Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-04-11

Some Extremely Interesting Com parisons
and Plainly Precise Fig-res.

and Plainly Precise Fig-res.
From the Philadelphia Press.
Mayor Stuart made striking contrast in his
last annual message between the %, $50. 900
spent in New York to clean 400 linear miles Of
streets and the s6O4,17s spent in this city to
clean 7s9 linear miles. He might have made
his comparison still more striking and in
structive by calling in Paris.
Neither New York nor Philadelphia cleans
its streets. Paris does. What does it cost?
In this year, 81, SOC, 900, over two and one-half
times the same spent here Paris has about
Is. zoe. 600 square yards to clean. Philadelphia,
with 7s9 linear miles. averaging so feet say II
yards wide. has %, 507, $50 square yards to take
care Of. With SO per cent more streets to keep
clean. Philadelphia spends only 3715 per cent as
much to keep them clean
Put it another way. Paris has the cleanest
streets in the world. Paris spends l. 03 cents a
year per square yard to keep them clean.
Philadelphia has-well not the dirtiest streets
in the world. but pretty close to it. Phiadel-
phia spends 219 cents square yard year in
leaving its streets dirty. Is labor cheaper in
Philadelphia than in Paris? oh, no, quite the
contrary. Paris had 1000 unemployed work.
men at work on the streets last winter at z
cents per hour. This is 70 cents a day. The
same labor costs here 81 to S1.25 a day. Paris
has $500 men regularly employed cleaning the
streets and 1000 more in the winter when the
snow has to be removed. This makes l0. 500
men at work on them. If Philadelphia ever
has over tenth many in the employ Of its
STRENGTHENING contractors appearances are de-
ceitful.
In Paris out of Is. 500 900 square yards ten
years ago only 100000 square yards we're
macadamized and only $500, 900 paved with
stone. This leaves half the street area in as
phalt. and Paris was then spending $4,000, 900
year on new pavement or nearly three times
streets today are asphalt. the easiest of all
streets to clean. Not much over one-tenth of
our streets are thus paved. In Paris street or
dnances as to dropping or sweeping rubbish
into the street are strictly enforced. Here
they are not. In Paris the street car COM
panies have to cart off their SNOW. Here they
push it aside with a snow pillow.
In short, the streets of this city are insuffer-
ably dirty because Philadelphia and the tax
payers of Philadelphia will not pay for clean
streets. At the Paris rate. 10 3 cents square
yard, it would cost S2.420, 900 year to keep
our streets clean. Add to this the difference in
labor and 1t would cost $500. 900 year. Even
then it corld not be done without better pave
ments. and if these were secured fast in
Paris. in proportion TO the size of the city and
the cost Of pavement it would take 81 900. 0G0
a yea
If Philadelphia would spend 1880. 900 year
on stree. cleaning and stree. repairs for ten
years it could match Paris. Will il? No, it
will not. Instead, our travelled friends will go
to Paris come back ask why our streets are
not cleaner. and grumble over tax bills gagged
on an expenditure for this purpose one-tifth Of
that of Paris.