One Thousand Ways to Make Money by Page Fox

907. WASTE OF COAL ASHES.--Two hundred million tons of coal are

consumed annually in this country. About one-half of this amount goes to ashes. It is safe to say that, after all the cinders and slag have been sifted out, there are still 100,000,000 truck loads which are worse than wasted, as they threaten to hinder the free navigation of our harbor. Coal ashes have a value as a fertilizer. Even at the cheap price of twenty-five cents a load, we have an aggregate of $25,000,000 lost by this careless waste. The time will come when some enterprising firms, with means for collecting and distributing this refuse, will make fortunes by its sale to farmers and gardeners.