, 1880-02-08

One Of the standing expenditures Of the
City of Chicago is that for street-cleaning,
and one Of tho standing reproaches against
the city is, that it never has any clean streets.
It is generally an even thing between the
paved streets and the earth streets US to
which are the more dusty in dry or more
muddy in wet weather, and, as the weather
is either dry or wet, the dust and the mud
are the alternatives in the thoroughfares of
Chicago. :
We spend good round sums nomina1ly
for scraping the paved streets, but these
scra2{ngs are scmt-pe1iodlcal, and the mud
Is carried off and dumped upon the earth
streets thence to be blown, In the form of
dust, orhauled on the wheels Of all kinds of
vehicles back to the paved streets. In con-
venient pnximity to all paved streets there
are unpaVet.ones, kept seemingly to supply
/, the others With mud in wet weather, and
with dust In dAI. The expendltnIe of money
for STRENGTHENING under these circumstances
IS like spending Aoney to sweep back the sea
with broom. i:
The COMMISSIONS: OF Public Works and
the Citizens Associatsn have considered this
matter seriously, anahave come to some
kind OF an agreements to the sum which
ought to be expended or tlds purpose, to
which agreement there isprobably M ohiec-
ton, II. the present systen il to be ma;n-
tanned. But the time has eme when there
ought to be some effort nlaos to arrest the
supply Of mud by means Of lermanent pre-
vention. There should be Systematic i'm
provement Of the streets; they sbo,,1d he
paved, or they should be macadao;zed ctn-
dered, OF graveled. All the street, mt i'm
proved by paving with wood or ston\ shou1d
be given hard surface by thick beds,f c,n-
ders, macadam, or gravel It is fol1v
to expect paved streets to be bsnt
free Of mud SO long as there =
a continuous train Of vehicles bringing mud
upon their wheels from all the unpayed
streets and depositing it On the paved road
ways. All the mud and dust scraped from
the paved streets should be hauled away to
Ill up low grounds, and should never be
dumped on the unpaved streets. These
should be all improved BY the removal Of the
SOFT surface earth, which is alternately dust
or mud, aud should be provided with deep and !
lrmly-rolled beds Of clnders, macadam, OF
gravel Ihe beds Of these streets should be |
made so hard that they will throw off the rain. !
md, when this is done, the supply of mud
'h1ch Is now furnished to al1 the streets Will |
70 reduced proportionately. Having stopped
be manufacture and distribution Of mud.
hen the work Of keeping the paved and ali
ther streets clean will be reduced to the
It all the money now expended
nnually for scrapfng and sweeping the
aVed streets, and for trimming the earth or
lit ones, were quadrupled, it would not suf-
ce to Keep them In a respectable condition.
Otau the expenditures made by the city. that
'r cleaning " the earth streets is tt1e ereat-
ST waste The performance would be ridicu-
'us Il it were not so costly. Large gangs Of
zen are employed throughout the year for
lis purpose These men shovel the soft
afth from the sides Of the street and throw
upon the centre Of the roadway, and the
Fst SHOWER washes 1t back to the level. re-
icing Tue Whole roadway to disgraceful |
ass OF thick mud. The defense OF this en- {
.nd1tu1ei Us, ,thatit gives employmentto class {
men physically unable to perform anv | 7
ner WORK. the expenditure is therefore a |
arter OF charity, "a direct donation from the |
ty Treasury. Occasionally the Council c
lamber echoes with fervid appea1s that r
ese men should not be required to .twork,, a
ore than eight hours day, and should be | /
10 " per cent more than the current price l.r
LABOR. 30 far as their labor is concerned {
would be of as much practical benefit tn 7
city 1t employed in bailing out the river Y
the lake. :.
T one-half the money annually appro- a
ated for street-cleaning were expended in | .
cadamizing these mud streets, OF in giving Il
m good hard bed Of cinders, every dollar p
nld be of practical use. T
u u tne matter OF street-cleaning, and espe- p
ny OF sreet-sweeping, the city authorities 10
'uio remember that the streets are not for 81
mere use OF those occupying the houses 81
ating thereon, but Of those who have oc- to
ION to need them. Thestreets in the South r
aslon north OF Harrison or Twelfth Sc
'et are used by hundreds Of thousands Of dc
sons every day. They are visited by ri
sons from all other parts Of the CITY: tr,
the whole population is interested ha
city IN having them free from mud &C
Tree from dust. All the strangers hi]
come 70 this city on pleasure or businesz bu