Sorting Trays Return Homeless Milk Bottles to Owners

THERE are all kinds of detectives in the world, but the most novel to enter the field of crime is the “milk bottle detective,” whose job it is to round up all the lost, strayed or stolen bottles and return them to their rightful owner.

These detectives visit the various dairies and check up on the number of bottles returned by mistake and send’ in a report to the exchange men, who in turn collect the bottles, take them to the exchange plant where they are washed and sorted. They then notify the rightful owner, who pays two cents in place of the usual five cents, which is the cost of a new bottle. This system is estimated to have saved Los Angeles milk dealers about $1500 a day.

The Merchandise Mart building is still there, huge as ever. Check out these shots from Google and Microsoft.

Mountains of Brick and Glass

Twice as large as any building now standing, designed to cover two city blocks and to contain 4,000,000 square feet of floor space—such are the dimensions of Chicago’s new Merchandise Mart. New York, also, is erecting two new giant skyscrapers.

THE world’s largest building, the Merchandise Mart, under construction in Chicago, is a project which staggers the imagination. It is actually double the size of any building now standing. It will contain 4,000,000 square feet of space, twice that of any other. It will occupy two entire city blocks and will be 18 stories high overall, with a six story tower additional, making it 24 stories at the top.

This would be great. My milk man always wakes me up at five in the morning.

Balloon Tired Wagons Stop the Clatter of Milk Delivery

“NOISELESS milk” is now to be had in Boston. This does not mean that the milk makes no noise, but that no racket is created in the delivery of the liquid in the early hours of the morning.

What makes possible the soundless delivery are the new rubber tires with which Boston dairy concerns are equipping their specially-built wagons, one of which is shown in the photo at the left.

No clatter whatever is thus heard in the morning, when Bostonians are trying to grab their extra wink of sleep before rising time. The wagons weigh something like 200 lbs. less than regular wagons, and the tires are 550-200 balloons, carrying about 50 lbs. pressure. Horses wear rubber foot pads, which complete the muffling job.