The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-04-22
Common Sens. and street Cleaning

i
The universal discomfort caused by our
dirty streets is making itself known in
public meetings of citizens. such as that
held at the Fifth Avenue Hotel on FRI
day evening. We are glad to see such
signs that the people are losing patience,
and would like to see meetings every day to
/ protest against the miserable condition OF
the streets. 1t is doubtful whether any
thing short OF 'protracted meeting" will
save US. But while the sheep are gathering
we trust somebody will keep away the
wolves. Whenever a community gets ex-
cited about an abuse long suffered and at
last become intolerable their indignation IS
pretty sure to become an opportunity Tor
some nostrum monger who uses the occasion
TO recommend himself and his method. with
the view to turn more or less honest penny
for himself. We are glad to see the citizens
indignant about the streets: it is high time
tor wrath but We hope they will be careful
| not to commit themselves rashlyp anywhere
| to any particular remedy which ingenious
| schemers may bring forward
| The account given of the streets at the
| Fifth avenue meeting was all right; indeed.
much stronger words might properly have
been used But we notice with some alarm
that the real object Of the meeting seems to
have been. not to protest against the dirty
Streets but to introduce and advocate and
get popular favor for a particular scheme for
cleaning them which seems to belong TO q
Mr. j. W. Ambrose, who addressed the
meeting and urged, first that the cleaning
of the streets should be left exclusively to
the Board OF Health, and, second, that the
Board OF Health could then dump the gar
bage into vacant lots. screen it and take
away the bones and offal. Thereupon Gen
eral Shaler. Mr.. Dexter A. Hawkins and
Colonel Scott proposed two resolutions,
which without the least hesitation approved
Mr. Ambfose's plan and "most earnestly
urged" the Legislature to adopt it; and it
makes us laugh to read that these resolu-
tons were unanimously adopted"
| We laugh because the trick is SO old that
| it ought by this time to be stale and out Of
use. A meeting of citizens is called to pro-
test against the dirty streets; the citizens
attend in more or less muddy boots,
which are in themselves protest. Mr.. Am
brose OPPORTUNITY appears upon the scene
and declares that he knows how to keep the
boots of the meeting clean Thereupon the
meeting shouts for Ambrose and goes home
| through the dirt satisfied that the millennium
will come if only the Legislature will do
what Ambrose wants Now who is Mr.. AM
| I'd
before, and, oddly enough in intimate con-
nection with what. by stretch of fancy, is
called 'street cleaning" in New York. In
the HERALD for May 49, 1875, in an account
of the pestilence breeding garbage beds on
the Harlem fats, we find mention of Mr..
Ambrose in these words:-"The Mills L.
Ambrose contract at One Hundred and
Sixth street is marked by an almost exclu-
sive use Of city filth; indeed so reckless
have these men been that not many
days ago q horse slipped into the
water hole now being filled at this point
and was drowned there and remains there
still, covered with garbage--a sure founda-
ton for some future pestilence. We hest
tated at first to believe that the Mr.. Am
brose who so unanimously addressed the
Fifth Avenue Hotel meeting on Friday even
ing could be the same Mr.. Ambrose about
whose garbage handling the above paragraph
speaks, because we naturally supposed that
in that case in accordance with his plan, he
would have Mt least screened out the horse.
But, alas we find he is the same Mr.. AM
brose, horse and all.
| WE'LL he at least may know something
about how not to clean the streets. He may
even know something about how to clean
them. We do not object to hearing his
suggestions but when we find that the
main object Of Mr.. Ambrose's bill is to turn
the business of street cleaning from the
Police Board over to the Health Board
we hesitate-at least until we have
Board Of Health whose head is q
very different person from Professor
Chandler. We should prefer, if it is
I all the same to Mr.. Ambrose, to keep the
| cleaning Of the streets cut of the hands of q
man whose ideas Of sweetness and cleanli-
ness are such that he actually backed up the
late lamented Professor Disbecker in the
theory that the reeking foulness of the Har-
lem fats was healthiul and grateful to the
senses. Such is Mr.. Chandeliers record.
Under his care Mr.. Ambrose would not have
to screen out the drowned horses; which
might be convenience for him. but it
would be calamity to the city. The orator
Ambrose assures us that at present the
Board of Health has only the power to warn
us against the danger of malaria, but that if
the Board were charged with cleaning the
streets it would remedy all our grievances.
Well we will be plain with Mr.. Ambrose.
We do not believe him. We have an impress
sion that the Board OF Health already pos
sesses complete power to remove or abate
i nnisances We remember that when il was