Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-22

their gleanings. There were depots into
which the rags were carried for systematic
sorting. There was "bourse" where the
market price of bones, of broken pottery, OF
half-burned charcoal, was watched with all
the intentness with which the broker
watches wheat, oil, stocks on Change.
There were rich loads occasionally, silver
were periods of depression. There were
harvest times-house-cleani and moving
day. There were tragedies, too. Men have
been known to commit murder over the
division of basket of rags.
The order to keep the receptacles In the
house until the passing of the tombereau1
would destroy in an instant this great in
dustry. The city dared not do it. The
garbage continued to be left on the walks,
but 25 years afterward, in spite of the rag
pickers the law went into execution. The
collecting of the dirt is done by contract
The contractors furnished their own wagons,
horses, drivers and part of their tools.
The same company furnishes horses for
sweeping machines and the watering carts.
The city is divided into itineraries, each
5000 or 5000 of them come from stations
near or without the walls. At the rendez-
vous the outfit is Joined by two
workmen furnished by the city and the
round is begun. Passing up the street one
person throws into the cart the
heaps left by the sweeper, another empties
the receptacles, third stationed in the cart
sorts the rubbish, putting paper into one
bag, rags into another, bones into another.
They amass a quantity OF stuff in spite Of
the rag pickers who have preceded them.
This sorting is important since the profits
of the contractor depend largely upon what
he can make from the debris he collects
What Becomes of the Refuse.
The greatest quantity is sold as fertil-
izer, though it is not SO valuable as when
the city was swept less carefully, when the
sewer system was poorer, and when there
was larger unpaved surface The price Of
garbage at Paris varies from 10 to Is cents
for square meter, and in 1883 the Paris con-
tractors had 939, 1906 square meters to dis
pose Of
Following the carts are always persons
who brush to the side of the pavement the
fine dirt left in lifting the sweepings and in
emptying the receptacles. The street is
now ready for its finishing touches-the
washing of the sides As the pavements
are elevated in the middle while the side
walks are about three inches higher than
the side of the street there is bed for a
healthy stream of water. The sweepers
who appears after the passing of the cart
opens water spout. The stream which
gushes from it flows to the first sewer
mouth. The sweeper follows this stream
scrubbing its bed vigorously. The water
flows until it is perfectly clear. Both sides
of every street in Paris are treated in this
way every day. In the centers of traffic
and on the public squares extra care is
taken, but entirely at the expense of the
city. Two or three times day sweepers
pass over them with brooms and wheel bar
rows and the sides are washed as necessary.
In rainy weather the rubber scraper and
the hose are constantly in use on the best
and busiest thoroughfares Not that these
places are kept clean on rainy days. Far
from it. They are slippery and sticky to q
frightful degree, but they are certainly
much more tolerabie than are corresponding
parts of American cities with which am
familiar unless it may be the best streets of
Washington.
Cleaning Up the Markets.
There is special service for the markets
included in the street cleaning department.
The enormous amount of animal and vege-
table matter brought into Paris leaves a
quantity of detritus appalling when it
comes to be handled. All refuse from the
stalls is thrown into the paved alleys of the
markets. Early each morning all this is
pitched into piles, the birch broom is ap-
piled, then comes the more thorough sweep
ing machine. When the dirt has been col
lected and the stalls cleaned, the hose is
turned on while the rush broom scrubs the
length and breadth of the alleys. Then
comes a flushing with water treated with
dlsinfectant. As finish the rubber scraper
wipes off the water and takes awav any
particles which may have escaped before
This vigorous treatment is repeated twice
day in those parts of the market where Or
panic refuse is considerable. The cellars
under the'markets are, of course, suspicious
places. They are cleaned twice day at
least, and quantities of disinfectants used.
The watering of the streets is under the
cleaning department.. The watering carts
are on the same general principle as those
common in America, though smaller and
most awkward to foreign e, es. Small hand
carts are also used, and in the gardens and
along the "swell" drives where extra care
is taken, q snakelike jointed hose mounted
on little wheels is employed. The sweep
ers do the watering after their morning
rounds Experiments have been made at
Paris with deliquescent salts, but they have
been found less satisfactory than water.
Their cost is greater, they do not freshen
the air, they do not prevent dust, and they
absorb much moisture from the atmosphere.
ALI this costs dearly. In 1885 the cleaning
of the Paris streets amounted to S., ,315, 800
This expense is borne by the French Gov
ernment, by the Department of the Seine,
and by sweeping tax. In 1888 the Gov
ernment and the Department paid $780.000
for repairing and cleaning the streets of the
city; the sweeping tax of that year was
S573, 3S4 40.
Still Room for improvement.
The service, good as it is, is not perfect
The awkward, open tombereaux, which in
fest Paris from to 10 in the morning and
later in the vicinity of the markets, are un-
slightly and disgusting. Closed carts, such
as are used in Berlin, of lighter weight and
greater capacity would certainly be an i'm
provement. The depots to which the de-
tritus is carried are too near the walls for
the comfort and the health of adjacent parts
of the city. The receptacles which belong
to the city ought to be covered, and it Is
question whether disinfecting them three
times q month is sufficient for perfect
purity. A serious abuse of the receptacles
occurs in the households of the poor. They
are not carried out regularly, but left in the
houses sometimes for several days.
A careful people goes a long way toward
making clean city. IDA NJ. TARBELL.
WITHOUT a drawback is Salvation Oil,
the greatest cure on earth for pain. Price