New-York tribune., 1879-12-21

by dsens feanafons for the new elevated road which
Avrnue-A Foureenfh-s was very foul n three or four
places Near the avenue m particular .nets dead
eat was reposing aud pies OF sweepngs appeared
which hens industrlously scattering. ,,
Tho condition OF thcs' streets was Dsu enough w a.
the nidle Of the week most OF the dirt was ar!
and much OF II frozen Early Friday moraing, n t Is.'
less white. Il was nos long. however before me busy
wnres o traffic and the countless feet OF sne
ground, aud produced from the mlx.u,e , ,v.r 81
purity and eosTDpslsn the aass spsSv sl,my and
black, All over the city the fa. haS.n' an shoee
streets that had heen recently eined ne a' & ,s b @
been neglected by the careless sweepeis, OF nu % rJ
ss reo,stencd and spread AS portions OF
the cy the riverside streets where the sun hau et s
addition of moisture could ONLY add to taer huesS oy
Ncsssns It's asrh and sgtS Sasyng ,aSs m IT, new Office
fp the stree gaming Department To ask what was the
M srern Sr s w fel yon he said s65oooo
less AZ 800 appropriated to the maintenance OF Two
is he expenditure limited. or discretionary 7"
Discre!iOnary with the Commissioner ,,
Are the ordinary streets cleaned al stated times
Captain Williams. or when they appear To nera u
The police report the dirty streets. anu we awN
clean the dirty streets FIRST replied 'he Capao "'"a
pleasant smiis
por Captain Williams to give On online oi us
pan for cleaning He somewhat ioth 10
looking "a The urcnn who was backing boots that
this Is the first shine that have had since left the
Captsin Williams said subsequently, that DIR %
ing the past week he had been exanlning % rh,s ,ns
nurning the work cleaning the streets viii begin In
earnest large force OF men VII pe uyg
the work is not prevented by thc freezing OF te uis
Mon0ay morning Captain Williams said that when
this done he would DO better aOle 10 state MS ps
for The future.
WATCHING The swEEPERS AT WORK.
During several days OF last week, the various pro
cesses OF srcctcleaning observed by TRIBUNE re-
porters who watched the at their work; saw
the dirt dcd and followed them TO the dumping
grounds and took careful notes of the details oil the
system OF removing ashes. For this purpose selection
was made OF eleanest streets IN the city, like
Broadway Ffhave., and Others that special at
tentiOn; nor of those streets near the rivers winch
seem, whenever they examined TO be utterly given
mud and garbage; but Of streets near the middle
city. occupied Tor business purposes and by the
better class of Such street is Forsyth
ST. winch runs parallel with the BOwery,
blocks 10 the east of 1t, extending from Divi-
sion--i. East HousIon-st. IL was fair specimen
OF an ordinarily dirty Some OF the dirt was dry,
ana had been pulyc rzed by the passing wheels ana
thoroughly mixed with refuse This lay along the mid
d Of the deep nough TO cover the paving stones
Al the sides OF street there the familiar sight OF
cutters running with slOps, with puddle here and
there whore there distractions TO tue How toward
the sewers in scraps of garbage. old papers,
rags other discarded matter from the houses while
for mud nor dry enough Tor dust but OF
such consistency as TO be cut by the wheels
OF vehicles freeze rdges in case of cold. or to
soften mud under hotter sunin both cases To pre-
sent 10 the his greatest obstacles 10 sue
cess Taere also In the upper part OF the street.
near Houston-st number OF the piles of dirt that had
been made when the street had been swept How long
before that had done 1t difficult 10 determine
from the varying testimony of the Inhabitants although
they all agreed that IL great many days. When
ever it was, IN this portion or the street
the piles of dirt had been neglected by the driver
OF the dircart robust lrshwoman, whose patience
disappeared her ndgnation developed had gone to
work IN front of house, and adding TO the
nearest dirheap the accumuaiions OF the week IN
manner that would been instructive 10 the sweep
ers as TO what could be done with broom properly
handled sne did stop her work when the reporter
told her that the sweepers approaching. ntimat-
ing thai Italians did not understand their busi-
ness
Early Wednesday morning two Italians were set at
work on tins street. each furnished (-efproyide with
"A broousan hoe. The brooms were made or small
rattan twgs, about fourteen inches lons, set into
wooden block foot and half long, into which was
fastened a long handle. Each took side OF the
street which cleaned from the gutter 10 the middle.
or 10 the track Of the Second Avenue Railroad,
where that passed through the street Working
with the hoe where there mud, and
with the broom where the dirt dry,
they cleared about twenty OF the length of the
street making pile the gutter of what they gath
ered brushed into the same pile The sweepngs
OF another twenty feet the other direction When
the dirt hight they usually obtained most of II IN
tins way and the appearance OF the street WAS much
,mnroved But Throughout almost the entire leagth OF
tue the accumuiatons under the broom became
roo heavy broom 10 carry long before the plies
were reached and the plant wis took on only p0rton
OF from the top, leaving The rest behind The re-
oorter endeaV ored that the piles b. made
nearer together but his English Was not understood
aud his panlomme war o, mo ees: % ~ 10 % nnse % Eee
easy nj some points ON tnis route 10 ahe nea,S as
many additional art piles OF the same sze-aDOUt three
after these men. The cutters were generally wet with
| refuse and sops thrown from the houses, and
cart stood over very dirty SPOT, when
the sweepers reached Grand-st. but although the cart
block they return to that spot They did, how
ever show that they unde stood their d9'y py leading
nor for him had PILED quantity of honsehoid fur
nifure on the sidewalk and VI lhe gutter against which
a hand-cart leaning. BY moving TINS hand-cart,
the sweepers might nave uncovered enough TO
make small nile; but they passed II by, and bv the
roiIowng day mad frozen hard and dry. b. O'Clock
rue street had been covered 10y these men throughout
ia entire pc H. aud the remaining Italian having
disappeared er shouldered his bro 0 ana his hoe
While the sweepers gathering the dirt into piles
dirt at work removing the piles The driver
swerprr but that street was part OF his route for the
day ana De what he found there UP 90 O'Clock
in the evening there were several blocks that nad not
beeu visited. although by TIE following nm morning the
the cart had only large shovel to work
WITH an and he did his work as well as
could be cone WITH tuls nnpich1enI dlOnt.
With two or three filings OF II he took up dirt-heap,
and IL any ashes upon toe heap he took
ose also He then turned the shovel over aud. using
IL ike hoe. scraped little more dirt into the gutter,
WING he against curb. This dd
not remove all the dirt. III driver had had a
BROOM he could taken large snoveltul that he
did not get from each OF the small piles and larger
ouantity from those that consisted or mud. IL would
nave taken little longer, aud under the system OF
measuring days work Dy the number of loads taken
TO te DUMP drivers areinpatent of spending
time collecting load. The driver said
that n took him about to collect load and
deliver dump, at the FOOT OF Jackson-s unless
he he'd 10 line, he frequently did, on account
of we scarcity OF scows To dump Instead OF deliy
erng uniformly the same dump. he said tnat the men