St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-07-12
bulk of garbage which has to be han

died. Our dead animals, which, by
weight, are far more important cOntrl-
button than the garbage to the sum
total of our waste material, are already
cared for by methods as sanitary and
far more economical than the proposed
plan. We pay for their removal one
fourth of the amount which st. Paul
pays for the collection of it's garbage,
and it costs us. nothing, be.
You'd the rendering value Of
the stuff, for their final disposal.
by the householder, at the expense
merely of his own effort, in the family
stove or furnace. The community
should be educated up to this safe and
simple means of disposing of kitchen
waste. The Merz process, as partial
waste-destructor, operated for private
gain, is not economical. In addition to
the benefits to be derived from a sup
possibly valuable product. st. Paul pays
to this company 900 for the collec-
ton, and an additional $4,000 for the
destruction of its garbage-an amount
(S26. 0J0) sufficient to dispose of all the
manure, garbage, offal and dead ami
mails which Minneapolis can provide.
The system is not, in all respects,
sanitary success. Observe, the city ex-
erciseS no supervision over the wagons
used. The company is not required to
furnish proper receptacleS to the house.
holder, nor is it held responsible for the
care and cleansing of the miscellaneous
assortment of barrels, boxes, etc.. in
which the material is deposited -arti-
cles which quickly become more often
sive than their contents. The building
is constructed largely of wood, which
must become saturated, and correspond
ingly offensive.
These criticisms have been justified,
in fact, by recent experience in st.
Paul. And if, finally, the system is a
suitable one, it is also evidently
money-making one. If it were to be
adopted at all, it should be under a
royalty, for the benefit of the public
purse and under direct sanitary control.
but comprehensive view OF the Sltu-
alton suggests that Minneapolis can do
more and better than this. The COM
munity unquestiOnably needs a we'll
organized sanitary system for the dis
position of its waste materials. The
ends to be reached under such system
may be briefly stated i'll the order Of
their Importance: Wherever sewer ia
cilities exist, sewer connections should
be compelled. CesSpOOlS should be per-
mitted only where and for SO long as
sewer connections are unattalnable.
Priyy vaults should be universally
abandoned and substituted by sewer
connections where a sewer is available
and the earth closet when it is not
Garbage should be destroyed by the
producer. or it should be removed regu-
iarly, together with animal manure and
the contents of earth closets, to distrib
uting center provided by the department
of Health. There it should be burned,
converted into compost, or shipped OF
removed in its crude form by cars to
farms and gardens where it can be
utilized productivity, and where, as
soon as its value and availability are
known, it will commend good price,
which, after a year or SO, will remun-
crate the city to a very considerable
extent for the cost of conversion and
transit.
THE arguments in favor of such
system are many: 1t puts the first cost
OF the scavenger service where it be-
longs-upon the producer Of the
nuisance. 1t cOntemplates return to
the taxpayer for the public outlay, in
stead of comforting franchise upon
private monopoly. 1t limits the pro-
duction of the most noxious forms of
waste material. 1t keeps under control
of the sanitary authorities interests
which seriously. affect the public health.
II would earnestly urge as a step in
the right direction that the city council
at this meeting take steps to provide
the department of health with thor.
oughly equipped system of disposing of
nightsoil and sewage sludge, and L
would recommend that site be
selected along the line Of some main
70 a
erected, provided with proper ventila-
ton, into which scavenger wagons may
be driven and their contents emptied
through grating into the sewer. a suf-
ticient flow of water being provided for
flushing the same. l am satisfied that
this would settle the question of the
disposition of nightsoil and cesspool
sludge for all time to come. The site
can be so chosen and the building SO
conducted that it will not cause parti-
Gle of Offense TO any one."