The New York herald., 1877-03-17
THoRouGHFAREs OF FILTH.

A coNsTANrINoPLE OF THE WESTERN coSTi'
NENr-nANGEs OF GARBAGE MOUNTAINS UP
TOWN, DOWNTOWN AND ALL OVER TOWN
BLocKADED RoADwAYs AND REExINo POOLS.
THE PUBLIC DANGER.
Week after week slips by and still NO measures are
clear the streets OF this city OF tho fostering
masses OF garbage that disngure arteries
travel to nothing OF tho less frcquented district
east and west OF tho leading avenues The nne snow
which commenced falling yesterday aiterpoon, and
continued through tho evening, was probably one o.
the last OF the season. Comparatively weatnei
succeed II, and before another week fortnight
al most is such high temperatures may prevail
that 1t will be pcrlous to the public health to disturb
the of lermentng animal and vegetable refusc
mixed with watcr and soil, that row
cupy more than one-iourth OF the whole street
area OF tho cy-threo feet high in the most neglected
localities Any person who has carefully followed tho
various projects that havo been in operation during
tho last ten years come 10 only one concuson-
namely that while the taxpayers OF this city have
pended moro money the square yard than would be
required with economical management to clcar the
whole open surface once In every foriy-eght hours,
under the best administration that our citizens
have over enjoyed there has not been single week
within the recollection OF the present generation when
New York could compare with Paris or London ios
cleanliness Last year. Tor example. the city OF Paris
cleaned every day Tor rather every nght) at an
expense OF less than hall per square foot, while
the city of Now York paying six times that
amount for a nominal cleaning that kept Broadway
and the aris,ocratc neighborhoods tocrable con.
dton leaving crowded districts east and west to
tester and icrment in three weeks accumulation,
never thoroughly removed, and often not oven
slurred over. The administration OF tho depart.
ment under City Inspector Boole, who was
tho subject of an Albany investigating commit
tee, neither moro expensive nor more
noglcct:u than tho administration tha, Immediately
h and saving tho fact that tho late Judge
Whiting madc show Of cleaning during his control
OF tho con tract lherc has period Within ten
years. however brief IN which the condition OF our
street surfaces has of serious anxiety
and of serious menace to the public hoalth Ono OF
devices Of the department has always been 10 keep
lew streets ana lined with palatal residences
in q tocrabe condition. Fifth avenue, for instance
with It's sparse and coanly population, was cleaned
three week, while tho tenement house districts.
with their crowded populations. wero surred over once
in two three weeks thus oxacty reversing the proper
Of tnings for TO the square yard Fifth avenue
makes than oneeighth OF tho nh per day that 10
yomitcd into the street the IN Mulberry
street. or any one OF the streets running cast from
the Bowery the river It Is obvious, therefore, that
Fifth avenue better afford to exist thrc6 weeks with
out services OF tho scavenger than Stanton or Riv.
ingon for three days. and II Is equally obvious
that any administration OF the Street Department that
ncglects this important consideration must DO IN.
efficient at the best and indecent when the terms Of
the prescription not thoroughly carried out The
view therefore. that a thorough reform. not in the
practice only but IN the theory upon which the DEPART
Is conducted also Is 70 secure inc
II any raon dre except that OF bureau Tor tho
absorption OF iunds
On Wednesday last tho HERALD published q short
survey condition of The streets in the moro ac.
ccss,be quarters the city and pointed out some OF
the principal seats Nth down town. Yesterday, In
order to impress the danger OF the situation more
thoroughly upon the popular mind, HERALD repre-
sentative was drectcd to examine the SUBJECT
! IN detail and report upon the condition OF
those inaccessible districts that naturally escape
the attention OF the influential moneyed public. Down
town. from Canal street TO the Battery, with the single
exception OF Wall street, there Is not single eros:
thoroug are that not blockadod with mounds and
hocks OF rubbish Park place, owing 10 its width. 70
tocrably passable from Broadway TO Church street.
although were the rubbish that encumbers It's broader
section to measured by the cubic loot the figures
would swell 10 thousands In the vicinity OF washing.
ton and Fulton markets. which are great centres OF
garbage creation the pavement is scarcely visible
| all, except along narrow ribbon representing the
~ s.se downIown sloughs rest upon damaged ana
uneven substratum OF cobblcstone pavement which
rcnders 1t impossible 10 calculate ths'r depth AZ 10;
toryals consequently there deep mud holes hlled
| with thin pudding OF hth-the drainage OF the ad'
jacent heaps and mounds Through Park place there
| not a single point except the regular crossings, and
many OF these biockaded, where pedestrian can
cross without crcumpavgating mud holes, provided
he should bc successful outset in getting safely
over tho long earthwork OF filth that fills tho gutter
and rises points to tho height OF July three
| feet We're these mounds to be levelod they would
cover the whole roadway to depth Of not less than
| ono loot Al moderate calculation any hall mile OF
Washington street, taken at random: would Yield
So 900 cubic feet OF refuse and onal narrow road
| wav studded with mudholos passes between two un.
broken ranges of garbage heaps and receives thel!
| Had Inc nj n
water Az points along this roadway the pavement -
visible, but except for occasional elevations, II 10
| ba:hed ankle deep In thin ana disgusting sludge.
The state OF Washington street is perhaps scarcely
fair example of the average condition oil things below
the western portions OF vesey Barclay Dey Cortlands
and other thoroughfarcs a0utting upon IT, The
southern tongue OF tho island about the Bat
| tery and Bowling Green, although very filthy, Is
| littc less encountered AS rule, along the western
water front OF the city, the cross streets are encum.
bered or end four squares as you look toward
Broadway 10 an extent comparable with Washington
street. wh,lc Tor the rest OF the way they are de-
plorabiy dirty, although not absolutely submerged,
abound,ng in heaps OF garbage. but not In those
earthworks that distinguish the sections IN
sight OF the front. Or the interior streets west
| OF broadway, Rector street furnishes example Of
neglect that may studied Mt leisure. One hundred
carl Loads 10 the square would POSSIBLY clear the
way and reveal the cutters. This is OF the
| mcnt house districts downtown and II should always
DO remembered that tho refuse accumulated In such
districts differs materially from such as generated on
business thoroughiares, iermenting more readily
under tho action OF hcai, owing to larger admix.
turc oil animal ouu veBctaUic Akuu, ~ icts
ments ut n lowcr temperature than the waste prod
ucts generated commercial thoroughiarcs, and is-
hence, infinitely more menacng to the public health.
sharp distinction In sanitary science must, therc
foro be maintained between the two classes OF retu
| material
| EAST PxARL STREET.
The district, a long and narrow one, lying betweei
Pearl street and the East River Is Que tnat has not
been thoroughly clean Tor years and one OF which no
| description can give adequate idea. Particular
OF the fact that no indications Of the scaven.
GERS visible amid It's purlieus yesterday
ali essential 10 indicate tho criminal neglect Of
| the department Tho low belt that Canal street
| traverscs almost from river to river has renamed
| in statu quo, Notwithstanding the recent rive.
lations of tho HERALD. lair example Of
Hall place, which runs from Printing House
square TO Pearl street. 1t is only two squares Lined
on either hand by tsnemcuts, and yet twenty-seven
heaps Of be counted here occupying about