William Parr Capes

“ I believe that most of our urban citizens appreciate the importance of keeping our cities clean and healthful by the proper removal and disposal of the mass of wastes that accumulates daily. I know that every public official appreciates the need for this service, and most of them by bitter experiences realize the complexity of these problems. ”

“ The regulations of most cities require the individual to dispose of the manure on the premises he owns or occupies. Only a few cities have a municipal collection system or have the work done under contract. In those cities where gardeners and farmers are permitted to collect the waste voluntarily no trouble has been experienced during the winter months when the farmer is not busy on the soil, but during the spring and summer, when the need of cleanliness is greatest, but when the farmer is too busy planting and harvesting, the collection is neglected. ”

“ Philadelphia is the only one of the twenty-five largest cities in the country which does the work by contract. The chief of the highway department has recommended a change, giving the following reasons: “Street cleaning work involves so much detail for which there are no definite units to specify and bid for, and it is of such a character that the overhead charges for proper inspection are so disproportionate to the cost of the work, that unquestionably it would be much more effectively and economically carried on directly by the municipal forces instead of by contract.” ”

“ A street cleaner looks upon two qualities in a pavement. It must be smooth and particles of litter must not stick to the surface. The question of smoothness opens up the whole matter of durability. Any material that deteriorates or roughens becomes more difficult each year to clean. Any neglect of needed repairs means a larger cleaning bill until the repairs have been completed. The twofold expense resulting from wear, the cost of repairs plus the increased cost of cleaning should enter into all calculation of expense. ”

“ REGULATIONS IN MANY AMERICAN CITIES—PROVISIONS FOR STORING AND REMOVING THE WASTE—CARE OF STABLES Some cities have made very stringent regulations for the care, collection and disposal of stable manure within their limits; others are not so exacting and many have not as yet given any thought to the subject, or if they have no municipal laws have been enacted. The importance of municipal regulation is recognized by all sanitarians, and especially since the house fly has been regarded as one of the chief spreaders of disease. ”

“ I believe that repairs required to all classes of pavement are more generally the result of wetting down the dirt, leaving the surface in a more or less muddy condition than by traffic, or rather what would be traffic under dry cleaning conditions. A city or street in or on which sprinkling or other methods of continual wetting of pavement surface has not been practised is almost usually one where the pavements are the best of their kind. Washington has the enviable reputation of having the most durable pavement of all kinds. ”

“ The details of the plant should be such as to permit cleanliness at all times and hosing and washing so as not to permit garbage dust or dirt to accumulate, flies to breed and material to decompose. All material, so far as possible, should be enclosed during the process of disposal, and the odors eliminated or confined or deodorized. The handling of material in the plants, so far as possible, should be eliminated, where mechanical means can economically be adopted. Special attention should be paid to ventilation and the elimination of dust where men are required to work. ”

“ Where ashes, rubbish and garbage are collected and dumped together, many cities have found that the so-called sanitary fill method, described in the chapter on garbage, is the most satisfactory. It is becoming more and more difficult for cities to maintain dumps on account of the congestion of population, which forces the municipality to seek disposal places far away from the centers, thus increasing the length of haul. If paper, garbage and combustibles are allowed on the dump, fires are apt to result and these make odors and smoke which are unpleasant and unhealthful. ”

“ Some cities collect and dispose of their garbage by contract, others collect by contract and dispose of it themselves, or vice versa, and still others have all the work done by the municipality. Experience has proved that a city can operate a disposal plant just as efficiently as they can a collection system. ”

“ Higher living standards, a better understanding of the causes of disease, and a keener appreciation of preventive work have forced municipalities to frown upon primitive methods involving individual effort, especially where congestion exists. As a substitute therefore, more effective means have been and are being adopted to eliminate by community activity, the nuisances caused by ashes, rubbish, garbage and dirty streets. We are also appreciating the need for more efficient management than is now prevalent and for the development of revenue-producing by-products. ”

“ Placards bearing the silhouette figure of William Penn majestically swinging a broom over the city from his dizzy perch on top of the City Hall appeared in every one of the 3200 trolley cars during a Philadelphia campaign. ”

“ The expansion and increasing complexity of municipal activities, the desire of women for more knowledge about their new responsibilities, the need for better living conditions brought about by greater congestion, the necessity for conserving every ounce of man and woman power, the demand for greater efficiency and rock-bottom economy in every line—all these conditions are making themselves felt with the public official. ”

“ Dilution Comparatively few cities can much longer depend upon large bodies of water to dilute their untreated sewage. Even those cities located on the seacoast and on the banks of large rivers and lakes have either provided some method of treatment, usually one or more of the processes in the preliminary group, or are planning to do so. New York City which has an adjacent large body of water into which it discharges its sewage without treatment of any kind, now finds it necessary to adopt a combination of processes to eliminate the nuisance the waste is causing. ”

“ Some wastes can be treated with domestic sewage at the disposal works without any difficulty, others require special treatment before being allowed to enter the sewers and often it is desirable to keep certain wastes out of the main sewers and dispose of them independently. Each particular problem must be considered by itself with due regard both to conditions at the factory, the expense burden on the producer of the waste and to the body of water into which the effluent is to be discharged. ”

“ For collecting garbage many types of wagons are being used by American cities. The design materially affects the cost and efficiency of results. Most cities are now using a steel tank wagon with either a bottom or rear dump, depending upon the house treatment of the garbage and whether the system is combined or separate. All reports show that any garbage wagon to be sanitary and satisfactory must be metallic, fitted with covers, easily cleaned and disinfected, and as large as consistent with the grades and type of pavement on the routes traversed. ”

“ In constructing, extending or reconstructing a sewerage system it is well to bear in mind that even though a city has not at present a disposal plant, the time will come in all probability when increased population will compel the treatment of its sewage by some process. ”

“ One of the best systems in operation is that in Columbus, Ohio, where manure is collected by municipal employees from any stable within the city limits. The Columbus ordinance provides that any person desiring to have the manure removed must take out a permit for such service at a yearly charge of $3 for one horse, $5 for two horses and $1 for each additional horse. After the ordinance became a law the Department of Public Safety began to notify the public that from and after April 1, 1912, no manure would be removed without the payment of a fee. ”

“ Careful consideration should be given to the following reasons for and against keeping ashes and garbage separate: It is not necessary to collect ashes so frequently as it is garbage; different methods of disposal require separate handling; garbage with its moisture when mixed with ashes will not freeze in the can as readily in winter, thus facilitating collection. Some experts, however, assert it is more desirable to keep the wastes separate in order to use the ashes for fill and to sell the reclaimable rubbish. Many cities require the separation either of all wastes or of garbage. ”

“ Many states have already recognized the conditions due to these nuisances and have enacted strict legislation with a view to preventing the pollution of streams and other bodies of water, for the protection of water supplies, surface and underground, and for the elimination of disease germs accompanying sewage. States and even nations have realized that sewage disposal is more than a local problem. In every case it is an inter-community problem, in some it is inter-state and in a few the question must be settled by national governments. ”

“ Efficiency Tests and Suggestions A simple and effective plan for keeping accurate records is a great help in checking up the efficiency of a collecting force. In fact, records are imperative if any attempt is made to operate economically, for the cost is influenced by the many and small details of the work. A systematic record of all complaints should be kept and the activity of each collector should be definitely checked up. Some suggest that complaints should be recorded in a loose leaf ledger and a slip handed to the driver of the particular district from which the complaint comes. ”

“ Later the campaigns were spread over a week or a longer period, and now not only is an effort made to collect and cart away the winter’s accumulation of waste, but the city also undertakes to educate its citizens in fire prevention work, fly and mosquito extermination, the beautifying of homes and yards, and the elimination of every unsanitary condition. Cellars, garrets, back-yards, vacant lots, alleys, public streets—in fact, every spot in the city, whether on public or private property, does not escape the scrutiny of the public officials and citizens’ committees. ”

“ On macadam surface streets, periodical removal of rough material with hoes, brooms and shovels from street surface and gutters and sprinkling in dry weather with water or oil is about the best that can be done. An analysis in Chicago of the standard of work which one man can perform on an oiled macadam street, indicates that the rate of cleaning one and three-quarters miles of oiled macadam of average width in an eight hour day can be reasonably expected of any man.
Much waste is caused by lack of system in laying out the work and improperly directing the street cleaning gangs and teams. ”

“ When the dumping method is used cities either own their own dumps or secure the privilege for or without a fee for disposing of the waste upon land privately owned. In most cases the waste is used for fill and no fee is paid by the city. A few seacoast cities dump their combined refuse at sea, but this practise is condemned. Where only ashes and rubbish are used the most common practise is to place the rubbish and light material near the bottom and to surface the dump to a depth of several feet with ashes. ”

“ Cost of Collection The cost of collection is vitally affected by so many different factors and by local conditions that any attempt to compare the economy of the system in one city with that in another will generally be unsatisfactory. Also actual cost data are kept by very few cities, and where they are available the methods of determining them often vary so that they are misleading for comparative purposes. The cost depends upon the cost of loading and the cost of hauling, as described in the discussion of ash collection. ”

“ Where the rotary broom is preceded by a street sprinkler, the dust forms into mud and clings to the surface of the pavement, and where the pavement is rough the mud is forced into the joints between paving blocks. As the street becomes dry, the dirt pulverizes and appears again as a dust nuisance. In all but one instance machine sweepers have been dispensed with in Chicago. ”

“ The Milwaukee Bureau of Municipal Research believes that “The service at its best is of no value as it does not clean but only allays dust on the street where in its wet condition it requires a further process of cleaning by the squeegee or flusher and White Wings. If the city had a sufficient amount of modern equipment to clean streets more frequently, the valueless method of sprinkling could be eliminated and an enormous expense saved.” ”

“ The Chicago Waste Commission’s report points out, “that experience in connection with the development of power from refuse furnaces demonstrates that it is not easy to find an available use whereby the power can be utilized regularly as produced and the furnace operated continuously. In the majority of plants constructed, it has not been possible to utilize all the power available, and in most cases the use is limited to the operation of the plant. When power developed is used in lighting and power stations, the demand only comes during a part of the day. ”

“ Initiating a Campaign In order to initiate a clean-up campaign, an agitation for it must first be started. The press, civic organizations and industrial life insurance companies have been the principal agitators.
The industrial life insurance companies reach the individual citizen and endeavor to get his cooperation in the movement for more sanitary laws and conditions. Unlike the press they reach the foreigner and the class of people who do not read the newspapers, or at most only the Sunday editions. ”

“ A man, employed eight hours a day, drives the wagon and presses the paper. Camden, New Jersey, which keeps its ashes separate, collects its rubbish and paper, and takes them to a sorting place. Prisoners in the city jail for minor offenses are kept busy sorting and baling the rags and paper. Nearly a million pounds of paper were baled and sold in one year. Cleveland in one year spent $230,000 for removal of its ashes and rubbish, and received $30,000 from the sale of the material sorted from its rubbish. The paper was sold for $5.60 a ton in bags at the plant of a boxboard company. ”

“ Whinery is of the opinion that on well paved streets the most efficient and satisfactory method so far devised with the apparatus now available is hand cleaning by the patrol system by day, followed with hose or flushing wagons or scrubbing squeegees during the night. While this is somewhat more expensive than plain machine sweeping he thinks that no other method yet devised will produce equally clean streets at a lower cost. ”

“ A report of the Iowa State College states that dumps where ashes and rubbish and other refuse are deposited are not only unattractive in appearance, but are detrimental to the health of those living in the immediate vicinity, and as a city grows, it usually becomes increasingly difficult to find locations where these dumps can be maintained without incurring the objections of those living in the neighborhood.
The Scientific American says this method “is one that cannot be defended either from an æsthetic or sanitary standpoint. The dumps become an ideal breeding place for flies.” ”

“ I am opposed to the use of simple sprinkling as a means of laying dust. Ammonia and other products leach out of damp manure and form a scum on the surface that is nearly impossible to remove, and makes pavement slippery and foul smelling.
“Water should also be applied with force enough to carry the refuse to gutter where it should be properly collected with broom and shovel and removed. In Philadelphia flushing machines are used only on poorly paved streets and block pavement. High pressure flushing machines are usually operated similarly.” ”

“ The White Wings are too convenient and necessary an adjunct to be wholly displaced under any consideration. Down town streets must be swept continually during the day and the hand sweeper with his small cart can also work to advantage in gutters of residential streets collecting dirt that has either been flushed or blown to the curb; but so far as our experience goes, the lessening of cleaning cost by cheaper methods means simply the extension of the use of flushers at every practical point. ”

“ The proper solution of the sewage disposal problem involves first, the construction of a sewerage system that will remove the sewage from the community completely and as rapidly as possible, and secondly, the construction of a disposal plant at which the sewage can be treated in such a way that when it is discharged into the body of water it will not cause a nuisance and disease. ”

“ That the disposal of garbage by the reduction process is uneconomical for a city with a population of less than 100,000. Some experts increase the size to 150,000 and one to 200,000.
5. That incineration is better than reduction for a city with a population less than 100,000.
The reduction in the per capita production of garbage, due to less wastage of food in the American home since the war, may make it necessary in the future to increase the size of the city which can profitably employ the reduction method, or should use the reduction method. ”

“ Experiments have also been made at the Cleveland station where it was found that the sewage sludge contained about one-half as much nitrogen and one-third as much phosphates as does the garbage tankage.
Management and Supervision No matter how well a sewage disposal plant is designed or constructed it will not do its work in a satisfactory manner and produce desired results unless it is efficiently managed. Every plant should be in charge of a man who has knowledge of sewage disposal principles, is thoroughly familiar with his plant and who can act intelligently in an emergency. ”

“ School gardens and tree planting are popular in many cities and are made a part of the Clean-Up Campaign program.
Through tireless energy the Director of Social Centers of the public schools in Cincinnati succeeded in having hundreds of school gardens planted. Many of these were planted in vacant lots which had formerly been the abiding place of heaps of rubbish. One was upon what had been for years an objectionable public dump adjacent to a school. Several loads of dirt were applied in the fall and the cost defrayed from the campaign fund. ”

“ Another method adopted by a few cities is to use wagons for collection and tractors for hauling. The horse drawn wagons when filled are taken from a common meeting place to the disposal site by a tractor which draws them as a trailer. The horses are hitched to empty wagons and continue collecting.
R. T. Dana has compiled statistics which will interest those who contemplate using motor trucks. He says for hauling ashes, street pavement, etc., it is cheaper to use horses if the haul is less than one mile. If motor power is used for a haul of a quarter of a mile the loss is 1.8 per cent. ”

“ Laxity on the part of the collection department will breed indifference among the householders. The Chicago Waste Commission expresses the opinion that where the householders become accustomed to a systematic service they will depend upon the collector and will more readily comply with laws and ordinances. All experts agree that the regulation as to house treatment of refuse should not only be enforced, but that considerable time should be spent by officials in educating and training people to cooperate for mutual advantage. ”

“ There has been much discussion about the best type of wagon for ash collection, and much experimenting has been done and is still commanding attention. It is agreed that special attention must be given to ease in loading and emptying, to provision against leakage, dust and unsightly appearance, to noise when loading and in motion, to durability and to cost of maintenance. As a considerable portion of the men employed in collecting suffer strains and rupture caused by lifting heavy cans, it is imperative that the wagon be as low as possible. ”

“ Among the principal objections to the combined system when the sewage is treated are the increase it causes in the volume of liquid which necessarily requires a larger plant and expenditure, the changes it causes in the character of the sewage which complicates operation of the plant, and the frequency with which it causes the flow of sewage to exceed the maximum of the plant, thereby making it necessary to discharge untreated sewage into the stream. With a combined system all kinds of trade wastes must be run through the disposal plant, whether they are offensive or not ”

“ Garbage can be collected much more speedily if the cans are left at the curb for collection days, but most cities object to the unsightliness of the thoroughfares which results. The citizens, for their own convenience, and to eliminate the objection of a littered street, are willing to pay the extra cost of having the garbage taken from the yard or the house. ”