Street cleaning

“ Disposal of Street Refuse In most cities the final disposal of sweepings and waste collected from the streets is a troublesome problem, and the cost is no small item in the expenses of the street cleaning department. The majority dispose of the sweepings on city dumps. ”

“ The first floors of all buildings must be made of tile or cement, so that rats can not get into the houses. And then the people scrub and clean, and clean and scrub, in most parts of the city, so that it is a fair rival of a Dutch town. The street cleaning department is alert and active, so that the streets in general are cleaner than the average American city. ”

“ In fact, the reckless way in which house and street cleaning are handled is really appalling. Dusting should always be done with a damp cloth, and carpets cleaned by a closed sweeper well filled with wet tea leaves. The street-cleaning problem is simply a question of water supply. ”

“ Even as I am writing a transformation is being worked in some of the filthiest streets on the East Side by a combination of new asphalt pavements with a greatly improved street cleaning service that promises great things. Some of the worst streets have within a few weeks become as clean as I have not seen them in twenty years, and as they probably never were since they were made. The unwonted brightness of the surroundings is already visibly reflected in the persons and dress of the tenants, notably the children. ”

“ One of the most expensive of public departments is the street cleaning one. Shall any sum demanded by the present incumbent in the office of chief of that department be granted lightly and the books be well kept and the affair end? Or shall causes of dirty streets be investigated to the full and the problem of heavy expense for cleaning be tackled perhaps by some measure for the prevention of dust and refuse? The education of the people so that they may 88desire permanent cleanliness instead of the mere excitement of a spectacular clean-up week is of the most fundamental concern. ”

“ As they volunteered to show the wisdom of better disposal of rubbish and of street flushing and oiling, so women are volunteering to educate the people to desire permanent cleanliness. The inherited instincts of the cleanly housekeeper thus become a valuable municipal asset.
In Philadelphia, Mrs. Edith Pearce, a club woman, is a city inspector of street cleaning. ”

“ A student of the problem of street-cleaning has only to make the above observations to learn the primary cause of dirty streets in New York, and that, without a thorough reform in this particular, relief is well-nigh hopeless. This simple solution of the problem is only the application to the streets of the familiar rules which govern every well-regulated household. Can a house be clean if the members of the family throw waste paper and other refuse on the floors, and ignore the wastebasket and the cuspidore ”

“ The study disclosed that some sweepers are more efficient than others, 10due to the stroke of the broom which they make. The practise of hitting a broom on the pavement is not necessary on dry pavements and very seldom on wet pavements. Effective and practical street cleaning can be obtained by bringing the brush down forcibly at the beginning of each stroke, thus reducing the work at least 15 per cent. The time schedules disclosed that time lost by street cleaners in dodging horses and automobiles where traffic is dense is unappreciable and does not exceed 8 per cent. ”

“ The Milwaukee Bureau of Municipal Research, in its investigation of street cleaning in that city, says the contention of some is that flushing is detrimental to pavement as it removes grout, but such has not been proven in Milwaukee. The one fact that remains uncontradicted is that they clean the streets of every particle of débris and leave the thoroughfares in a sanitary condition ”

“ The hearings of the street-cleaning contractors by the Metropolitan Board of Health demonstrated that cleanliness of the streets is comparative and relative, and a subject upon which men entertain different opinions. A dwelling which a good housewife declares is filthy and intolerable, another housekeeper, less tidy, industrious, and exacting, will pronounce cleanly and satisfactory ”

“ Street-cleaning in cities has for its aim the removal of dust, mud, snow, filth, and household refuse. As regards the latter, which ought to be thrown directly into the carts, municipal regulations in Paris continually conflict with a corporation very jealous of its privileges; I refer to that of the rag-pickers, who conduct a business represented by nearly 7,000 persons, collecting with their hooks material worth 4,000,000 francs ($800,000) a year, and feeding the manufactories of paper, pasteboard, lampblack, etc. ”

“ A study of these will show that some very definite ideas have been developed by street cleaning officials in this country. For example, 16most cities prefer having patrolmen work singly instead of in gangs. ”

“ City streets must be maintained by the city government. If a person is injured by the failure of the government to keep sidewalks [Pg 126] in repair he has a right to sue the government for damages. The municipal government, on the other hand, may require property-owners to keep their sidewalks in good condition.
Street-cleaning: Since many thousands of children have no playground but the street, the condition in which city streets are kept is of great importance to their health and general welfare. Disease germs are heavy and are most numerous near the ground. ”

“ EQUIPMENT OF STREET CLEANERS
Don’t Sweep Rubbish into the Street.
A large city street-cleaning department uses:
Sprinkling wagons, flushing machines, machine brooms, dirt wagons and carts, rubbish wagons, tightly-built ash wagons, covered garbage wagons.
The workmen needed are: drivers, collectors and cleaners.
All employees should be required to wear uniforms and numbered badges.
Each “blockman” is usually provided with the following:
A bag carrier, bags, scraper, broom, sprinkler, fire-hydrant key, shovel, tools.
QUESTIONS
All sweepings are placed in dust-proof bags. ”

“ An investigation conducted by the United States Bureau of Census indicated that the unit cost of street cleaning in cities having less than 300,000 inhabitants is less than that in cities having over 300,000. ”

“ Then comes the department of street cleaning, with its extraordinary ideas of the use of a thoroughfare. The new-comer is taught that the street is not the place for dead cats and cabbage stalks, and other trifles for which he has no further use. ”

“ 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. ”

“ So far as street cleaning is concerned they undoubtedly contribute more filth and unhealthiness because their work as scavengers is limited to rooting and scratching around for morsels of food in the offal and other débris, and thus they keep it stirred up when it would be less offensive if it were let alone. ”

“ But the more fortunate towns are not entirely exempt from the difficulties and embarrassments which have for a long period surrounded this subject in New York; and, although they may be interested in a less degree in the solution of this great sanitary and social problem, it will be observed that the history of street-cleaning in New York during the past twenty-five years is not uninstructive, and that the improved methods necessary in the metropolis are more or less applicable to all large American cities. ”

“ The use of flushers has proven not only the cheapest but the most satisfactory method of street cleaning that our experience in Cleveland has been able to develop. Statistics of the department show an average cost of 15.3 cents per square of 10,000 square feet for flushing to which must be added practically 9 cents for pick-up work, a total of some 24 cents per square as against 42 cents for work with White Wings. ”

“ Carelessness on the part of the public in throwing things into the streets adds many thousands of dollars to the cost of street-cleaning departments. Every time that a person throws a paper or any object into the street eventually some one else must be paid to pick it up. ”

“ The officials learned that one of the most effective methods in reaching the householder is through the women’s organizations. A woman inspector was appointed to keep in touch with the activities of the women’s clubs and to secure their cooperation. This inspector during the year gave over two hundred lectures to various organizations and enlisted the cooperation of householders, women and children in connection with preventive street cleaning measures. To the housekeeper it was shown how vital is her part in an efficient collection of all waste. ”

“ So also the maintenance of roads is a comparatively simple problem in the country, where traffic is light; whereas in the city, where traffic is great, the pavement of the streets presents problems not only of resistance, but of noise. The droppings of horses on the country road can be neglected; whereas those of horses passing a thousand per hour in a crowded city street create a dust injurious to health, and give rise to the problem of street cleaning. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ Pomona, California, found that moisture upon the surface 28of a pavement or in any form of refuse cannot be lifted by a suction sweeper. Instead it is in effect smeared over the surface of the street. In all cases where the street is dry and the surface of the pavement is reasonably dry the city has found the machine very positive in its operation.
Los Angeles, California, is thoroughly testing the vacuum method of street cleaning following a report by the Efficiency Commission, which has estimated a saving of $65,071 a year if the streets are swept with vacuum cleaners instead of flushed. ”

“ Dirt teams should not start for at least one hour after the sweeper begins. Gangs should have allotted to them enough work to keep them busy until quitting time so that they do not have to kill time. Laxity in any part of the system eats up the department appropriation.
Spring Cleaning The spring cleaning system usually calls for the piling up and removal of the heavy dirt which is washed from the center of the street and which accumulates in the gutters during the winter season. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In the street, where the city wields the broom, there is at least an effort at cleaning up. There has to be, or it would be swamped in filth overrunning from the courts and alleys where the rag-pickers live. ”

“ 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. ”

“ For many years the system of cleaning 19there has been hand patrol without sprinkling, except a very light sprinkling, just enough to lay the dust, not to convert it into mud—immediately in advance of night sweeping.
“Fifth Avenue, New York, is always dry except during rains, and we find one of the most durable asphalt pavements in the world. The pavement is always clean and never dusty.
“Asphalt pavement on Alexander Street, Rochester, New York, laid in 1885, is still in existence and has a record for low cost of repairs, and has until quite recently been free from street sprinkling. ”

“ In Toledo the school children, dressed as little White Wings, carried banners bearing the inscription “B-R-I-G-H-T-E-N U-P.” The bill posting companies, in some instances, donate space for the use of large posters. Street cars and station platforms are also utilized in an effort to attract the attention of citizens to do their duty cleaning their premises. The delivery forces of department stores and milk companies are pressed into service, each wagon being supplied with pamphlets and cards to be left with each package or bottle of milk. ”