New-York tribune., 1898-12-02
LETTING THE SNOW MELT.
FEW STREETS CLEANED BY THE DE-
PARTMENT YESTERDAY.
BOARD OF ESTIMATE TRANSFERS $l4o.Wo-M CAhl-
NEY SILENT. BUT THE PUBLIC IS

Tho chorus Of indignation against the Tam
many Street Cleaning Department, which has
allowed the city to remain practically showed
under for the better part of week AFTER 'he
snowfall of last Saturday assumed sun 'arsei
volume Yesterday. The singers VINO look part
in the chorus included pretty nearly e'erypouy
who does not owe his living to Tammany HAL
Such an exhibition of incompetence ana lack ol
foresight has not been given by any Department
Of New-York's municipal administrator III
wears Time vas when nothing else would have
been expected. but medieval Ideals nave peeh
outgrown. and New Yorkers have learned to
demand hotter things than the citizens of the
New-York of a century ago would have been
satisfied with
II is no exaggeration whatever to say that
commissioner Mccartney OF the Street Clean
ing Department was absolutely overwhelmed
ly Saturdays storm. and it was not the heaVi-
est storm as regards snowfall, that New-fork
has had in recent years, either but what IL
stranger stl. not only was the commissioner
overwhelmed, but his mental facuities see"ieu
completely paralyzed as well. and the eh''re
Department was smitten with case OF acute
locomotor ataxia No attempt has been Haue
10 concentrate all possible energy on the task
of clearing the streets. few extra carts anu
shovellers have been employed, but where Is
the army which in the days OF '"io'ei ""'"'s
used n he turned loose with carts and shovels
directly the storm had ceased, and sometimes
before? Commissioner McCartney's excuse is
that the contract had not been let Tor the re-
moval of the snow That is the commissioners
own lookout !; generally SAID yesterday
What bothers New-Yorkcrs is that the city vas
nractically HELPLESS under the storm FOR TWO
dsvs after il mad passed, and not unt'i yes'er-
dav afternoon was Broadway, the main business
artery Of the town. cleared Of snow and then
onl,, from, Fourteerth-st. to the Battery III Is
difficult 10 remember time when such a state
OF things existed
MCCARTNEY AS A FATAL1ST
Commissioner Mccartney seems to have
slammed himself as a fatast, and there were
MANY inouirers Yesterday who desired to know
,f tho Tammany official had any Oriental biood
IN his veins 1t was generally admitted that IN
b,s name no trace OF Eastern origin could be
found Yet for all that the Commissioner mas
exhibited such stolidity in the face OF the pa
ralysis of his Department, such cohVictioh tha'
what would he would be, In spite OF any '"'"s
he could do. as to give some ground for the
belief that his mentality is tainted with one Oh
the peculiar doctrines Of the Chinese.
Commissioner Mccartney hoped on MONDAY
IT,, ,.o sborld have rain Rain would melt the
epou and the sewers would then carry II OH II
tho citizens who had nothing elae to DO, "ouio
only keen the sewers clear. He hoped the citi-
zens would keep the sewers clear. Mea''i'ie
the business community ploughed prolahe'S
o,oror IN sucb q n,uddle Of ankle and knee deep
snow as had not been allowed 10 REMAIN !"
,ha e,roats in wears. on Tuesday Commissioner
Mccartney hoped we should have no more sho"'
and on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning
ataxia of the Street Cleaning Department con-
,rua6 its deadly ravages. On Wednesday COM
missioner Mccartney hoped we shouid nave
warm weather on Thursday, and Ihursuay
dawneG bright and crisp.
A LITTLE ACCOMPLISHED AT LAST
The Department had been peckins away al
the enormous heaps Of snow thrown up III NV
business streets, and by last night lo"ei "''"
way and some of the most important s'iee'' "
,ho dovntown business district were clear OF
snow for the first time since SATURDAY Du' ~
,o,.r were miles and miles Of streets and ave-
nues in which the snow had not peeh 'ouO" "
stove, or n sweeper. excepting along the lines
~ the surface railroads. Traffic generaily 'ooA
70 the passages cleared by these companies al
1,,,,h o,.a above all places so late as yester-
dov afternoon. from Thirty -ninth-st. TO fHly-
ninth-st almost no attempt whatever hau oe.i 81
made by t.. Street Cleaning Depal 'ii'ers @ y"
clear even the crossings at the street w, 49,, -, g.,
and women had to wade across ankle -ueep ~
sIush of the sush.est sort On the f-ast ~
the conditions were even worse. TOT 'he Sc" Sc",.t
had become choked in many instances ,s
zers not finding time to oDllsc Comma
Mccartney by keeping them open. Nlue poo'o
of water resulted and II was not uhcohiinon uh',,. -
see men carrying women from one Zoe anri,
another and all this in the year lN?N, nearly
five DAYS after ten inches of snow had ceaseu
falling. IL, . ,oiL 20
,enorters Yesterday. He was pained that they
had seen fiji to comment unfavorably on ms ia,al,
ism So far as the public was concerned saiu
he he was ignorant Of what was going on III
the Denartment under his charge. He didn't
know how many men he had at WORK or no"
much snow hal been removed. nor would be
confde any more OF his hopes apoul 'o-uaS
weather to the reporters 80 theIe
poARD OF EsTIMATL's APPROPRIATION.
The Board Of Estimate found time yesterday
morning TO lock the door Of the empty stable
lest the thief who stole the horse should re-
turn to appropriate the useless harness. On the
recommendation OF Commissioner Mccartney,
fatalist the Board made an extra allowance OF
100000 to pay the expense OF removing the
snow from the streets Of the DorOuehs Oh MAE
haitian and The Bronx, and S4oOD for the same
purpose regarding the streets OF BROOKLYN Inc
money was transferred from the cartin9 ana
sweeping accounts. which Will be replenished by
the issue Of revenue bonds which the Controller
was authorized to make. This sum is In add-
tion to the regular snow-remOval Appropriation
made by the Board Of Aldermen
one Of the worst spots downtown yesterday
as regards the snow and sush was Mail-st.
Here the Federal Government is engaged In
making repairs to the surface or the street the
city having given the southern walk TO the
Government Mail-st was one great pool OF
snowy slush and passable only to horses or TO
tho man provided with rubber boots. The nu-
sance was Increased By the fact that the north
ern walk s being wdened ly the cty-why,
nobody knows 1t was never known to be
overcrowded.
no MORE SNOW IN SIGHT.
Commissioner Mccartney probably hoped last