Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-22
THE CARRIAGE PROBLEM.
The Authorities of the Metropolis En-.
deavOring to Solve 1t.

The Authorities of the Metropolis En-!
deavOring to Solve 1t.
From Harper's Weekly. ~ : ~ -.- ~,
What shall be done with the garbage?
This is one Of the great problems IN the ad-
ministration Of modern cities. With some
few notable exceptions the ancient cities
did not bother about 1t. Indeed, there is no
more significant distinction between ancient
and modern cities than their respective atti-
tudes toward evils of this nature. In the
old times populous cities had the same
refuse on their hands and cast 1t hither and
thither apparently with a supreme conf
dence that the forces Of nature would take
care Of 1t. On one occasion when London
was cleaned. in the seventeenth century, the
average depth Of the permanent filth above
the pavement was four feet. But the old
timers paid a fearful price for their indfrer-
ence to these things, though they did not
always even guess at the relation of the
penalty to the offense. They did not imagine
that the permanent typhus fever and the
occasional pestilence were only the ordinary
and inevitable consequences of their neglect;
that they occasionally depopulated their
cities simply because they consented to live
surrounded by putrefying substances In
civilized countries the pestilence is no longer
on foot, because the sanitary service is
The mayor has requested the cooperation
of five gentlemen in the study of the final
disposition of the refuse Of the CITY," In
this form OF inquiry the garbage problem
proper Is COMPOUNDED with several other
problems, and the gentlemen are requested
to help the mayor to conclusions as to what
shall be done with several substances as to
the disposition Of which there ought to be
no difficulty. The sweepings from the sur
face of the streets. the ashes and the
garbage, strictly speaking-that Is to say,
the mineral and vegetable waste from the
Kitchens OF all the houses In the city-are
substances totally different in their nature,
as they should be in their relations to a
good sanitary service. To tumble them to-
gether is the first Vice Of our system with
regard to these things. There is but little
doubt now that the right disposition to
make of the garbage Is to burn 1t. No safer
or more effective disposition Of it has been
proposed up to this time. and 1t Is doubtful
II this Is not, upon the whole. the most eco
nomical. And this is the only part of the
city refuse the burning Of which Is required
for the welfare of the city. There is no
contamination in the ashes, and but little
IN the street sweeping, exclusive. of course,
of the regular supply of dead cats and dogs
always found in the streets. The garbage
probably constitutes in volume not more
than One-fourth of all the waste material
gathered by the city, and to construct ere
mating furnaces through which all the
refuse gathered by the city must be passed
merely to render innocuous that one-fourth
would be an extravaganza allied to jobbery
anu very likely 10 oeIeat tne Whole project.
1t appears to be assumed by the mayor
that the commission will report in favor of
cremation; and this is the most likely re-
suit, at least. But the greatest need is to
devise system for the collection Of garbage
that shall keep 1t separate from the ashes
The mere mingling of these things in the
same receptacle seems trivial evil, and
yet 1t may defeat the scheme for cremation.
To be able to cremate the garbage sepa-
rately will reduce the difficulty of the dispo-
sition of the refuse to its simplest term
The city should have garbage carts and ash
carts, and not itself mingle the two sub
stances; and II householders did not them
selves keep the things separate they might
be compelled to dispose of the refuse at their
own expense. The people must be educated
to help the city in this difficulty.