Omaha daily bee., 1897-02-22
WANTS TO CLEAN vuE STREETS.
Mayor Carson Talks About the Urgent
Need of Immcdintc Action.

Need oil immediate ACTON.
81 am materially opposed to any I'M
necessary draft upon the general fund" re-
marked Mayor Carson last evening, when
discussion of religious subjects was for a
moment lost sight of by contemplation of
the condition of the streets, "but the con-
dition Of the streets of Council Bluffs is
such as to demand at least conservative eX-
penditures of the public money. The weather
during the winter has been very favorable
to the accumulation of mud and filth on the
paved streets, while the uncovered streets
have been cut up to such an extent that many
of them are nearly impossible. There has
been no street cleaning during the winter,
and the accumulations on the paved streets
are greater than would occur during the
same period when the earth is frozen and
covered with snow. One of the objects OF
the special meeting Of the council on Mon
day evening is to have this matter taken
up for consideration. It is cheaper to gather
up the mud from the surface of the streets
and haul it away than it is to dig it out
of the storm sewers. If the streets are left
in the condition they are now in until the
spring rains come all OF this stun VIII be
washed into the sewers. A large part of 1t
will stick in the conduitS, e~ntailing heavy
expense for removal. We will take the
necessary steps to enlarge the powers OF
the street commissioner and his department
so he can do this work at once. The couhcll
last fall by a series of resolutions restricted
the expenses of the commissioners depart
ment to a limit that only provided Tor
emergencies and precluded the possibility
of any street cleaning. The city's financial
condition is such that the greatest care ana
economy must be used in all departments,
but | believe that all of the members oil
the council will agree that it is the part
Of wisdom to do this work now and thereby
save much greater expense later on
No information could be given as to the
amount of money that would be placed az
the disposal Of Commissioned Morris. but 1t
will be sufficient to cover the expenses.
The question of street cleaning VIII re-
ceive greater attention this season than IL
has for several years. Many OF the cltlzens
incline to use the police court crowd Tor
street cleaning work. and the buncomp reso-
luton adopted by the demo-popullst conVen-
ton condemning 1t Is generally taken LOT
what it is worth and what its authors meant
1t for, a little bit Of cheap demogogy. Many
of the aldermen are favorably disposed TO
the plan of purchasing at least one improved
street sweeping machine. Several or them
have been in correspondence with the makers
OF sweepers, and. one kind has particularly
itself to them. 1t Is 4 box
sweeper, with a steel brush sixteen rect
long, set in the frame obliquely to enable 1t
to cut a swath eleven feet wide. 1t gathers
up all of the dust and filth from the pave
ment and deposits it in a box attached to
the machine, from which it can be auto
matically dumped into a wagon that Is
driven alongside or unloaded at stated in
~tcrvals. The machine can be operated con-
stantly, day and night, IL desirable, and in
twenty-four hours would have sufficient
capacity to sweep once about ten miles Of
paved streets. The cost of operating such a
machine would be slight, involving the ex-
pense of the team and driver for the ma
chine itself and the use of one or two
wagons to haul away the dirt. 1t would keep
the business streets, Broadway, Main and
Pearl, always clean and solve the dust
problem.
There is also a strong disposition among
all of the present members OF the council
and 1t will likely be shared by the new mem
bers who will be elected to encourage street
paving this season. There ought not to be
a single block of the rotten and unsightly
cedar paving left In the city by the time the
Transmississippi Exposition opens. The re-
cent change in the law that enables the city
to charge up the cost Of intersections to the
property of the blocks benefited removes all
objection so far as cost to the city and in
creasing the public debt is concerned. At
the present time there are a majority OF the
property owners living on wooden paved
streets who are willing to incur the expense
OF repaving at least two miles, and they will
sign petitions asking to have the old blocks
removed and replaced with Vitrlfed brick.
The brick makers are also anxious to have
the work started, and all of the conditions
seem to be favorable for a large amount OF
public improving during the year.
Hoffmayr's fancy patent -four makes the
best and most bread. Ask your grocer for it.