The Saint Paul globe., 1897-06-06
peated. The spirit that prompts lynch
ing is the spirit Of revolution and Of
anarchy, and it knows no political di-
visions and no sectional lines.
STREET CLEANING In BUSINESS.


When public indignation and disgust
reached the boiling point in New York
city the voters smashed the Platt-
Croker combine and installed an ad-
ministration determined to conduct the
affairs of the city on as thoroughly a
business basis as the legislature of the
state, still Platts organ, would allow.
Among the first things done was to
put business man at the head of the
street department and give him full
swing. Col Waring brought to his
task great executive ability, a clear
head and strong common sense. He
swept the department clean of the
loafers and malingerers, placed there
by political pulls, and put men in who
We're made to understand that they
were there to work and not play poll
tics. He established an esprit du corps
among his men by his discipline, his
prompt recognition of, merit and by
giving them the distinction of a uni
form of white to signify that street
cleaning was not necessarily dirty and
degrading work.
There was a storm of criticism,
abuse, ridicule and opposition Some
of the professional old soldiers having
demanded places without ability to do
the work and meeting with rejection,
provoked the colonel, by their COM
ment. into some harsh expressions
about their kind that called down the
posts on him and on the mayor with
demands for his removal In spite of
1t all the colonel kept resoluteIy on his
way, and it was not long before the
cleanliness Of the streets began to at
tract attention and elicit approval
The contrast between the politi-
cal way of street cleaning, which
had prevailed SO long that New
Workers had come to believe
that dirt and city streets were
indissolubly associated, and the
business way was revelation to them.
To be able to cross a street dry shod
| and mudless after years of wading
through filth was the realization of a
| dream that never seemed more tangi-
bic than one of those creations of the
unbridled brain
The other day Col. Waring had his
brigade of street cleaners out for re-
view before the mayor and other dig
| nitaries of the city. They formed in
oIo
their white duck suits, each with a
flower in his lapel. and marched to the
strains Of the bands with all the cor
! rectness of step and alignment of the
! proudest militia in the land Following g
the men came the $50 carts and sprink-
lers, the basket wagons for gathering
refuse and the hose carts for washing
F! the pavement, and not the least strik-
! ing part Of the procession were the
| boys and girls who were volunteers in
/ the work of keeping the streets clean.
In platoons of twelve files each, with
|. their foreman at their head, and at the
| head of the district divisions the su-
perintendents, with Col. Waring, COM
! mander-in- chief, riding at the head of
ALL the army of cleaners marched
/ through the streets and past the re-
viewing stand amid the plaudits of the
crowds. And banner was given to
! the district with the best marching
men and prize to the best equipped
| cart. The horses fairly shone with the
| sunlight reflected from their curried
| hair, no trace Of their use appeared in
the cleaned and secured carts And the
men were proud Of their work. This
| is the result of putting business into
cleaning streets and expelling politics
| and yet one Plat and one Sheehan are
| scheming to restore the old and dis
| card the new.