COLLECTION OF GARBAGE

AND OTHER REFUSE MATERIAL

By R. E. Stoelting, Commissioner of Public Works, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

I am asked to prepare a written discussion for a society whose members are engaged, primarily, in municipal activities. The collection of garbage and refuse materials of cities always has been a problem and will ever require the serious attentions of officials of the various municipalities.

The equipment required to collect garbage and other municipal waste will necessarily vary in conformity with the conditions that are to be met with. The cost of labor, climatic conditions and the size of the municipality are important factors in determining the type of equipment to be used. The City of Milwaukee has perfected a system of collecting its municipal waste which can well be copied by many of the larger American municipalities.

Rather than to discuss the subject of equipment for the collection of garbage and other refuse material in a general way, because of the limited amount of time to be devoted to this subject, I am of the opinion that it would be most profitable to discuss the system in vogue in Milwaukee, enumerating the various problems which had to be solved before the present system was installed. Our city has practically completed the installation of a trailer system for the collection of garbage, ashes and rubbish, and have found it expedient and most profitable to use this equipment for the cleaning of catchbasins, street sweeping to some extent, the removal of snow from the streets in winter, and hauling stone from the municipal quarry. The population of Milwaukee is five hundred and nine thousand, one hundred ninety-two (509,192) people at this time.

HISTORY

Prior to July, 1923, collections of garbage were made in watertight wagon boxes and the collection of ashes and other refuse material in trucks and bottom dump wagons, all of which were horse drawn. Many irregularities resulted from this style of collection; there was an increasing number of complaints of in

adequate garbage collection, and the cost per ton of refuse collected was mounting very fast from year to year.

The greatest number of complaints orginated from the collection of garbage. The collection was made with one hundred and thirty-one (131) single horse wagons and five (5) or six (6) light trucks. The ashes were collected by primarily one hundred and fifty (150) teams in three and one-half yard dump wagons, the ashes in many cases being carried from the basements and dumped in the street and then reloaded in wagons. Garbage was collected from points as much as five and one-half miles from the Incinerator Plant and in many cases ashes were hauled in excess of five miles before they were disposed of on the city dump. The cost of this method of disposal was excessive and the complaints in the collection of garbage alone running as high as six thousand eight hundred (6,800) per month.

An investigation was made of these unsatisfactory conditions and it was decided that the entire system of collection would have to be changed in order to secure satisfactory results. Accordingly, preparations were made to collect garbage with trailers. A pit was constructed at one end of the Incinerator to receive the garbage and a new electric crane with a grab bucket was installed to take care of the garbage at the plant.

When the collectors saw all this work going on many rumors were circulated to the effect that they were all to lose their jobs. Delegations appealed to the Commissioner of Public Works protesting against the use of trailers. As the work progressed at the plant and after a few of the trailers had been received from the manufacturer, the collectors became defiant. They advised the Commisioner that they would not have trailers, warned him that trailer collection would be a failure and let the garbage accumulate in the different sections of the city so as to cause many unnecessary complaints from the citizens.

It was planned to pair off the collectors so that any two former single horse teams would form a double team. One man was to be the driver and the other the helper. Without warning, and only two days before the trailer system was to be inaugarated, the entire crew of garbage collectors went out on a strike in protest against the trailer system. They also demanded an increase in pay, which was granted by the Common Council. But this was not enough to satisfy the men, for they also demanded that the trailer system be abandoned.

The Commissioner had the ward teams collect the garbage and haul it to their respective ward yards. The city had about five tractor trucks and eighteen trailers at the time, which were used in hauling the garbage from the ward yards to the Incinerator. The Police Department gave every assistance in escorting the trucks and trailers through the Third Ward, where most of the collectors live, to the Incinerator. The strikers lined the roadway and looked on with awe upon the continuos arrival of garbage trains on schedule time. One day's demonstration broke the strike. The men saw that their misgivings as to the trailer system were the result of wrong information, or a mis-statement of facts and many were ready to return to work. The Commissioner wrote each collector a letter, advising him to be to work on the following Monday morning, or lose his job. The men all returned to work.

The trailers were installed as they were delivered from the factory. Thirty-one (31) trailers were placed in service in July, 1923; twenty-seven (27) in August and twelve (12) in September. After October 1st, 1923, there were seventy (70) trailers in this service for the balance of the year. One hundred fortyone (141) trailers were purchased in 1924 and forty-six (46) in 1925. At the present time there are in service:

31--heavy duty tractor trucks.

46-trailers of 32 cu. yds. capacity. 195-trailers of 42 cu. yds. capacity.

16--trailers of 5 cu. yds. capacity.

TYPE OF EQUIPMENT

The type of trailer selected is of the side dump style as manufactured by the Highway Trailer Company of Edgerton, Wisconsin. The first trailers installed were of three and one-half cubic yards capacity but experience has shown that the later installations of four and one-half cubic yards capacity were better suited for garbage collection. The accompanying photographs show the construction and operation of this trailer.

The price of the two and one-half ton chassis, which is used for both the three and one-half cubic yard and four and one-half cubic yards trailers, is listed at Nine Hundred and Forty-five ($945.00) Dollars. The three and one-half cubic yard side dump body costs Five Hundred ($500.00) Dollars and the four and one-half cubic yard side dump body costs Five Hundred and

Fifty ($550.00) Dollars. However, metal seats are built on each. end of the trailer at an additional cost of Fifteen ($15.00) Dollars. To avoid serious accidents in case the couplings separated when a train is moving along an important highway, additional safety chains are installed at an additional cost of Twelve Dollars and Fifty Cents ($12.50) to each trailer. The tongue and whipple-trees needed in ash and garbage collection add Seventeen Dollars and Fifty Cents ($17.50) to the cost of each trailer. There are many grades on our streets which make it necessary to equip each trailer with brakes at a cost of One Hundred and Twenty-five ($125.00) Dollars. On this basis, the three and one-half cubic yard trailers, with about Twenty ($20.00) Dollars added for freight, are costing the city One Thousand Six Hundred and Thirty-five ($1,635.00) Dollars and the four and one-half cubic yard trailers, One Thousand Six Hundred and Eighty-five ($1,685.00) Dollars each.

The type of truck used to haul trains of trailers is a five-ton heavy duty tractor truck, as manufactured by the Sterling Motor Truck Company of West Allis, Wisconsin.

FLEXIBILITY OF EQUIPMENT

While the truck and trailer system of collection was instituted primarily for the collection of garbage and ashes, we found the equipment to be so flexible that it can be used for a number of Departments for a great many purposes. The greater per cent of the equipment is used for the collection of garbage, ashes, and rubbish. In the winter months all the equipment is available for the removal of snow during heavy storms. The Sewer Department uses this equipment quite extensively for the removal of wastes and the cartage of construction materials. The trailers are also used for the removal of rubbish, surplus excavation, etc., by the Street Construction Department, Bureau of Electrical Service, Bureau of Bridges and Public Buildings, Sewerage Commission and others. The five-cubic-yard trailers are used to haul crushed stones from the municipal quarry.

The type of heavy duty tractor used for hauling trailers has also proven advantageous for many other purposes. Each day's collection of garbage is completely by noontime during the summer schedule, leaving the balance of the day in which the tractor trucks may used on other municipal work. Various departments have special equipment for their particular needs, but it