Evening star., 1896-08-15

beyond the Jurisdiction Of the gutter force
That ridge OF dirt Is doubtless there at this
hour. adding to hhe EMBELLISHMENTS OF
the street, and to its untidy appearance.
At the intersectaon Of 11th street and
New York ayenue. the wsFk haying then
been finished at that point. there was .
greatly decorating the street, left 1here by
the esthetic mapinjllater OF a machine who
doubtless considered that the city at that
particular spot was greatly lacking IN the
EcenoiAy OF Water.
There was an instance Of economical
sprtnkling on 18th street between New
York avenue and tH street, a short stretch,
but probably typical of the spaces above
and below. A two-horse sprinkler came
along at q merry trot. This machine is
designed to cover two-thirds Of the aver
age street. and to give a perfect service
II used twice on the same ,horoughfare.
1t kept to the middle of the road like a
good populist would have done, and did q
fair bit of sprinkling. though .eaying q
dry area of about five feet on either side.
In that particular section OF the street.
where the moisture is greatly needed, the
gutter. where the gallant wielders of the
broom most do cohgregate. and whence
arises the major part CT the choking dust
that always marks the furniture of the
unhappy taxpayers the morning after
"sweeptng night"
This selfsame sprinkler performed a pc
culiar feat on H street between 18th and
11th-and perhaps further east-that excited
the admiration of the following reporter
The cart went up the north side of 81 from
18th to 18th. having Just refilled the tank.
Turning at 18th, 1t came back idle while a
one&horse cart went along and dabbled a
| little spray On the south side, the two carts
thus giving fair piece Of work on half OF
the street. At 18th the One-horse cart
turned over to the north side and the fol-
lowing tWo-horse arrangement took the
south side. The reporter expected to find
the situation reversed, but to his astonish-
ment he found that the tWo-horse appar-
atus, though it had only used water from
a full cart on a single square, was doing
less execution than the presumably more
amount Of moisture en- the block between
10th and 18th streets would not have
drowned a mouse.
Wretched Work ON F Street.
F street. that great artery that is used 80
necessarily, was swept at 9:15 o'clock,
three-quarters of an hour before the time
for beginning. From 18th street to 18th
| the street was SO inadeauately sprinkled
that doubtless Contractor Daggett would
have acknowledged the fact had he been
present. There was stretch down each
side Of the car tracks between 18th and
14th, and In the middle of the street be-
tween 14th and 18th, about ten feet in all,
where the moisture was sufficient to leave
mark after the sweepers had passed,
while two of the machines worked on alb
solutely dry asphalt. on which not even a
drop Of water had fallen. There was no
pretense of sprinkling with more than q
single-horse cart that went up and down in
the middle Of the street. This was the
most fragrant case of Indifferent sprinkling
| noticed in this section. and, oddly enough,
1t occurred in the center Of the business
section.
Mnssacliusetts and New Jersey Ayes.
Economy in the use Of water was con-
spicuously in evidence on New Jersey ave-
nue. below Fl street. All Of twelve feet on
each side of the avenue were neglected by
the sprinkler. Those twenty-four feet Of
dry asphalt were swept. though and as a
result there was free and unlimited circula-
ton Of hot, penetrating dust in that vicini-
much to the disdlSort Of people who Were Were
evening. IN
All Of Massadsisetts avenue from nh
street west to Hkh>street east was testi-
mony to worse Than carelessness on the
part OF those who are responsible for the
character of the sweeping. Fully eight
teet on each side of; the avenue were un-
sprinkled. and when the sweepers came
along they left the dirt in a long. wayy.
thread-like line four five feet from the
curb Careful inspection on Massachusetts
avenue at about sunrise this morning
showed that here and there fair sweeping,
had been done, but nowhere could the work
be called good. The dirt had simply been
sneared over the surface by the light
brooms. and especially was this evident on
the avenue FROM LIST street northeast in an
easterly direction; it was easily possible to
see where the surface had been sprihkIei
the night 6efore; there We're smeared
str1pes running longitudinauy where the
brooms had disturbed the wet dirt while
1cyff faro
but no cleaner than were the dark ones.
The broom men need hardly have troubled
TO promenade along either the north or
south sides of tho avenue from 9th to 11th
streets; they did not pick I'D more than On
per cent or the little dirt that the sweepers
had failed to smear over the surface
Near Iowa Circle.
1t was yet twilight. or, to be more pre-
else. just 7:3O O'clock when a reporter
wheeled out 18th street northwest and
found that the northern extremity of that
thorougafare for several blocks had then
been sprinkled. so-called. and that solitary
cart had begun its nights labor Citizens
were Just beginning to make their appear
ance ON front porches and in the yards for
the apparent purpose of enjoying the cool
OF the evening. when the dust stirrers start
ed In to rapidly render the neighborhood
uncomfortable. The conclusion was natur-
ally that had the condition Of things been
as they were before the heavy rain of the
evening before the sweeping at that hour
would have been intolerahle, and perhaps
would have compelled the fresh air-seeking
houSehotders 10 return indoors and to close
the windows of their residences in self-de-
fense.
AT thirteen minutes after o'clock 18th
street had been more or less sprinkled as
far south as o street, including the road
way about Iowa Circle. The sprinkling
might be termed SHY" and in places, es-
pectally around the circle, several areas Of
asphalt of considerable dimensions escaped
moistening as thoroughly as though pro-
tected by an awning. At exactly twenty
minutes after 8 O'Clock 18th street and Iowa
Circle, as far south as the point mentioned
had been treated to a brushing. and the
work of the sweepers, SO far as that length
OF highway was concerned, was at an end
for the evening.
AT S:40 o'clock, one hour and quarter
before the authorized hour Of starting, 18th
street and K street had been covered, in
made toward sprinkling Fl street.
Testing the Sprfnl<lers.
As test of the manner In which this
work was done the reporter seated himself
on the curbing and extended his feet
far as possible toward the center Of the
street as the sprinkler passed, but The
water "never teched him. The omis-
sion. however, did not phase the sweepers
IN the least. They swept right over the
dry spots ana the dust rolled on Accord