St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-16
That Is What Is Said Of the
Garbage Piled on the
Ice.
Contractor Grant Says He Did
Not Know Where It Was
Being Dumped.
Ideas Of Officials Of the Health
Department on the Rot
ting Pile.
The Burned Groceries Would
Seriously Clog Up the River
Channel.

The garbage question received more
attention yesterday at the hands OF bust
ness men and property owners in this
city than had been accorded it in the
previous twelve months. The fact as
fully set forth in the GLOBE that thou
sands of tons of animal and vegetable
matter, with seasoning OF hardware
and bricks, had been dumped on the ice
in the river within stones throw OF
the union depot, created no little lndlg-
nation. Opinions as to what should be
done in the premises by those in author
ity did not materially differ. All were
to the general effect that whoever was
responsible for the dumping of the stuff
where it now lies rOtting in the sun and
charging the atmosphere of the locality
with vaporS as noXious as those OF
charnel house. should be compelled, by
legal proceedings if necessary, to at
once remove the decaying mass.
Contractor George j. Grant denies
that he is in any way responsible for
the condition of affairs. Said he to a
reporter for the GLOBE: II should not
be implicated in this matter at all as
merely superintend the removal of the
debris from the burned building. PreSl-
dent Donaldson, of the Sanitation COM
pany, as it is called now, made prOpo-
sition to remove it. l considered the
price he asked to be eXorbitant but
after consulting with MeSSrS. Wllllus
and Beaupre, Keogh 81 Davis it was de-
cided to give the company the contract.
l asked Mr.. Donaldson where he pro-
posed to dump the refuse, and he stated
to me that it was his intention to load it
upon cars and haul it out OF the city to
place where it could be dumped without
objection to any one. Subsequently l
learned that nearly, if not quite, all
of it
WAS BEING DUMPED
on the ice near the union depot. |
asked Mr.. Donaldson what it meant
and he replied that the ice was his car.
MY connection with it consisted in plac-
ing one of my men at the building to
keep an account of the number OF loads
hauled by the EXcavator company. L
think steps should be taken to cause
the immediate removal Of the debris
from where it is"
Assistant Commissioner of Health
HendricksOn was seen in regard to the
subject. His story differs somewhat
from that of Mr.. Grant. Said MIR. Hen
erickson: "We do not know the Exca-
vator company in this matter at all.
Mr.. Grant is the man who did the haul
ing from the outset, and it was he that
had talk with DR.. Jones, then commits
sioner of health, on the subject of where
the debris was to be dumped. He OBJ
tanned permission from Commissioner
Jones to dump it below the bend in the
river on the West side, and was
instructed to be careful not to throw
any o it in the channel. AS a matter
of fact the health department twice
stopped Contractor Grant or his en-
ployes from dumping the debris in the
CITY. He was beaded off at WacOuta
and Third streets and again at Kittson
and Fifth streets, and compelled to re-
move all that had been dumped at those
places. Neither Commissioner HOyt nor
myself knew that Mr.. Grant or the
EXcavator company, whichever it is,
was making dumping ground OF the
channel of the river until informed by
the GLOBE this morning. Commissioner
Hoyt will lay the matter before the
mayor and more will be heard on the
subject. The thing to do is to make the
parties who dumped stuff there remove
it now. In short time the ice will
break up and then the damage cannot
be repaired. We have made complaint
against the EXcavator company time
and time again, but we don't have much
luck with the cases in the municipal
court.
WILL CLOG THE RIVER.
James III. Southall, of the United
States engineers Office, who it was first
brought the matter to the attention Of
Mayor Smith, yesterday visited the To-
cality where the garbage has been
dumped and found the condition OF
things to be much worse than he at first
supposed. To reporter MIR. Southall
said: cit is simply abominabie. and L
do not understand why the railway
companies permitted the garbage to be
hauled across their premises. On ac-
count of its being spread over SO large
an eXpanse it is a difficult matter to
compute just how much of the putrid
matter has been dumped there.
Roughly estimated, | should say there
must be from $1,000 to 10000 cubic feet
of it, enough to poison the atmosphere
of the whole state, and exterminate the
population of the Twin Cities.
What the effect will be when
the ice breaks up. if the. garbage
allowed to remain, it is not difficult to
determine. The heavier portion will
sink into the channel where it is de-
posted, and the remainder will be car
ried down to the bend. 1t simply means
that we shall have a repetition of the
trouble of last year. Then. on account
of the garbage which was dumped on
the ice in the vicinity of Chestnut street,
and with the opening of navigation was
carried down stream to the bend, the
channel was partially filled up. We
were compelled to take a dredge from
an important work on the. river and
dredge out the channel. The expense
involved is an important consideration,
but not nearly so vital as the incon-
yenience to navigation caused by the
obstruction.
INTERESTS WEST ST. PAUL,
cit is matter of considerable import
also to property owners and residents in
West St. Paul. They prevailed upon
congress to appropriate $4,000 to i'm
prove the little channel on their side of
the river. | have little doubt that the
mouth of this channel will be INSTRUCTED
by this refuse, which floating down,
will find Judgment there. 1t is not like
ly that congress will appropriate any
further sum for improving that point,
consequently, the people of West st.
Paul have considerable interest in this
matter, which, if not remedied at once,
may result in undoing the work that
has been done On the channel. regret
that did not sooner see what was being
done that l might have prevented its
continuance"
Political Clubs.
The "Capitol club" of the Fourth
Ward Workingmen's Independent Po-