New-York tribune., 1898-11-28
MCARTNEY UNPREPARED.
DELAY IN LETTING THE SNOW REMOVAL
CONTRACT.


The officials Of the Street Cleaning Depart
ment were caught mapping hy the storm i"Is
much Commissioner Mccartney frankly au-
mitted yesterday. While this is probably the
biggest snowstorm that has come upon the CITY
since the great blizzard Of ten years ago
the Department is unable to employ other than
its own help in clearing the streets 40 con-
tract has been lct for removing the snow, and
because Of legal restrictions no contract can
be entered into until December 9. Consequently
the work Of riddins the streets Of the ten iheheS
or more Of snow must fall entirely upon the
regular and emergency force Of the street clean
ing Department The law provides that the bids
for the snDw-removal contract must be auNer-
tised for at least ten days before a bid can be
accepted. Probably because last year the sho"
contract was not let until December =. Commis-
sioner Mccartney took TINS date as prcc-d'h'
and neglected to advertise for bids until last
Friday And. as ten days must elapSe before
any bid can be accepted. the people Of this
civ are left with slight possibility Of relief
from the snow obstructions in the streets be-
yond the aid that can bc given by the regular
and emergency sweepers.
FEW STREETS CLEARED.
If &c true that Commissioner Mccartney. with
the force at his command. supplemented by an
emergency CORPS made an effort 10 get the
streets clear. but at 4 late hour last hish'' OK
cent in the downtown districts, few thorough
fares had been cleared. About a. m, When the
downfall began to abaic about three thousand
men were put al work clearing the lower part
of Broadway. Nassau-st.. the Bowcry ana other
thoroughfares In th4 downtown section where
the traffic is greatest Later in the day anou'
two thousand men We're put at work. but. WINE
thev labored with great energy, 1t was p'SSl"''
for thon, onlv 70 clear the middle of the ROAD
WAYS The snow was stacked in heaps al th'
side and the limited number Of carts Whlch
m, street Cleaning Department was abe u"
bring into service suf,iced TO remove "hiy "
small proportion Of snow piles Whether th'
exieoncics which are now confronting the CITY
officials will lead to the formulation OF Soma
plan for obtaining immediate assistance iro"
outside sources will be determined to-day pu'
the fact remains that yesterday Wheh great
progress might have been made IN ciea''"S
away the snow, only inefficient force was "'
work downtown. while the upper reaches Oh ''e
city we're left practically untouched.
Commissioner Mccartney remained NJ HIS
office throughout the whole OF the day ana per
sonalv superintended the work of MS ioIo'S'
/, oxn,aiuing why SO little clearing had been
ACCOMPLISHED. he said yesterday afternoon:
.r, tho first place. this storm has been rec
arbitrator in one very important respect
That is the time Of arrival. 1t came so much
sooner than it was expected that it caught Us
totally unprepared for anything like the guam
titv Of snow that fell
WARNED THE ASSEMBLY.
"I warned the Municipal Assembly repeatedly
,h,t tho snov. contracts should bc let, but was
told that there was plenty of time. Ihese con
tracts were not let last year until December D.
and there was no heavy storm for weeks ai'e'
that. | am told that there has been nothing to
compare with this storm to arrive so cary ioi
fifteen years.
saturday the contracts were advertised in
.1'h. civ Record and in ten days they VIII
probably be lei
Il had 2.50O men and 800 carts at work on
Saturday right and all day Sunday and until a
late hour in the night. We removed six thoH'
sand loads Of snow. This Department ord
narilv concerns Itself only with the crossings
marks and in front of the municipal properties
such as frehouscs, etc. We depend altogether
! unon tho snow contractors to take care OF th'
rest.
"yvn did tho best We could under the circun'
etonccs wish YOU would say that will hire
every available team and cart i'm IN" CIV to'
morrow morning owners wishing 10 hclp Us
can amply at any Of the twelve district head
quarters | will probably place some thousands
of mon at work We will have to stop the r.
naval OF snow for abOut four hours to remove
IN. garbage accumulated since the storm ne
pan This is necessary as sanitary measure.
we had al the garbage carts and street rupplsI
corts on the work Of removing the snow. ana, ol
course the ordinary work had 10 be Temporarily
abandoned You can see that TINS storm WAS
unexpected Look at the streetcar conpanl's
which are changing their cables To electric lines
| They will have 10 stop work for a considerable
time Th" builders. the merchants. business
men all have been taken by surprise. over In
! BROOKLYN they Jared "A little better. perhaps. n
| the old snow contracts are In force. The new
! charter IS largely responsible for our predica
| ment as II takes too much red tape to get tn
| contract let.
| "We will first clean all the streets paved VIII
! blocks II Is better to leave the asphalt until
| the last as these pavements are safer VIII
some snow on them They are not 50 slippery
That Is the reason W. have not cleaned Fifth
ave We viii have the buster downtown street'
| all omen bv noon Tomorrow.
| Il wish you would call the attention Of th'
| owners and tenants TO the laws provision tina
| they mast keep their cutters clean. I'm streets
/ whero there are ear tracks, let them nile th'
snow in ridges between the gutter and the out
! side rail Of the tracks"