The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-14

Deem printed q HnOrt time ucfore 10 the Nhu
Record. He had made the report. but wins
did not want him to refer tn IL, Or. Wood
bury Immediately laid the report aside and
went on 10 describe in detail h workings
Of the department. He showed a knoSi-
edge Of the subject that Mr.. WINS appar-
emily did noe suspect he possessed.
When DR.. Woodbury. o hold Of the
Street Cleaning Department the beaches
o. the south shore OF long Island were
Uttered with debris OF all sorts, including
decayed mattresses and all the Junk that the
tide would bring in. IL il different DOW.
The beaches are now stretches OF white
sand a. clean As your hand. II was Use
less 20 sweep up the rubbish in those days.
for the city was dumping AZ sea and every
tide brought in itE burden Of refuse. But
DR.. Woodbury. devised . scheme whereby
not only would the stun noe be dumped at
sea but the very refuse that cost great
mounts Of money to tow could be turned
into profit. The garbage il now disposed
Of a, Barren Island. being sold TO the SAM
tary Utilization Company at great profit
20 the city. 4 fire there last summer put
the machinery out Of business for several
months. but the plant viii soou be in full
worSinH order again.
The ashes that used 20 De dumped at sea
at a heavy cost for TOWING are nov used 70
fill the lowlands Of New York. Increasing
greatly the city's holdings OF made and
A notable example Of this il at Riker's
Island. where behind a crib Commissioner
Woodbury. men have put something like
5,ooo 90 cubic yards. thus retaining in
the neighborhood Of eighty-hve acres which
j. held 10 be worth abour 81 600 90. Upon
the eastern end OF the island there Is now
icing built a stone bulkhead which en-
closes los acres more. and this will be filed
ia too.
In Brooklyn DR.. Woodbury. changed radi-
cally the scheme Of hauling ashes, and by
the Use Of trolley cars reduced greatly the
cost Of hauling. Much OF the material gath
cred I'D il hauled 70 the neighborhood OF
Coney Island Greek, where a great scheme
Of land reclamation Is under way. About
4 million cubic yards Of material is thus
disposed OF annually. The filing up OF
these lands bids fair 20 solve in a marked
degree the mosquito problem Of Brooklyn.
This system has made possible without in
Creasing the Departments equipment Of
horses carts and men a daily collection of
refuse IN Brooklyn instead Of the weekly
or b. weekly one. and the short haUls to
the receiving stations established have
greatly decreased the death rate Of horses.
Other methods To- dispose Of the refuse
AZ a profit were devised by DIR. Woodbury..
IN 1872 an incineratOr was built AT the foot
VI West Forty-seventh street, and from
the heat electricity IL generated with which
% tight Stable X and the piers in the neigh
oThood. The next scheme in this line
was the establishment OF the plant TO light
the williamsburg Bridge and it, approaches.
The plant constrlcted under the bridge
consumes on--fifth VI the daily output
Of the rubbish Of Manhattan and The
Bronx. BY private contract it woul cost
$4,000 a year TO light the bridge. The
energy produced by the burning Of this
rubbish produces No horsepower at prac-
ticaily no cost al all. The entire plant
cost about 3S3 100, the interest on which
IL Sll a day II dlspOsss OF rubbish which
To dump at sea would cost S5 a day and
il pro1uc-s light worth $50 a day. While
the city pays the salaries Of the engineers
and foremsI,, IL does not pay the men who
separate the garbage and stoke the furnace.
This Is done by men under an Italian con-
tractor. who paws the city for the privilege
Of picking over the dump.
DIR. Woodbury. also changed the plan OF
nov remova by paying on the bass OF
the area cleaned instead of the number Of
loads. This change, although criticised by
politicians. really did away with a petty
graft system in tickets which were given
for Zach load that had cost the city thou
sands Of dollars.
All the trouble tina Or Woodbury. had
in the Street Cleaning Department arose
from the fscI that no politician could do
business with him. The pressure brought
upon him at times To relax this rule was
sImpiy terrific. This was particularly true
In the Board Of Aldermen and every known
device wa employed there TO make him
Yield. His APPROPRIATIONS we're held up
and be was subjected TO a thousand and one
petty annoyance.
When the Municipal Ownership and Re
publican Aldermen who a been elected
through the deal between Hearst and Odel
last fall got control Of the board the pres
sure brought to bear on DIR. Woodbury. In
creased. The bunch was hungry for pat
la and naturally looked TO the Street
Cleaning Dep artment. One OF the de-
mands vas for a deputy in Brooklyn through
whom they could do business in patronage.
There Is but one Deputy Street Cleaning
Commissioned, and che g~rafters could do
no business with him. Then there was
talk OF individual Aldermen who wanted
that one Of them had demanded Of DR..
Woodbury. that hs department remOve
an immense pile Of rubbish from his private
property at the city's expense;
DIR. Woodbury. set ms face hmly against
all demands. He refused TO allow politics
in any form TO be injected into his depart
ment. Then came rumOrs that the Alder
men we're going 10 investigate HE street
cleaning situation and sCarehead TORIES
began to appear III several newspapers 10
the eject that the department wss OyeTrun
with graft and that II was rotten 20 the
core. DR.. Woodbury. still stood out against
the schemes VI the Aldermen 10 get posseS-
sion OF the patronage. and they finally
applied ~ the Board Of Estima for an
appropriation to carry on the inv estigatiOn.
This the board readily granted, giving
them $1,000 and telling them 20 come back
II they wanted any more. II was said that
the Aldermen we're the most surprised lot
in town when the appropriation was granted.
At that time the Mayor wa a warm friend
Of DIR. Woodbury. and mad promised him
his support in his struggle to put politics
out Of the department. The application
wac said to he a bluh pure and simple.
beinR used 70 brighten DIR. Woodbury. into
submission. But he didn'tf brighten. and the
Aldermen had to hold the investigation.
William VI. iyins, who also ran for Mayor
Last fall as Odell's candidate, took the job
of trying TO discredit the department.
IL was expected that much sensational
testimony would be revealed about the
corrupt working q u the department in keep
ing with the stories that had been published.
A a matter Of fact the Investigation was a
screaming farce. and before IL was half over
everybody save Mr.. WINS and the few
politicians interested forgot all about the
matter. Mr.. WINS refused to allow DR..
Woodbury. 10 have counsel. At times his
manner was Overbearing. and on several