Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1865-11-10
Il NJ w 5 ):


Shall We Hnvo Glenn City 81
n All over the country, In nearly every VII
lage, town and city, the attention of the To-
cal authorities is being called to the impor-
tance, nay, the urgent necessity, of cleanli-
ness. Many of these authorities are taking
active and efficient measures to have their
streets and alleys thoroughly cleaned, and
all nuisances as far as possible removed
The highest medical authority warns us
that in cleanliness lies our only safety
against that dreadful .scourge, the Asiatic
Cholera, which has already reached our
shores. Against the malign influence that
travels in the atmosphere and spreads the
.contagion we cannot guard but We have
1t in our power to remove filth and disease
engendering nuisances, without whose
presence, the atmospheric contagion is COM
paratively harmless.
= Early in September last, our City Coun-
Gil passed an ordinance requiring the occu-
pants of lots to cleansthe alleys and cutters
in front OF their property on certain as
signed days, and pile up the dirt and filth
in heaps to be removed by the Street Com
missioner within twenty-four hours after
being so piled up. A large proportion of
|, oar citizens complied with theprovlsions
of this ordinance. In numerous cases,
however, the piles of dirt were not remov-
ed by the Street Commissioner within the
time limited by the ordinance, but were
washed down by subsequent rains into the
very alleys and cutters from which they
had been scraped up. This operated as
I diseOuragement to- private citizens, who,
seeing that their labor was lost by the fail
ure of an appointee of the City Council to
discharge the duty enjoined upon him by
the ordinance for cleaning the streets and
alleys, did not feel like obeying its require
ments, especially, when conscious that their
labor and expense in so doing would result
in no good. 1t may not have been the fault
| of the Street Commissioner that the heaps
of dirt were not removed as the ordinance
prescribes; but, be that as IL may, theneg'
lect occurred and its consequences remain
The ordinance in question is already gene
rally regarded as a dead letter upon the
statute-book of the city.
1t has been urged in extenuation Of the
neglect of the Street Commissioner above
alluded to, that the City Council did moi
furnish him the means to perform his duty
under the ordinance. II so, it was theil
fault, and "a most grievous fault it was
But passing that by for the present, citizens
are beginning to inquire rather anxiously
whether that functionary is now discharg'
ing his duty under other ordinances In re-
gard to keeping the city clean, according
TO the means he has at command We are
Informed by those in position to know, tina
for some time past the Chain-gang force ha'
averaged from fifteen to twenty hands, who
are chiefly employed in breaking stone IL
the City prison yard, and the work they per
form there per day does not average wha
one-tourth of their number ought to do. Ii
/ the mean time, the city lies uncleaned, wal
lowing in her filth, an easy prey to choler'
or any other pestitential scourge,f 1t is no
supposed that the Street Commissioner ha
the means to thoroughly cleanse and keel
the city clean but the question in man!
minds is whether he is energetically, o
even earnestly using all the means in hi
hands to do all he can toward accomplish
ing that most desirable and necessary OBJ
ject. Let him use all the means he has, ant
if these are not sufficient, let him or the ap
propriate committee demand more, and tn
call will be seconded by nearly every resi-
| dent of the city.