New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-26
COST OF CLEAN STREETS.


80 r7s 600 to keep 400 miles Of streets clean. 1t
u,dsr Tammany, in 1894. s., 200 tc
- ,ha streets dirty. The annual increased
y, keeping the streets clean compares very
..ah,v with the annual increased cost Of
ICING them dirty. Not only are the streets
49,, clean from the ordinary dirt. ashes and
Image which once disgraced them. but the
.o,,ntess trucks carts and other membranes
.h,ch for years Uttered our thoroubfares, de-
,.vsd traffic and mpeded foot as we'll as wagon
-..sage have been removed. Nowhere are the
,.osfts Of this more clearly seen or better ap
.cu,ed than in the crowded tenement dis
ats Under spells rule. the streets. which
-ere often the sole playground Of the children
.rd the only open air resorts of the family were
uttered with filth all day. and at nightfall
crovded with trucks, carts and wagons What
this meant In the hot summer months can be
.poreciated only by those who suffered from
This state of things
II has been estimated that a heavy snowstorm
.ost the business Of tn, city S1.0O0,OOO. Every
dsy OF a snow blockade is tremendous loss to
trade and the injury falls most heavily upon
working people. who are least able to bear en-
srced idleness From 1882 to 1894 the amount
s,Dent In any one winter for removing snow was
area cleared we're insignificant, comprising only
streets in a very small business section In two
and one-half winters, under Colonel Warning. al
most twice much snow has been removed as
during thirteen and one-half winters under
ramrnany The average cost Of $O716 (Which
sas reduced 10 S063G last winter, Is 4 cents
per load less than under former administrations.
What this single Improvement has saved to the
business OF the city in quickened transportation
nd heavier loading cannot be estimated.
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
For at least generation the public schools
Of New-York have been far below a proper
standard The agitation Of the last Eve years,
however. has laid the basis for better things
The reform School Law of 1896 struck off the
shackles that made progress impossible, and
he city has Board Of Education which
fairly represents its intelligence, its disinter-
esed public spirit and its progre sSiveness The
present Board Of Education may justly claim
the credit for having secured the passage Of n
law providing for the Issue Of ten millions of dol
lars Of school bonds for the acquiring Of sites
the building OF new schools and the improve
nent Of the sanitary condition Of old ones,
along with s.. 800 600 additional for high schools
Il has Quickened the slow ard expensive meth
eds Of securing possession of property for school
purposes. 1t has provided for the opening Of
! thirty schools within eighteen months with
!, the latest Improvements that sanitary science
and educational progress have suggested. a
Z large number Of these schools are In the
crowded tenement districts where they are
most needed. for It Is the child Of the poor who
most requires the public school who has been
most defrauded by past ,nefficiency.
Not only In the building Of new schools but
h the management OF those now In existence
marked improvement has been shown. All
grades from the lowest to the highest, have
been considered in revising the course Of study
And improving the system. The new Board OF
Education regards the public schools Of New
York rs designed for the use and welfare, first
al. Of the children Of the people, whose best
interests must be consulted even before those
u the teachers Much OF the error Of the past
remains TO be undone, and much remains to be
accomplished in the future; but the present
Board Of Education seems determined TO pursue
. wise, steadily progressive policy and what
ever Of odiun has attached in the past to the
nev-York school system bids fair to be re-
ncved II is significant fact that the Board
4 Education Is composed Of men of all poti-
~ parties. and that every month sees them
more and more united in the work Of improving
he public school system OF New-York City.
BETTER TENEMENTs.
The present administration found itself
Aaryed. from the very start with the duty Of
paIing upon and enforcing the tenement house
hss put on the statute books by the Tenement
Hcus Commission of 1894 as the result Of it's
sarhing Investigations That the issue Of bet
n houses for the wage-earners In any crowded
.sumunity Is Of the very essence Of the cause OF
nod government will dispute. In New
ink- where more than one-haK about eight
meenths) OF the whole population lives In tene