Discarded umbrella coverings may not appear to possess any further attraction except to the paper-maker. But the waste-expert declares otherwise. A flaw in the silk covering or possible damage wrought while attaching it to the frame no longer constitutes a passport for the material to the dust-bin or flames. Finger-stalls and eye-shades may be contrived from this waste. For making eye-shades it is only necessary to cut a piece of cardboard, likewise retrieved from the waste-bin, to the desired size and shape. Then, by the aid of a little glue the silk section cut from the abandoned umbrella covering may be fastened to the cardboard base. During the course of the year thousands of tons of string are made in these islands. What becomes of it all? One industry utilizing this material found itself saddled with about ten tons of odd lengths, which, thrown into the waste-bin, became a tangled mass. The bewildering array was examined by an expert. He found that whereas some of the pieces were of only a few inches, others ran to three, four and even more feet in length. He contemplated the pile and concluded that it would never pay to unravel the tangle. It was a task calling for weeks of labour and infinite patience. His first inclination was to hand over the bulky pile to the paper-mills to be pulped. But further consideration of the quantity of the long lengths of string in that junk heap prompted an alternative. String, neatly prepared in large balls, is furnished to prisons to serve as raw material to the prisoners engaged in the overhaul and repair of bags. Why not send this collection of waste to the penitentiaries? There the time occupied in unravelling the tangled jumble is of minor importance. Prison labour does not count, while the task is no less fruitful than that of picking oakum. Forthwith the string was forwarded to these establishments, and was found to meet the purpose very satisfactorily. Not only did this waste release an appreciable quantity of new string for more valuable applications, but it also enabled an appreciable saving in cost of bag repairs to be recorded, while the work was just as neatly and efficiently fulfilled with the odd lengths as with new string.