This plant has passed through somewhat strange vicissitudes. In 1910 it was purchased, together with the franchise, by the city authorities for £70,000--$350,000. It was then leased to a private party, under privilege, in return for an annual payment of £3,700--$18,500--5 per cent. upon the purchase price. During the early months of 1918, owing to the great increase in wages and other costs of operation, the lessee relinquished his lease, so that it was thrown back upon the hands of the city authorities. It was then taken in hand by the Scavengers’ Association under permit from the city, by whom it is at present being run at a cost of about 4s.--$1--a ton for the 375 to 380 tons of refuse collected daily by the scavengers. But the city authorities are not impressed with this method of disposing of the contents of the ash-barrels of its citizens. “During the past year or two,” continues the city engineer in the communication already quoted, “we have become more than ever impressed with the wrong of unnecessary waste and have been making special study of our conditions and the means of improving them. Ordinances for segregation at the source, and collection of all, both garbage and rubbish, are now under action by the Board of Supervisors--the governing body of the city--and specifications are being prepared and bids asked upon the same for the collection and disposal of garbage and rubbish. “It is specially provided that all proposals shall be based on a recognition of the need of conservation and the recovery of all values to the point of balance between profit and loss. It is expected that the garbage from households will amount to upwards of 100 tons daily, and that it will be attractive to hog-raisers.” CHAPTER X LIVING ON WASTE War is Hell. So said Sherman, and it is a verdict with which the whole world will agree. But war is also a powerful educating force. If any convincing testimony upon this point were required we have only to reflect upon the effective manner in which the recent European conflagration caused the British nation to revise its methods and practices. The stress of war, ravages by submarines, depletion of transport facilities by sea, road, and rail, and the shortage of crops and labour, compelled the community to consider the food question in a light totally different from that with which it was regarded during the days of cheapness and plenty. We were forced to digest lessons which under normal conditions we would have ignored in contempt. Whether the changes wrought in our complex social and commercial life are destined to be permanent in character is another question, but the continuation of high prices is tending to consummate this end, the process being assisted by the reflection that the good old days are destined never to return, at least not for many years to come.