The record-union., 1896-12-07
A MATTER OF COMMON DECENCY

The extremely filthy condition Of the
new streets on Saturday was the sub
Ject of comment and complaint on all
sides and aroused gratifying degree of
interest that it is hoped will lead to re-
form.
This whole matter is very simple. The
trouble Is that our system Of cleaning is
all wrong, not Intentionally SO, for we
accord to the Trustees intent and desire
to do right, but from lack of knowledge
on the part Of those intrusted with the
duty how to clean a bitumen street.
Sacramento Is endeavoring to do 1t with
a machine sweeper moving over thor
oughly wetted surface which Is plas-
tered, not with mud, but with the ami
NAL droppings Of twenty-four hours
ground up by wheels and reduced to a
filthy paste by water. The result of
such method was visible to all the peo-
pie on Saturday, when ] and K streets
were covered all day by the filthiest Of
slush from within an hour after the
sweeper had completed its work; on a
foggy day, by the way. when no applica-
ton of water to the street was needed.
We should take wisdom from the ex-
perience Of other cities. They have
found that the only way to clean btu
men properly and promote its life, is to
scrape 1t. This Is carried on by day
when men armed with rubber shod
hoes or scrapers pass over the streets
frequently, which are once a day wet
ted very lightly. The scraped-up piles
are taken up and deposited in curbstone
receptacles and later carted away.
Wherever this has been tried it has
been a complete success and a positive
economy. It means hand-sweeping, So
called. but it keeps the pavement as
clean as a well-kept floor all day, with
no dust to blow about and no filth to
wade through.
It Is suggested to the Trustees that the
plan Is worth tnquiring into as to cost
and efficacy. Citizens who have fig
ured on the plan inform us that forty
three blocks of bitumen can easily be
kept clean by fifteen hand-workers, with
three carts and drivers, and that on
that basis the cost will not exceed the
sum now paid by the city and the extra
sums paid by residents along the
streets It is certain that the present
system Is ineffective, is filthy, and hence
uneconomic, however cheap 1t may be
supposed to be. In Europe, where the
pftumen highways are well cared for,
the scrapdng Is done but once day, and
thereafter the droppings are taken up
by hand gweepers.
Thus tho pavements OF Berlin are said
to be % clean that they will not soil
white linen handkerchief Yet the traffic
on the streets Of that city Is a hundred
times greater than In this The as
phaltum streets Of Washington are kept
clean, and are never in such condition
as prevailed here on Saturday, vet the
climatic advantages of this place over
those Of Washington for economic
STRENGTHENING are very great
We repeat that the matter is one
worthy OF Investigation. We need to
push aside preconceived ideas on this
subject, and put behind US personal no.
tons as to methods and be taught by
the experience other cities have had.
They have solved the problem and we
should not be above profiting by their
experimenting and success. Assuredly
Sacramento cannot afford any more
such disgraceful conditions as prevailed
on Saturday. They would have shamed
q crossroads village, and as for incon-
venience and the discomfort of the peo-
pie, to say nothing Of the risk Of acci-
dents, those factors are Of the first i'm
portance.
We should never again send our visit
ors, wives ind children tramping across
our chief business streets through from
enste3wo inches Of pasty filth and hals-