The New York herald., 1873-07-10
The Poorer Glasses Deserve q Better Fate than
To Be Doomed to Live in Such Localities.
AN AFTERNOON OUT ON THE STREETS.
If the Present State Of the Streets Is One
of Cleanliness and Health, Wei
come, then, Dirt and Death.

Walk bad doors, SHINY cutters ana small pools OF
stagnant water. Parts OF the metropolis which
nature left In the shape OF swamps have been, by
the hands OF man, converted into habitabe neigh
borhoOds 1t is not to be understood that these To-
calties are always healthy. The value which even
such property acquires In the business centres the
city more than atones for any trifng awakenngs OF
conscience the part OF the owner, and the large
rents which follow the erection of buildings be-
come fruitful source OF profit. 1t does not matter
1.-THE cellar and entire building ed with deadly
miasma and noXous gases from the decompOsing
vegetable matter which had accumulated on the
bottom OF the lake; the land is worth 800 per
square foot, and the tenants can take their own
risks to health In other instances issure is
opened by which the sewer connects with the Gel
lar, and at the season OF high Spring tides the
water Overfows under the houses, leaving sedi-
mentary filth, which renders the entire building
healthy. very few moments passed In the old
swamp districts OF the Sixth and Fourth wards
Will satisfy any one as to the truth OF
this. The inhabitants OF the cellars lead lives
Of disease from the cradle to the grave and this
B 80 lor good reason. They live over the secret
lurking places OF DEATH which cannot be seen or
remedied. The sacrifice OF human beings was
never carried to a greater extreme than by the
welLto-do property owners who entce dodgers to
enter these deadly dungeons
ARE THE OFFICIALS SLUMBERING?
The streets open as they are to the light of day,
and which are supposed TO occupy the exclusive
Attention OF one branch of the police force, are
to-day in the most deplOrable condition. All the
causes which operate to render the cellars damp
and filthy should contribute TO render the thor
oughares Of the metropolis clean and slightly. The
present sewerage system Is such as to render the
cleaning of the streets an easy task, with proper
Intention to draining the cutters. An occasional
uap Of N hA
greatly assist in removing the sickenIng odors of
Btagnant dishwater. A better carriage system, by
which certain streets should be assigned to the
elusive care OF regular squad OF night scavengers,
would remove the heaps OF ashes and garbage.
Three hours work on the part OF a squad, detailed
from the Department OF Public Works. would re-
pair each Of the disgusting holes in the street
pavements, frequently encountered on the east
and west sides, and abolish the stagnant pools
which each OF them creates
THE BUSINESS PORTION OF THE CITY NEGLECTED.
While the streets and avenues lying between
Third and Sixth avenues are, from their naturally
elevated position, as wen the better class of in
habitants VINO occnpy them, less filthy than other
localities, it would seem that they receive great
share Of the attention of the Street Cleaning Bu-
reau. The business districts OF the city are, as a
rule, given over to dirt, aud the commercial CON-
munty has to make the best OF it. At every street
crossing the man Of trade, well the pettiest
customer, encounters some new outrage to his
ideas OF cleanliness or his sense OF smell 1t may
be only heap ofrotten oranges pond of filthy
water caused by an Obstructed sewer gate it may
be only quagmire in the heart of long stretch
Of Nicolson pavement; yet it causes him TO turn
out OF his way to avoid it. Dirt, pure and simple,
meets him everywhere on Broadway, brought
there from these very same slums which we have
named Broadway, the great thoroughfare, which
ls really marvel Of cleanliness under the new re-
risne adjons some OF the most unhealthy portions OF
the city. 1t Is only a step down Franklin or Leon
ard, in either direction, until the old swamp,
with its vile smelling tenements is en-
rountered on the east side or West Broadway,
with its almost impossible pavements, on the
pther side. Scarcely feet from the door of the
HERALD onice, at the junction OF Park row and
Ann street, there has existed for many months
dirty pool OF water which serves TO deluge the
passers-by as every street car passes. The entire
length of Ann street seems to be q neglected and
nncleaned district.
AFTER ROMANCE REALITY.
The streets OF New York, presented with all the
scenic effects which stage carpentry and the
paint pot can give, seem to invite at once our
praise and to awaken our pride. Never having
pluuged into the regions where filth most abounds,
the better class Of the city's population admire
that which far from the reality as 1t is possible
for anything to be. To all such believers in an
Utopian metropolis there s In store awakening
very much like that OF child when he first begins
20 doubt the marvellous stories OF the "Fying
Islanders"
Yesterday the streets were to be seen under the
most favorable aspects. bright Summer after
noon, with a good breeze blowing, ought to have
'predisposed the most critical pedestrian In favor
of the condition of the streets There had not been
for mud in the streets water in the cutters.
bouth street Is the receptacle OF all that is
FIsHED OUT OF THE ADJACENT DOCKS;
OF the dr1ppings from the carts en- route for the
dumping piers: OF the scrapings from ships bot
TOMS and OF all the decayed fruit which tails TO
command buyers at the market The mire OF the
Fourth and Eleventh wards debouching from many
dirty streets, soon makes the mud intolerable to
pedestrians. one can start at Coenties sip and
gradually feel the grit get worse and the mud
more glutinous, until the maximum is reached
near the Catharine ferry. The entrances to its
sewers are choked up in many instances, forming
Bickening ponds Oliver street, with It's unhealthy
population is soon passed. 1t seems to be recep-
tice for ashes and oial There Is very little stand
Ing water TO be seen, 1t must be remarked, to the
credit OF the olver-streeters Catharine street
Rbounds In heaps OF broken bricks and unset paw.
Ing stones Market street is next encount tered,
with Its cutters clogged with ashes, dammng
river until the sickening slime trckles across the
pavements into the easements and cellars. South
btreet, at the corner Of Rutgers, is
A SEA OF DIRTY WATER.
In the slip at the foot OF Gouverneur street there Is
pond OF green water, in which few goats,
dogs and little children to be lying
down together. boatbuIlder utillzes 1t for sea
sOning the lumber with which he constructs his
merchandise. In Corlears street great pools OF
green water seen near the stables OF the Cross
Fown line. Monroe street is dirty aud worthy Of
the special attention OF the street Cleaning Bureau
IL abounds In noxlous eflluvia and contains much
rubbish and garbage. Grand street, lear the East
River, is at present In cleaner condition than
usual but is not even what IL should be. IL Is
a much travelled thorougifare, and should be
rendered more pleasant
PROMENADE FOR THE EAST SIDE PoPULACE.
Turning up Goerck, Lewis or Columbia street
soon brings the pedestrian into the very heart OF
pestiential neighborhood Goerck street is espe-
claly filthy, and contains old boots and slops from
, the Kitchen; the cutters are 1ued with lou
smelling sOapsuds which Will not run on. IL
would seem To be the scuery maids Paradise Tor
II Is sight truly beautiful TO behold the confidence
with which they deposit the contents OF q slop-
bucket In the middle OF the road. Rivington street
Is dirty and III sineling A man was seen opening
a hydrant TO cleanse the cutters The street ia ao