, 1881-02-27
THE PUBLIC HEALTH. e.
Yesterdays Experiences Of The
Tribune Commission.
The Thaw Revealing More Filth
Than Was Dreamed Of.
Palm -Greasing IN Incentive to the
Cleaning Of Back Alleys.

/
first row of boarding houses on South Morgan
| street, tho second q block Of teneuents on the
| corner Of Milwaukee and Chicago avenues
! Mention Of the result Of their researches there
may be postponed until passing allusun ia
made to the fact that In their drive from place
| to place yesterday the investigators could not
help being struck By the terrible expose which
| tho thaw Is making Of the condition OF the
streets and alleys OF tho localities through which
they travelled. Each departing inch OF snow
brings to view fresh patches Of filth, TINT 1t Is
tolerabiy clear inst, WREN slcighing Is over and
| nothing in tha way OF ash-pifes and
garbage hears remain hidden, the cty's surface
in all but rew select spots will present the ap-
pcarance Of q ENlndless vast Of nastiness which
1t will tako n1nny months OF steady work on the
part Of the Health Department to dispose OF.
Tho work of keeping cty's streets, anu alleys,
and yards clean Is like ull other kinds Of work
tn two certain respects. In the first place, no
one who is incompetent to do certain line OF
work can do it in satisfactory manner: in
tho second place. no matter how great the work.
er's ability, ii he allows bis WORK to get behind
hand and accumulate upon his hands, "catchtng
up is always terrible and oftentimes an im-
possible task. Without spending Limo in dis
cusslux tho question Of whether it is the
result OF incompetence OF Indifference. the
fact remnins that the Health Departments
work OF keeping the streets. and alleys,
and vacant places Of tho city clear OF refuse
has bcon allowed to 90 by default until now the
task which meets 1t is one Of monstrous magni-
tude. The figures given In TIE TRIBUNE short
time ago as indicating
THE AMOUNT OF FILTH
scattered about the different wards Of the city
seemed astounding ut tho time, and, to many
people who had no ideu Of what underlny the
Pr' whe s her 4
ty OF its becoming worse every day of tho thaW,
70 to show that the estimate made was decidedly
cent must 6e ndoed to those 1iguras to insure
their correctness.
If the Heulth Department can before spring.
time, when all this filth will begin to send forth
Its diseasc-creattng exhaiauons. remove 1t
from tho city's surface, then the old fable OF
Hercules and The Augean an stables vi VII have to
Hcnith-Colnmissioner De Wolf and his gallant
corps Of scaVeagers accomplished far greater
wonder. 49,.
OF late the Investigators harc been hooking
into the peculiar ways Of tho scayengers and
ust-remoycrs, and, though no pains was taken
came very clear that many OF them show an up-
just discrimination in the removal Of refuse,
which SUGGESTS very strongly that stronger in-
duccrnent than duty Is the cause OF their strict
attention to business in cer,ain favored locult-
ties, and that the absence OF lucrative incentive
is too often the reason OF their neglect A gen
tIemau eatd to one Of the investigators yester
dsyi II WIS for loup time puzzlo to me how it
WAS that, while my ashes anu EHrbage we're a.
some Of my ncighbors had thosrs removed with
laudable regularity. AT Inst made up my mind
the why Of my Keeping ny place clean. would
not let it do SO any longer, and SO 1-weli, never
mind what dId but my part Of TIE alley al is kept
clean now, and am perfectly satisfied.
1t Is safe to say that, iu.nine cases out OF ten,
where garbage and-ushes- bestrewn yard Is to
be seen, the tenants have fallen into the babt
of depositiug their refuse there only after they
have for some time .despaired Of having it re-
moved BY tho officials whose duty It is to do SO.
THE FIRST PLACE VISITED -.
By the Investigators yesterday was row Of six
gan street, all Of which are used as boarding
houses. Iteport had had It that a'l tue houses in
this block were infested with sewer-gas. ana
that much sickness had been Occasioned thereby,
and, though the full researches did not confirm
this statement, 1t looked, while the examination
Of the trst house In the block ~ was IN pFosres1
tssant xs No Seat1
that she was delighted TO see them, and that she
believed her house could produce for them sew
strGng 9aaaX nnd In rs e. gent e
Their resoarchss, The irss thing TO be done was
to get a, the catch basin, which was found to be
digging away quantity Of superincumbent
earth. the top of the catch basin was reached
and the discovery made that It vas full Of filth
and broomstck was thrust into it. revealing
the fact that the basin was faulty one and that
its contents had leaked through and deiuged tho
earth around it with greasy and MaIodOrpus
ooze, This alone was sufficient to keep the
kitchen supplied with sewer-gas. aren suppos-
ing that the crowded catch basin WIGS not of it.
self doing energetic work in this Objectionable
line.
The lady explained that, while they had suf-
fered greatly ut this point. the source Of the t
most offensive odors that troubled them was |
evidently at a point In the soil Pipe where 1t |
passed the Wainscotiug Of the basement passage |
door. The spot WIS examined, when it was
found that the soll-ptpe leading from the closet
On the second floor Of the house came
through the dividing wall between the hall and
the dinlng-room, and entered g standing tlio at
the spot desRnated 1t was discovered that at |
that junction of the pipe ana the tile a. brcnk |
hnd occurred, which had been cementcd over |
with mortar. This, however, had cracked. |
opened. and was In q condition which allowed a. |
very free escape of tho liquid filth OF the soil ]
pipo In plain English, human excrehons were |
found oozing from the aperture. while from the |
saturated earth below came gushes OF stink of /
most oyerpowertnE description. Two distinct /
smells were to be noticed here com1ningltug.- |
tho fresh stencil Of recent deposits and tue |
sitting gases arising fr0ul the older and staler
uccretions. This, Of course. Wis a constant |
source or sta.leS. and what added to the evil !
condition of affairs the fact that the house
furnace was situated within eighteen inches or |
tho spot. and that. consequently, the gases were
the premises.
The lady explained that plumbers had been |
seut to remedy tho trouble, but the only discov-
cry they mado-a very lauduble one as far as It |
wept-Was that tho soil-ptpe-a lcadcn one-had
pecn pierced by the nais OF careless carpenters.