The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-03-02
COST OF STREET CLEANING.
SAVANNAH GETS GOOD RESULTS AT
A SMALL OUTLAY.

the Ah AhC
cities of the Countrywide Tam
many system Proves Very Expen-
sive for New YOrI-Savannah's
25.47 Miles of Paved Streets Were
Cleaned Last Year for S12, 104.27,
of which Nearly Half Was For
Cleaning b. Miles of AsphaIt-The
Average Cost Per Square Yard for
All Paved Streets Last Year About
"a Cents.
savannah is one of the cleanest cities in
the country. This is generally given up
10 be the fact, not only by its own peo-
pie, after inspecting other cities, but by
strangers who visit the city. Yet the
cost of keeping the streets clean is much
less than the average cost for such work
throughout the country,
An interesting compilation showing the
cost of cleaning the streets in forty Amer
lean cities, made from official data col
lected in January, 1900, by Andrew Rose
water, city engineer of Omaha, Neb., has
just been published in Engineering News.
The cities selected for comparison in
cluded New York, with popula ton given
at S,55OOOO and 1886 miles of paved streets;
Chicago, with 1851, 600 population and 1,24s
miles of paved Streets Philadelphia, with
100000 population and $50 miles of paved
streets; st. Louis, with $4,000 population
and Az miles OF paved street; Baltimore.
with 100000 .popula ton and 3Ss miles of
paved streets; Boston, with 500 900 popula-
ton and 479 miles of paved streets; Buff
10, with 100000 population and $3.50 miles
OF paved streets; Cleveland, with 100000
population and 10 miles of paved streets;
Detroit with 347 coo population and 2bS
miles of paved streets; Pittsburg with.
100000 population and 219 miles of paved
streets; Washington, with 2S7 900 popula-
ton and 206 miles of paved streets, and
Milwaukee, Newark, N. j., Minneapolis,
Jersey City and other cities, with popu-
lations ranging from $50, 900 to $1,000 and
with paved streets ranging from 40 miles
Tor Kansas City to three miles for Lynn
and Salt Lake City.
The actual cost for street cleaning for
1888 is given with the estimated cost for
1899, and the figures show that New York
pays more for its work. both as compared
WIN population and as regards the actual
cost by the mile and by the square yard,
than any other city in the list Upon
me basis of $5,476,0SS for the work of 1899,
New York spent SO, 92410 mile for clean
ing, $l,542.54 for each thousand of popula-
ton and just a shade less than IS cents
LOT the sweeping of each square yard of
the paved street surface. Chicago's total
expenditure was the next largest This
is given at S675,000 for 1898, and amounted
TO $54O.a mile and 10 $49962 for each
thousand of the population. Philadelphia
spent. in 1899 $600.85 a mile and $4OS5S a
thousand of population. The city which
came nearest to New York in proportion
was Evansville, Ind with population
OF 5000. 1t has twenty-five miles of
paved streets and spent $95 600 for cleaning
them in 1899. This makes $500 a mile
81 .46l.54 for each thousand of popillat ion
ana nearly II cents a square yard. Rich
mond Va, stands next in the list for
cost oy the mile 1t has population of
aOOWD, with twenty-five miles of paved
streets and expended S56.5OO for cleaning
This made the cost $256S.1S a mile and
more than 16 cents square yard
The annual report of Director Gadsden
of the public works department shows that
Savannah has I.95 miles of streets and
~ miles of lanes, of which 2547 miles are
paved For street cleaning last year the citv
spent $56S6.65 for cleaning asphalt streets
and $641792 for cleaning all other streets,
a total of II 1N27, or about $500 for each
1000 population, estimating the population
at little less than 5000. The city has
140.813 square yards of asphalt for which
the cost of cleaning was S5,68635 or 0403
cents per square yard. OF other paving
there is 1872, 491 square yards, which, at a
total cost of $6417.92 for cleaning, only av-
eraged 0161 cents per square yard. The
general average on the total cost for
cleaning was .0226. Taken according to
class of pavement the cost of cleaning was
as follows: Asphalt .0403, cobble and gran
lite OH, shell .200S5, ebert and gravel
.O093, brick .0234.
Savannah's three and a half miles of as
phalt paving only cost S1,62LS1 per mile
for cleaning, although the asphalt paving
Is for the most part on wide streets, such
as Bull, Liberty and Oglethorpe avenue.
New York paid more than twice as much
for cleaning streets of all classes. The
city of Evansville, Ind, with practically
the same population as Savannah and al
most identically the same mileage OF
streets spent $4,000 for street cleaning in
1899, as against $1210427 for Savannah, or
$500 mile as against $474.76 per mile for
Savannah.
Evansville was next to New York in the
matter of cost, however, and there were
other cities which showed much lower cost
even than Savannah. Toledo, o., with
l25 miles of paved streets, only spent $l0,-
ga for street cleaning, or $S032 cents
mile. The condition of Toledo's streets
doubtless leaves something to be desired
st. Joseph, No. the next lowest, spends
$500 mile and Kansas City sos
New York, might be expected, pays
It's men the highest wages, the salary of
street cleaners Delng $izz a year. " Is tne
only city, also, in which the men are
hired by the year. Boston, Denver Los
Angeles and Lynn pay 81 a day, and Wash
ington, Minneapolis, Kansas City. Wor-
cester. Grand Rapids, Lowell and Salt
Lake City pay $1.75 a day In other places
the pay ranges from SIPS a day. in
Charleston, to II cents an hour, in New
ark. Twenty-three cities do the work of
street cleaning directly, while seventeen
let 1t out by contract. New York with its
lopnotch cost and Toledo with its bottom
figures both do the work themselves, while
Evansville. which comes next to this city
I'm extravaganza, has the work done by