Our towns and cities are daily shedding tons of a specific form of waste--ashes and clinker from electric generating stations, water-works, gas-works, and refuse destructors. The contribution naturally varies according to the population, but a small town burning 40 tons of refuse in its destructor may safely anticipate accumulating clinker at the rate of 8 to 10 tons a day. The disposal of this residue presents a problem in itself. A certain quantity can be absorbed in connection with the sewage beds, road-making and other incidental tasks, but, for the most part, it has to be dumped, merely because it possesses no ostensible application. When one reflects upon the activities of the factories in a manufacturing town and the daily output of clinker and ash from these sources alone, it will be seen that the civic clinker disposal problem is likely to assume enormous dimensions, and to prove a costly issue in itself. Thousands of tons are dispatched by road, rail and water from our towns and cities to be jettisoned at suitable points where unsightliness does not count. The authorities of New York City used to ship hundreds of tons daily 60 miles out to sea, while at Liverpool it had to be barged for 24 miles to be thrown overboard into the Irish Sea at a cost of 2s. 6d.--60 cents--a ton! Many borough authorities will readily give away the material to those who care to fetch it, so keen are they to be relieved of this incubus. Yet, in every instance, the equivalent of sovereigns are being shot upon the land, dumped into the sea, or given away as the case may be. Cannot a more economic use for this and kindred refuse be found? This is the obvious question in this utilitarian age. Yet it is almost superfluous to launch the inquiry. It can be turned into concrete: could, and should, if we were sufficiently enterprising and astute, as well as frugal in our habits, be turned into houses. Certain attempts have been made towards the conversion of this residue into constructional material such as kerb-stones for lining our pavements, slabs to take the place of York flagstones and bricks for paving purposes, the building of sheds and other insignificant structures, but none represents a grim attempt to wrestle with the issue along bold and comprehensive lines.