The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-06-08
The Nuisanses OF New York.


The folly Of trying 10 conceal great nui-
sances by official misrepresentation was never
shown more strikingly than in the late report
OF the police surgeons upon the Harlem fats.
The coercion of these officers by Com
missioner resulted, first, in the exposure OF
the true condition Of the flats, and, secondly,
In the exposure Of the means that had been
used to hide it If Mr.. Disbecker had been
wise man or an honest official he would have
either avoided the blunder Of attempting
to prove the pest beds to be whole
some or he would have addressed himself
to the difficult labor of making them
SO. But the course he chose to adopt has con-
WINGED the public that he is personally inter-
ested in the garbage outrage on the public, or,
what is almost equally as bad, that he is to-
tally unfit for his position.
The surgeons report did not cover up this
infamy of the Harlem swamps, but, on the
contrary led to retraction and investigation.
The cooked-up report not only failed to ac-
complsh its own purpose, but has elected
unanswerable testimony to the existence of
the nuisance. Commissioner Voorhis on Sun
day visited the scene, and bears witness to
the truth of the statements in the
HERALD. The Common Council has taken up
the subject, and yesterday continued
an investigation, which the public ex-
poets to be thorough. The Board of Health
has also considered the matter, and as the
remedy lies directly within the power of that
body-we hope it will not hesitate to apply it
firmly and without delay. The Board of
Health can compel citizen to remove
nuisance and make him pay the expense, and
it should deal with the contractors just as it
would with private persons. We do not say
that Messrs. McQuade, Ambrose, JONES' Mills
and the other model contractors should now
be obliged to remove the filthy. pestilential
organic matter with which they have filed
the fats, for in the heat of the summer season
that step would be dangerous to the health
of the city. But they should be compelled
to at least repair the injury they have done
the community by using powerful disinfect-
ants in the garbage fields and covering the
mass of rotteuness already deposited by three
or four feet Of pure, fresh earth. If it is, as
make the contractors bear portion of the
expense Of this publication, the public will be
gratifed to see the penalty imposed; but
under no circumstances should they be paid
the balance of the money due them from the
city until they have removed the intolerable
nuisance which their own recklessness created.
The authorities should not limit their atten-
ton to this nuisance only, though, Of course, it
is the most dangerous of all that now threaten
the health of the metropolis The Boards CT
Health Of New York and Brooklyn held
recently conference in respect to the petro-
leum factories on the East River which poison
the air with their smells As the ships and
steamers from New England approach New
York by the entrance OF the Sound their pas
sengers are RECALLED on the one side by the
odors of Harlem fats and on the other by the
stencil of the petroleum refneries of Long
Island. They are between the Scylla and
the Charybdis of stipks. and unhappily can
escape neither Then there are the foul
streets, several Of which are described in our
reports to-day All Of these nuisances should
be abated now, before the extreme heat con-
verts them into sources of widespread disease,
and we shall gladly assist in exposing all
cases of the kind to which our attention may
be called. The matter is one in which every
citizen has direct interest, for the health Of
the entire community is threatened by the
filthy portions Of the city.