New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-08-01
REGINNING 4 REFORM W.

Mr.. Dayton has begun the great WORK Oh IT,
forming the New York Po>tOflicc with the APP
nointmont of Democratic sweeper in place oi
, Ronublican Sweeper resigned. on the whole.
,vc arc disposcd to think that this was coed
uav 10 begin and that when Mr.. Dayton has
brought the sweeping department INTO con
dition of the highest efficiency it Will he
GOOD time 10 stop. Without dlSrcSpcct to the
present Postmaster in his official capacity, %
70 anv Of his recent predecessors. We venture
midi, I, intimate that the Postofiice building
is snffic emily ugly from an architectural point
of view 10 make cleanliness special virtue
in lis case. II cannot be proved by experience
that if It's immediate surroundings ana thoSe
narts Of il which the public fIeqncntS were
uniformly neat ard sweet many other SINS Oh
omission and commission would be lehleh'l!
Judged For in the first place, such a cohdl-
lion Of cleanlncsSha never been attained ana
IN the second place there have not latclY peeh
many other sins 80 overlook. But il is rea-
,onabv safe t. say that clean SIDEWALKS anu
corridors would surprise and delight TINS com
munity exceedingly.
We acknowledge frankly that there are serI-
ous obstacles IN the way of such reformation.
Tho populacc il not in the habit of wlplng rs
boots before it enters a public building. and
4 il were there would be no wiping place in The
ncichborhood of the Postoilicc. On the con
trary. almost every known facilt! for acq''Ir-
ING dirt is provided there in great abundance.
Park Row is always slough when IT Is NOT
aukle-dccp with dust At present II is in
condition which can scarcely be described ana
which couldn't possibly exist, we suppose Ill
any other city in the world alleged To be
civilized As a storage warehouse for con
tractors supplies it is an immense success from
the contractors point of view but rs thor
orphfare il comes wonderfully near Ia being
total failure. However. this is incidental, and
perhaps does not materially increase the
amount of organic matter which Is continually
tracked into the Posohcc. Nobody mad
yc,tcntly carries Belgian block or surface
railway >tringer around on his toes. The
chaos Of the street is an utIerl! lneXcusaple
nuisance. but il has not much 10 do with the
subject under consideration.
Then there is MaiI-st We doubt if there
Is = NOR. unfortunate highway on the habtablc
clobc. II is shamefully maltreated the year
round and all the abuses TO which it is sub
iectcd are accurately reflected III lis appear
ance No attempt is made to conceal them, eX-
cent for brief periods, III spasmodlc manner
as for example. Oh occasions of international
DISPLAY. when the city authorities may think
il worth while TO Danish the property OF lndI-
yiduals temporarily and send sweeper over
the surface thus exposed to view. From TINS
contiguous depository of rubbish as from fark
Royy. the Po,toflce is continually replcnlshed;
IN dry weather with mutlfarlous pulvcrZed
substances and in wet weather with the same
Substances in "A state Of iuX For reasons
,,bicb may 10 some slight extent nhcrc IN
Nature. but which are mainly artificial. the
>naccS bordering on the P0,tofficc are often
covered with slime when streets elsewhere are
dry. and this is one of the embarr9ssinents
which attend cleansing operations III that
building We deem il possible that the new
navemcnt on Park Row will remedy this evil
in a measure. and we suppose IT Is conceivable
that Nlail-st. NAV some day be partially re-
deemed and restored To its functions as ii thor
oughiarc.
E,t in the mean time there remains doubt
whether the cleaning department Of the Post
office is cXhausting all its resources on the task
assigned 10 il. II certainly does seem to in
ouiring minds that something more might be
done or at least that what is now done might
Inc done better We know nothing about the
Honublican sweeper who has d. parted. but we
shall net move for an investigation OF the
causes which led to his resignation if his Dem
ocraic successor proves 10 be Il first class
be,om. and The forerunner of a line of superior
,woepeis and scrubbers.