New-York tribune., 1897-07-23
REFUSE FLOATING ASHORE.
BARREN ISLAND CANNOT HANDLE IhE
CITYs DECAYED FRUIT. SO 1T
GOES INTO THE SEA.

That old problem Of how best to dispose OF the
waste vegetable matter Of the city is again revived
when Il seemed that 1t had been satisfactorily
solved once and for ALL Within the last few days
the people who live or near the shores OF Lo"s
Island have been complaining that the oio-ume
litter that used to come up from the sea ana de-
post Itself upon the shores has reappeareu' Da'"
ers at Manhattan Beach and other beacnes aions
the Long Island shore have within the last ie"
weeks again experienced the unpleasant Sehsa"'''
of humping into decayed watermeions ana piu"',
and the shores have given evidence that "na' ~"e
literally promised the taxpayers '"' ~
not been accomplished.
The feeling of dissatisfaction this state Of
affairs not merely because 1t Is unpleasant, ou'
because 1t IL dangerous to the puphc heai'h as
we'll is great The citizens OF New-for nave paw
large sums Of money for the cleaning Oh 'he"
streets Colonel Waring has spent that money inc
streets are cleah and nobody begrudges the COST
Rut the people OF New-York want their beaches
clean as we'll and they consider 1t just as lmpor-
tant that they should be pure ana whoieso"e do
that the streets should be well kept and clean The
complaints now arising are not new IL was Ieared
last fall and last winter that tho abomnapie de-
Element Of tha shores and beaches would be re-
neated this summer and those fears were plenti-
fullv expressed but the people were assured that
all precautions would be taken. and that the re-
currence Of the trouble would be impossible. But
the nuisance Is here again In spite OF all the time
that has been given TO the consiuerauo" VI '"0
problem and the warnings Of experience the shores
and the beaches are not clean. The people of New
York have always been willing TO spend the money
necessary for obtaining clean beaches. There mas
been no question OF insufficient funds for the at-
tainment Of that end but the beaches are not ceah
for all that
The explanation given by the authorities IL this:
In January the garbage Of the city and the con-
demned fruit began 10 be sent to Barren Island,
they were reduced to other forms Dut AS os
hot weather advanced the quantities OF condemmga n
fruit grew SO large tina, the Barren % of
the matter, which sometimes amounts TO one nun.
dred day Recently they have declared thhs hh
vegetable and animal matter taken from @ .ne
streets. and they have refused to take the con, con-
demned fruit. The Board Of Health VIII contest
this claim. but the Board now finds itself orcea 70
dispose in some way OF the immense quantities OF OF
which the Board was brought by the neglect OF OF
somebody In authority-somebody VINO promise9l
the people that IT Ss Beard Of
has applied to the Supervisor of the Harpor Ior
to dump the the ma matter tea refused 0y the
It was said at the office Of the Supervisor Of the
Harbor yesterday that the Board OF Health nag nan
granted granted since i was evident that the condemned
but the permission regarded as only tenn
porary makeshift to continue In operation only
until some satisfactory disposition OF the matter
The Board OF Health hopes that the dumping,
while goes on perforce VIII not defle the BEACHES
base this hope on the fact that the objectonabe
matter will be dumped outside of Sandy Hook and
only on an ebb tide: but with southerly winds Il
seems bound to come to the beaches. where 1t
causes so much disgust and indignation.
Thus II appears that the people are sunerng
again from an old nuisance that might have been
prevented by the exercise Of proper tNresgns
abolition was specifically promised them by those
whose business 1t was to protect them