The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-02-14


July evening" Well, after kindly furnishing double
the M the
splashed about in slush, and the "busses." and
StnSI 6eavy vehicles, with, rom dire necessity.
days, when 1t was, not by the Street Cleaning
Bureau, put by repeated thaws, removed so that
| fort
| So many evidences OF the utter incompetency Of
the Street-Cleaning Bureau under the manage
ment, or rather msmanagement, of the Police
commissioners, come crowding in from every side
that IT Is Impossible, without writing volume, to
expose all OF lts lnexcusable delinque nces II not
In some instances, Its downright criminal acts.
The following transaction, however, must not be
overlooked inasmuch as 1t brings out in bold relief
the ingenious sc0undrelism OF this street cleaning
concern, not only in swindlng the people, but in
| breaking the law designed to protect the harbor
According to the report Of the Street Cleaning
bureaus superintendent 1t cost the city, during
the six months embraced In that report, twenty
| scows. Now this is eighteen cents per cart load
| In excess OF what that work should have cost But
the loss OF money in this unloading business Is as
| will be conciusively demOnstrated the most I'M
important rascality connected with it. 1t is, by
| legislative enactment, made an offence, punisha-
| bic both by fine and Imprisonment, to throw any
0bstructions into the harbor Of New York. Now, as
Police Commissioners control the Street Cleaning
| Bureau, they are responsible for its acts But
what have they allowed 1t to dor This question
Will be best answered by telling what 1t has DONE
ing beyond the city's limits the dirt collected from
the Streets this bdreau incredible as it may seem,
ACTUALLY tnreW AZ least 10000 CUBIC yards into
the East River between Filth street and Fortcth
street, and deposited at least 10, 600 cubic yards
more OF II in the North River between Fifteth
street and sixty-hfth street. What spectacle Of
malevolent official turpitude Is here presented
Police Commissioners permitting their subordi-
law Of the State. Neither the Commissioncrs nor
their Superintendent Of the street Cleaning Bureau
could, it would not Justify them IN the eye OF the
law, because u requires them to know what their
| agents are doing
The magnitude Of this gh-handed outrage upon
the great commercial interests OF the city, and the
penalties attending its detection, were SO well I'M
| derstood by the Police Commissioners and their
Superintendent OF the Street Cleaning Bureau, that
1t was never attempted except in the most secret
usual way OF dealing this deadly blow at our harbor
facilities was as follows After the scows had been
loaded, from fifteen to twenty men were, under the
| pretext that they were going to the dumping
grounds beyond the city limits put aboard each
one Of them; then at convenient hour of the
night, they were towed by the bureaus tuQ-boats
to the points in the harbor above indicated, and
unoaded. So then, the city, after laboring long
and necessarily and spending millions of dollars to
put the harb0r In barely passable condition for
our shipping, has paid at the rate of twenty-five
cents per cubic yard for having 49, 900 cubic yards
be forced to pay at the rate OF 81 so per cubic yard
to have 1t dredged out again. I ,
such rotten CARCASS as this street stree ceanius Bug
reau now Is the knife must be sent to the very
cores OF the most putrd cancers which render 1t so
disgustngly obnoxious and some Of these are the
huge heaps OF ashes, intermXed with the 1oulest
1th that lie at the foot Of East Fortysxth street.
Stanton street and East Thirty third street. Now
1t is in direct violation OF the most important 0rdl.
nance OF the Board Of Health, Of which POlice-COm
Observation-Disclosures Cleaning bureau Bosworth is
President to deposit ashes, garbage or street dirt
of any kind within the city limits and yet the
loremen employed by the street Cleaning Bureau
load tsr ART carts at tie oots these as' sreets
The result is the accumulation there Of steadily-n
creasing mountains OF ashes garbage and decay
ing animal matter, which will soon infect the most
densely populated portions Of The city with poison
GUS exhalatiOns. 0 TH
The most prominent and artistically constructed
mountain OF putrescent filth is at the foot OF East
Thirty-thrd street. 1t Is conico-pyramidal in
form, and its curyilincar and rectinear lines are
beautifully Blended. 1t Is about fifty feet high,
and It's base is propOrtonate to its apex 1t contains
in the neghborhood OF five thousand cubic yards
to have been reared with great skill and care by
Superintendent Ihorne for the purpose OF Impress
sic s err Boswortn's weiI.knoWn motto, dirt Is
DEATH" Around It winds a gradually ascending
cart road, corrugated with very gentle undula-
summit. where lie can enjoy the glorious prospect
presented by Long Island and the river, and have
at the same time his oactores RECALLED by the four
hundred and sixteen separate and distinct stinks
said to have been discovered by Commissioner
Bssworth when on a smelling expedition, prOmi-
| nent among which is the stink arising from the
I putrid fish entras and pecOmposed cabbage
The operations OF this Street Cleaning Bureau in
| repairing Its scOws furnish another example of
its very peculiar ideas OF economy 1t has thirty.
| five scows, and the Board OF AppOrtionment al
Tor one year. II judiciously expended that amount
would have been sufficient for all really necessary
repairs during that time as $3.50 Is, as general
thing, quite enough to spend on one scow IN
year. TO illustrate, scow NO. l3 which cost 81 800
when new, which is the smallest in the service Of
the Bureau and about ten years Old was patched
up at an expense OF $4,000, and when 1t left the
ways 1t could not have been sold for $1,000. Now
$500 more would have purchased new scOw OF
double the tonnage and capable OF running several
years without any repairs worth mentioning. Two
thousand two hundred dollars was in like manner
entire $4,000 was thus almost thrown away on the
few scows alluded to. Does the Bureau intend to
let the rest OF the thiryve scOws 90 to the bottom
of the riverf or will 1t obtain allowance OF 800
more to repair them. and then squander 1t as be-
The Bureaus tugboat General Grant needed
painting and Its small pilot house required raising
Bureau he received four proposals rom respons6e
amount asked was $3.50. Now, instead OF adver-
Using for proposals to paint this boat and raise
pilot house, Superintendent Thorne gave, without
even contract, the job OF doing 1t to John Duke.
one Of the Police Commissioners political bar
nacles from the Eleventh ward; and he who had
never before done any ship carpenterng, painted
the General Grant ma ana raised ner pot house IN
wOmans dapidated apple shanty than like what
IL was supposed to be. For thus rendering the
manded and readily obtained Sl15O, or $500 more
than competent and responsible ship carpenters
would have asked for performing the work in a
While on the subject Of the practical economy of
this street Cleaning Bureau It's "cornern in carts
ard horses must by no means be overlooked.
superintendent Thorne's report for the six months
ending December TO- 1872, says that $500 was
spent in purchasing horses. Now the Bureau
bought Of Brown ninety-nve horses at $166 each
land the price shows that they must have been
better than average working horses, but it has
now on hand only ninety-four hsrses, or one less
than the number received from Brown The
Bureau started, then, with ninety-nve horses. The
report says that $500 has been spent for new
ones. The maximum price per horse allowed by |
the Board Of Apportionment for new horses was
$3.50. Now, granting that that price was paid in |
every instance (Which Is very impr0bable), thirty
five new horses should have been purchased with |
the $500. Add to that number the ninety-fve |
horses bought OF Brown, and the Bureau should |
have 100 horses; but lts stables contain only
ninety four horses, or horse less than the con.
Germ commenced business with, although 1t has,
as before stated, spent s. 500 In new hofses.
The Bureau bought lO5 old carts OF Brown, OF |
which number fifteen were worth nothing except |
what the iron on them would bring. This leaves |
ninety serYiceahle carts. The ren0rt Raya that