The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-10-26
EXIT THE WHITE WINGS
Council Committee Decides to
Do Without Them.


Take last farewell look at the Kan
sas avenue white wings. with his shovel
and rattan broom, for he will soon be
an extinct species in the city of Topeka.
For nearly decade he has pushed his
little cart about, and lodged vehicles on
the business streets. When the pave
ment is sheeted in winters ice, and
when it is soft and blistered by the
seorching sun of midsummer. the faith
full whiteWings, always under the pub
lie eye, has kept at work, shoveling,
scraping and sweeping.
To do the work of the white wings
force, thousand dollars worth of i'm
proved street cleaning machinery is to
be purchased at once by a committee
consisting of the mayor. the city engi-
neer and the street commissioner. The
kind of machines have been practically
selected, and it only requires the con-
firmation of the city council to close the
deal and terminate the usefulness of
the white wings"
At the meeting of the ways and
means committee of the city council last
Saturday night. it was decided that the
three officials above mentioned be in
structed to buy two street sweeperS and
one street sprinkler. Sprinklers cost
from $3.50 to $375 each. and the city will
get one holding 600 gallons, of the lat
est and best pattern. Sweepers cost from
$3.50 to $3.50 apiece.
Besides buying a new outfit of street
cleaning machinery. the city is conf
IDENTIFY and hopefully looking forward TO
that glad time when the municipalities
will own the waterworks. and can use
all the water it wants to wash the
streets at night. At present, the city Is
very much restricted in the use of wa
ter, because the water company refuses
to furnish enough to thoroughly wash
the streets. 1t takes an immense amount
of water to do much good, but water
is after all the most effective method
of cleaning.
At the present time. the street COM
missioner is absolutely destitute OF
street cleaning apparatus. The only way
he has had, since the flood, to keep
the streets in condition has been by
shoveling the dirt directly from the
pavement into wagons. This method is
slow, costly, and ineffective.
PERHAPS it was a good thing. on the
whole, that the flood washed away the
old patched up street sweeper, and that
it has never been recovered. 1t was
probably worth about 80 cents. but 1t
was still in service. There was another
sweeper which was so 6ilaDicated that
it was out of use and it has not been
considered worth the trouble of digging
it out of the mud where the flood tossed
it, AS the city never owned street
sprinkler of it's own, it has been de-
cided that it will be cheaper to buy
than to rent one to lay the dust in front
of the sweepers. There was no use to
try to get along without the necessary
apparatus for street cleaning. and the
ways and means committee decided
that it would be economy to get good
machines while the city was about it.
Even before the flood washed away
the venerable wrecks which had been
doing their best to sweep the streets,
the council had about decided to get
new sweeDers and a sprinkler Several
councilmen and city officers went to
Kansas City and looked over the outfit
which is in service there, and talked to
the Kansas City street officials about
the most satisfactory kind to buy MI
merous propositions for the sale of ma
chimes were received. and are now on
file with the city clerk. Other pro0osi-
tons will be solicited, and the city
will then decide what it wants and
close the deal. 1t is expected that the
new sweepers will be delivered here in
time to give the city a thorough cleaning
up before cold weather sets in.