The herald., 1898-08-31

police department the guardian Of This very
important feature. II machine sweeping is
needed, in combination with hand sweep
ing, let 1t be modern and efficient machines
The machines In use in Los Angeles are old
fashioned, out Of date, and At only for the
bone yard and Junk pile. The little two
wheeled sack holder, the shovel and broom
In the hands OF uniformed employe with
the business eye Of a first-ciass inspector
upon him. will accomplish wonders. 1t is
absolutely necessary that all employees wear
uniform. which in all clean and we'll
disciplined cities, is white drill. The wearer
Is conspicuous; he cannot loaf and not be
observed. He easily escapes the hackman
and the wheeler and the inspector sees him
at distance. But of great importance In
connection with street work is the proper
care and repair work Of the asphalt pave
ment. The method of repairing In Los An
geles is costly and causes the speedy ruin
Of the paving.
am Indebted to Homer Laughlin for my
interesting statistics as to street work
abroad and regret his absence from the city
ps he is one of the staunch supporters Of the
work I am undertaking. He says that
ThreadneedIe and Fleet streets in London
were paved in 1871 with asphalt. The con-
tractor agreed to keep the street in repair
for a trifing sum Of about 6 pence square
per annum. Ruin was predicted, but to the
amazement of everyone, the street was per-
feet in 1SS9-eighteen years with tre-
mendous traffic. How Is 1t done? The con-
tractor employed expert men; every day
the street was closely inspected. The slight
est crack or hole was repaired with great
care. Water was kept out Of the pavement
by this means. In our city crack or hole
is left untn there are enough holes or cracks
to occupy an outfit for some fine. The con-
sequence Is the pavements are short-lived.
The constant sprinkling given our asphalt
pavements is injurious to the pavement and
II the streets are perfectly kept would be
almost unnecessary.
The subject is one Of deep Importance and
should be thoroughly understood and what
ever method is resortcd to, the demand
made by the merchants and business men
of this city to the city government should
be: "Clean our streets and do II now"
Mr.. zeehandelaar bring called upon made
q brief statement Of the action taken In
street sweeping by the Merchants and Man
ufacturers' association. The estimates
made Of the expense of hand sweeping
would be from sos to $50 day, which is more
than now paid for machine work.
General Forman said that In his opinion
the trouble lies with the management Of
city affairs, which are not conducted on
business principles in any part Of the city
government. He thought 1t might be ac-
complish some good to adop: the plan pur-
sued by an eastern city; employ man with
kodak to take snap shots at contractors
and men on the streets and have the pic
lures printed on posters to illustrate their
manner Of doing city work. Teams en-
ployed by the city are paid $3.50 per day,
more than other employers pay, and the
same extravaganza runs through all the de-
partments, due probably to political pulls.
The injury to the city hydrants by the
sprlnkling employees, impairing their use in
case of fire was also cited as case Of mis-
management.
o. T. JOHNSON referred to recent occur
rcnce where five men and part of the time
the street superintendent. worked three
and half days repairing 210 feet Of trench
after the laying Of a street main, and of
another at which five men were sent to put
in a street crossing when private employer
would have sent two.
A gentleman present from New York. who
has lived there under both methods of street
cleaning, said the hand work was done
cheaper In that city than that by machines,
but Los Angeles encountered more difficulty
in keeping the paved streets clean. as much
dirt comes from the unpaved side streets.
Councilman Toll was present with the
specifications made IN the last contract, in
which he said the council had tried to guard
against past fragrant abuses. They had
tried to provide penalties for all violations
and had also required the use Of the latest
machinery but 1t required a man behind
the gun to enforce the law. The cleaning
should be put IN the hands of the street SUI
perintendent and make him absolutely re-
sponsible. A movement for clean streets
would be welcomed by the city officials and
they would be gratified to have committee
of business men conversant with the SUBJ
ject appointed to confer with the council.
He could not see that the city could do any,
thing further, 1t simply remained for the
officers to do their duty.
On motion the thanks Of the meeting was
rendered Mr.. Toll and a committee, consist
ing of W. H. Holabird. General Forman,
Mr. Zeehandelaar and o. r. johnson was
elected to act with the council.