The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1900-11-16
DIRTY STREETS.
Filth that the Wind Drives
Along Is a Disgrace to
Jersey City.
BYRNE'S MEN NEEDED
What "News' Reporters Find
Along the Thorough
fares.

Residents of the Bergen section are
complaining of the filthy condition of the
various thoroughfares. Never in the his
tory of the city has the Hill section pre-
sented such an uninviting appearance.
Huge piles of dirt and leaves are to be
seen along the cutters of almost every
street. These are the accumulations of
weeks and in some instances months The
recent heavy storm and the high winds of
the past week or two have done their
work well.
The residents of Bergen avenue, headed
by Captain McKaig. are speaking of pre-
pairing a petition to be sent to the Street
and Water Board asking for the cleaning
of that thoroughfare. A reporter of 1.-The
News walked along that avenue yester-
day and piles of refuse and debris were
painfully noticeable at the intersection of
every street Midway between the inter-
seeting Streets piles of leaves, in some
instances three and four feet in circum-
ferance and foot or two in height, are
apparent in countless numbers. There is
actually an inch of dirt on that thorough
fare. Complaints are heard daily of the
gross neglect on the part of the street
cleaners. Half a dozen places can be nam
ed where mud piles greet the eye on that
same street.
Throughout the entire Hill section,
there is not one street that is free from
piles of dirt and refuse. These have ac-
cumulated for weeks and no effort has
been made to remove them.
In Lafayette the same condition Of af-
fairs exists. Pacific and Communipaw
avenues. the main streets of that section,
are sadly in need of a good cleaning.
These streets have not presented a re-
spectacle appearance for months. The
same piles of dirt and leaves, so apparent
on the Heights, are also visible to the
eye in Lafayette. Every street, without
exception, has unnecessary dirt thereon.
Some of the Hill residents go as far as
to state that they have not seen the
street cleaners on the Heights all sum-
mer.
The main arteries of traffic bear some
resemblance, so far as filth is concerned,
to those downtown. Some of these are in
an almost indeseribably filthy condition,
and not these alone, but cross streets lined
with single homes and tenements. This
is mainly so north of Newark avenue.
Henderson street is the flthiest. Here
there is great truck traffic, between Pa
vonia and Newark avenues. Every street
that crosses this tforoughfare between
Pavonia and Newark avenues and even
those beyond, as far as Hoboken, are in
a shameful condition. In some places they
resemble the appearance of the floor"
of country barnyard, and in some others
a swamp land pasture, with black swamp
mud and stagnant pools of water.
This is the old, filled-in Harsimus Cove
section. In some cases the mud is baked
along the curbs and only heavy laden
trucks leave traces of their wheels
through it. But where water has satur-
ated it there is stencil Where it is dry
and the wind is blowing pedestrians lower
their heads try to hold their breath, but
are obliged to inhale atmosphere impreg-
mated with so much filth The streets
seem to be filed with flying pieces of
brown wrapping papers and old scraps of
newspapers.
Some of the cross streets resemble the
dumps adjacent to Little Italy" 1t
would seem they had not been swept in
weeks, and it's hardly an exaggeration
to say that the rumagers of garbage bar
rels and the dumps might find a profit
able field in this section.
They will find quite an assortment of
goods to select from.
A list of special articles which re-
porter for 1.-THE News found on exhi-
bition this forenoon included charred
and twisted wire spring mattress, smash
ed hats, part of baby carriage, a smash
ed clothes basket thrown among stalks
of banana punches, a discarded spiggot
for beer keg, smashed pasteboard box
es, to say nothing of crushed tin cans,
ETC., etc. Even asphalted Fourth street
e is dirty, and Thirteenth street is in such
condition as to make Police Captain
Kelly mad. He says he doubts If the Sec
tion has been swept since the night of
the Republican parade, several weeks ago.
The Captain discussing the matter said
In his opinion some honest laborer should
be given job looking after the condition
of the sidewalks on all the thoroughfares
under the Erie Railroad Company's
elevated tracks. There is no one to sweep
the damp sidewalks at these points, he
said, and as a consequence they remain in
a filthy condition the year around.
WANT STREETS KEPT CLEAN.