New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-02-26
COL. VIKINGS ESTIMATES.
WHAT 1T COSTS TO REMOVE THE SNOW.

THE STREET CLEANING COMMISSIONER SAYS
THAT IT WOULD TAKE 81 A PERSON YEAR
Colonel Waring yesterday sert long letter 10
Mayor Strong explaining his views on the snow
question which. he asserts. is the most important
matter that confronts the street Cleaning Depart
ment His figures were based on estimates made
hv Clarence d. Pollock of that department. The
letter said in part:
Would it pay to remOy We all the sn ,S,. from the he
enormous Would the result justify 1t?
We have had during the last fourteen days an H.
removal. The last storm six inches fell on Feb
ruary and S. Within a few days the main thor
oughfares cleared and since then have been
In good october condition In most Of the streets the
snow allowed to remain untouched, and as the
midday sun hardly reached the cross streets much
of 1t lies there still changing from sush TO ice. ac-
cording to the weather.
cleanliness The uncleaned streets are in a horrible
condition of filth The accumulations of fourteen
Without a heavy rain it will be slow and costly
operation to get them even reasonably clean again;
than once in winter.
When we go into the tenement:hou districts the
conditions are really appalling. The general wretch
edness OF hundreds of thousands OF human beings
sa S' be by oe who has
their streets during thaw when the ridge 81 snow now
hand and from the railroad on the other. thick
strewn with ashes and rubbish which the carts can
not ramoveis turning to s' us and dirty water
If ali the snow could be removed within three
days Delancey-st. could be kept AS dry and clean
ness of the people would be vastly increased. But
1t would cost iremendous'y-it would perhaps cost
for the tenement-house district half as much a. the
whskey and beer that the present state OF misery,
due to the snow. leads the people to buy.
form. let it be assumed that counting the act
ual population and those whose daily aVccations
call them there. the number OF persons to he az
streets below (and includlng) Fortysecond-st. is
100000 and that the yearly cost OF the prompt re-
moval OF the in that district would he s2.0o.-
600 The question would then be whether or not the
removal of serious obstruction 10 traffic Of clog
industry. OF a serious obstacle TO cleanliness
little death-whether or not this is worth. on the
average. 81 per person per year ga. ~
has been much loose talk about my deficiency
in the snow fund. The fact IL that the law allows
any amount Of money II sees III to iaise for the re-
noval OF snow and ice and it is fair to assume that
that Board villas IL shoud-raise much or little
Tor this purpose according TO the manifesed desire
Of the people Complete removal cannot be pro-
ganize a systematic reserve force for this work
before next winter.
It should be clearly understood that Of the 50 90
90 assumed as the annual cost Of the work. only
onehalf is TO be laid 10 the charge Of the state
Ing the organized anti-labor vote-the leaders Of
both parties vying with each other-closed the Ma
tional labor market TO the city of New-YorH and
the removal OF snow. II the city could 20 into
the labor market untramelled it could remove the
snow from its streets just as great railroad cor
poration would remove snow from It's tracks. yards
and approaches that is. as a purely business mat
ter. unmixeo with politics or sentiment II the cx-
moval of could be effected AZ half the recent
instead Of ST. and this Gould be done With much
less hardship and with better pay 10 the men who
In limiting the calculat ton to the district below
Forty-second-st. am limiting only the lllustra-
tion-not the application Of the principle.