New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-01-25
WHIT SHALL I'VE DO NTH TTY

Sl0WgOlng but comparatively hdle Mouco VI
surface transit.
VHIT SHALL I'VE 10 NTH IT7
The attempts of Captain Williams to reform
the street cleaning abuses have been watched
by the discouraged citizens with curiosity, but
without hope We all knew that an energetic
officer, if left untrammelled 10y his Supenor'
in authority, could do a great deal in mi'iZa-
ton Of the lOng-StanGng nuisance he could
obligc the sweepers TO be more thorough III
their operations he could prevent the cart
men from spilng considerable part Of every
load hc could take care that the carts fol-
lowed SO close behind the 6weeperS that
the piles OF dirt might be collected ana
not scattered over the roadway again
by the passing traffic. In those particulars We
believe that Captain Williams has made some
Improvement. We have no doubt hat lac l,
trying to accomplish SIN greater reforms.
But other supeIintendentS OF street cleaning
before him have begun with great zeal and
fallen after little while into despairIps in
difference Captain Williams has already en-
cOuntercd the difficulty which baked all his
predecessors.
It is the height of folly to spend hundreds
of thousand, of dollars in collecting dirt
which we do not know what to DO with
after it is collected. The practice of loading
it upon scows and taking it out to sea Is
dolerul and notorious failure. The boats at
the disposal Of the police are insufficient to
transport the daily accumuaiouS. and the syS-
TEN is admitted to be such an eeresiously bad
one that there Is a natural reluctance to huiId
large and costly feet which before long.
Z, fF.-s.. los
made it obvious that the navic0tors Of these
unpleasant craft cannot I've prevented from de-
hosting the loads, under the shelter of night
or fog, inside the limits of the hlrbor. But
besides the great injury to the harbor, there
is the insuperablc objection that IN bad
weather it is impossible to take dirt
scows out to sea. Whenever we have
storm, or even rough water IN
the Lower Bay, the operations Of the
Street Cleaning Bureau come 10 a fall stop.
Captain Williams has been seriously impedcd
IN his work by this cause; and latelyit seems
an attempt has been made TO get nd Of some
of the dirt by throwing it into the SewcrS-a
plan 10 which the Commissioner of Public
Works has opposed Il prompt and very
proper negative.
Considering how long we have sun, red un-
der the difficulty Of getting nd OF street dirt
and how generally it Is understood that the
streets cannot be cleaned until tins prob
lem is solved. the shltJleSs, inefficient
and extravagant manner lii which we
keep on year after year, picking up dirt
and throwing it down again, scraping to-
gether heaps of rubbish which We cannot re-
move and loading carts before We have found
a place to unlOld them certainly says little
for tie administrative capacity OF the citizens
of the American metropolis. We are supposed
to be the most ingenious people in the world,
and we are not at all averse to accepting any
compliments to cur ability. Yet NewIork Is
almost the only large civilized city which has
not found out how to keep itself clean. Other
communities, like Paris and London, dispose
of their rubbish promptly and make no
fuss about il. We only sit down and
rrumble. while we throw our muttOn-bOnes
and potato parings all around us. When the
accumulation of filth becomes unbcarable, the
only remedy can think OF Is to remove
the Superintendent of the Strect-Cleanng
Bureau, and appoint new one, who proceeds
TO cast some of the dirt into the river, and
then rests from his labOrs.
We shall never effect a reform until we are
ready to begin at the right end. That Is to
say, the first step toward cleaning the
streets must be to find "a way OF
getting rid OF the swcepings. Two years
ago there was solemn conference OF
municipal officials over this subject, and
after much discussion and consideration
of statistics they reached the conclusion that
no Improvement was possible until somebody
should tell them where 10 put the dirt. The
subject might be referred to a legislative com
mlttee, but that device has been tried before
We are inclined to believe that volunteer
commission assembled on the invitation Of the
Mayor-a few practical public-spiritcd citizens,
the Police Commissioners, the Board Of
Health, and perhaps the Controllcr-ought to
be able, after a careful inquiry into the con-
dltionS of the problem and a frank interchange
of views, to find the lOIg-sOught solution.
VIII Mayor Cooper take the case into consid-
eIatiOnl