The San Francisco call., 1906-04-13
STREETS FILTHY,
SAY MERCHANTS
Retail Houses Have to Close
Their Doors in Busiest
Shopping Hours Of Day
SPRINKLERs NOT USED
SWeepers Use Brooms With
out Dampening Pavement
and Shoppers Are Choked

Because of the blowing of dust into
their stores many of the merchants of
| San Francisco have to close their doors
during theNmost important hours of the
day.
Merchants on Post street are contem-
plating hiring sweepers to keep the
street In front of their stores clean.
Thousand of dollars worth of dam
age is being done by the dust blowing
In In great clouds in some OF the dry
goods houses in the central portions of
the city.
That the streets were never In such
filthy condition as they are at the
present time is the general opinion or
the proprietors of large retail estab-
lishments. Representative of The Call
who investigated the condition yester-
day afternoon found nothing but bit
ter complaints at the treatment the
merchants were receiving from the
Board of Public Works. Where the
streets are swept the complaint is that
the sweepers employed by the city do
not use their sprinkling cans and the
use of their .brooms only makes condi-
tions worse. In fact many or the mer-
chants would rather have the streets
go unswept than, as they claim, see the
dust transferred from the street into
their stores by the sweepers, who for
some unknown reason will not wet the
pavements before starting to brush up
the dirt
DUST FLIES EVERYWHERE.
The condition of the streets is sup
posed to be the cause of the amount
of dirt flying Il never saw the streets
in such a condition." said Raphael
WE'LL; they are worse than at any
other. time in the history of San Fran
CISCO" The general wish of the retail
/ 49, ETY. re
be repaired al once, as not only is their
stock ruined by the dust blowing in
and settling upon it. bat the dust flying
in all directions makes it disagreeable
for women, who on this account VIII
not come downtown shopping.
This Is what some of the prominent
business men said yesterday afternoon
to The Call Representatives:
Raphael WE'LL. president of the White House
The streets of San Francisco were never In a
worse condition These Improvement and beau
tifying committees are entirely out OF pace
at the present time. We must have clean
streets before we have anything else. we can
not have clean streets unless We first repair
them and get them in good condition. The
first thing a stranger notices is the condition
of a citys streets Look at San Francisco.
What kind of an impression would foreign
or Eastern tourist have OF this city, judging
around here use no water for sprinkling and as
a result they sweep the dirt right into our
store
r. w. Costello of the firm of o. Connor. Moi
fatt Cove are getting the full benefit Of
the dust in our store. There is not half enough
sprinkling to keep the dust down.
Sidney Liebes Of the firm OF Lebes Co.
If the Board OF Public Works will only put
Post street in good condition the merchants
the street clean by sweepers which we will pay
for at expense. Post street is In such
terrible shape that coachmen driving private
carriages hardly dare to drive down here.
AL Peyser. manager of s. n. Wood & Co.
Ask any of the statesmen the floor They
will ten you that the dust from Market street
Just pours into our and settles on the stock
There is only one way Of preventing 1T and
that is for the Board Of Public Works to
sprinkle and sweep more. The streets are in
q terrible condition.
Thomas J. Lynch floor manager of Hale
Bros.-n we did not have revolving doors on
our Sixth-street entrance do not know what
we would do Take look at Sixth street for
yourself and see in what condition 1t is.
z. A. Peterson. general manager Of Raphaeis
One )-The dust Is so bad that have to
close doors often In the busiest time Of
the day. The dust on Kearny street will al
SPEAKS FOR WORKS BOARD.
The Board of Works fully realizes
that the streets of the city are in
deplorable state, but gives several rea-
sons which 1t claims are the causes of
the bad conditions that exist. When
notice was brought to the board yes
terday regarding the constant COM
plants coming from citizens generally
of dirty streets in all districts of the
city, Works Commissioners Eagan.
speaking for his colleagues, said:
The accumulation of dirt and refuse on the
| streets is largely due to the fact that at the
present time more streets torn up for the
carrying out of improvements under the bond
issue and otherwise than ever before in the
history of the city. Then, too, the light and
water corporations and the United Railroads
have torn up the streets for their construction
trryNr and all N ha he rd
In its work OF cleaning up the refuse. 1t Is
impossible to sweep some OF the streets at ALL
owing to this construction work. The dirt that
Ids piled almost mountain high. is blown about
by the high winds In ell directions
The bad weather that prevailed previous to
dirt and we have been trying to clean the
streets as best we can with. the inadequate
equipment at our command We need more
wagons sprinklers and sweepers, as the sec
ond-hand apparatus which the last Board of
Supervisors purchased for us Is. not equal to
the task of doing the work properly. April,
year SO far as the cleaning of streets is con-
cerned We were compelled to ask the Board
Of Supervisors to allow us $4,000 additional
for street cleaning, as the regular appropria-
tion Is inadequate for the purpose With that
amount and the balance left In the appropria-
tion we hope to improve conditions in the
course of few days.
The public must remember that large num-
Der of streets have been added to the territory
to be swept with no corresponding increase in
the appropriation. We will put twenty more
street 5weepers at work to improve conditions.
AS to the obstruction OF the streets and side
walks by building materials. will say that is
matter for the police to correct. The ordi-
nance prohibits more than half OF the side
walk and one-third of the street to be OBJ
structed by building material and the police
should see that the ordinance Is enforced. We
have not the funds to employ men to do police
duty for that purpose