New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-03-17
DUST IVES WITH ICE.
GERMS THRIVE ON BOTH.
Lines of Glaciers Border Desertike
Patches of Street.

( when the last snow fell in the city fall Of
,.+le over six inches. to the general citizen II
looked like n blizzard. The next day the streets
1,oled ike tote road" IN Maine. and TO the dri-
sers Of teams there was little difference, IN fact.
AID then the rain descended and the temperature
vent up. and Street Commissioner Craven and c.
s Dunphe removal inspector, sat back in
their respective chairs and said just the kindest
tbfnCs about Providence that have ever been heard
N public Offices in New York City. And the rain
se, and the thaw came, and in two days there was
difference in the streets that it would be difficult
20 realize without direct observation.
The snow IN melted form. hustled to the sewers,
and fortunately these were not choked. that
sbere was clear way TO the rivers. where there
vas a welcome for all the ctys moisture whether
from melted snow or otherwise. But in the city
rarks and on the cross streets there was residue
NJ snow that could not be ignored. When Mayor
Mcclellan left the City Hall yesterday he saw
beans Of frozen snow on the grass plats. that
had been changing its complexion from day TO day
until It can ct present put the most recent i'm
portation from Ethiopia 10 the blush Every
known downtown contamination had been gathered
N by the snow heaps in the park As the rain
md thaw reduced the snow, they accentuated the
presence OF dirt
As the snow went down the dirt came up. and
the same could be said of almost every cross street
accumulation There a great deal OF ice all
the way from the Battery 10 Harlem. and this ice
contained a conglomerate Of flthiness that had
been aCcuTnulatng Tor several months and was not
20 be ignored. II was filth OF various character.
There was just plain Manhattan dirt in #. with a
layer of impurity composed OF a variety Of decom-
posing garbage. on the east and west sides the
composition varied by dead cats and dogs.
whose .carcasses were held in such respect by the
city authorities that they seemed TO be tmid about
removing them. The Street Department is slow TO
wrath. but il is terrible when thoroughly aroused
And II any Of the street officials are aroused it viii
go hard with everything that may have anything
10 DO with the uncleanlness Of the streets.
So warm has the been during the last few
aavs that Il has been pulling the moisture out Of a
great deal of the street accommodations. Then the
wagons churned this dried material into a collec-
ton OF dust and then the wind came and sent this
dust rushing along in the shape of sufocating
clouds Some street corners might have been
hooks Of Sahara in a sandstorm. Only this was
not sand. II was a collection OF concentrated de-
siccated garbage and what not and the citizens Of
New York breathed Il IN end were thankful they
were not travelling the Erie or the Central
that Is. If they were bound for Brooklyn
These dust clouds are giving the Health Depart
lrent grave concern. They know that for variety
and quantity OF germs New York dust cloud can
discount almost any injecting source known
These dust clouds look If they are composed of
dust alone but they are not. The presence of mis-
celaneous odors can be detected by any one whose
olfactcry nerves have not been vtiated by whiffs
from the Hackensack meadows by the fertiliz-
ing works in Newark Chicago The dust clouds
were especially prevalent downtown, and Yet there
was a singular absence OF objection. nnguisticauy
expressed. There were more ''cuss words over a
shower OF mud from the hoofs Of some well inten-
TONED horse than over a cloud Of choking dust
The Z ust might have the personalities OF cpl
demic in il, but the germs not in evidence;
they were not making faces at the struggling
PEDESTRIANS. Their contours could not be seem il
they could there would have been panic that
would have put Vail Street 10 the blush last
Thursday.
On the east and west sides the glacier-lke quality
OF the snow deposit has not been maTred by thaW
or rain II : known scientists that the glaciers
are the products Of compressed snow The deep
passengers comfortable shiVer the big
hustle past the looming ice mountains comes from
the compression Of the IN dspressions in
Greenland anu elsewhere IN the Far North and the
accumulation forces the ice TO the coasts. where the
fragments fall into the and afterward the
glaciers the east and west sides They do not
menace commerce IN The sense that iceberg is a
menace Bus they thousands of human
craft with known disease germ that has the
privilege Of free entry INTO tAis port. These germs
being released from day dey, and IN the dust
clouds have unimpeded vehicle Of transmission.
The Health Department Of this city purposes to
snow from the streets - this city II IL pur9OSed
10 have a system cha- viii remove The snow so
quickly that all the lurking germs VIII he dsap-
pointed. viii be compelled to select another vehicle
fer transmission and dissemination Just what this
vehicle is likely be. is not known. But the
moval expects be able TO put an effective block
IN the way Of cOntagion, now 50 easily possible
through the dust the streets ana the accuinula-
fiOn Of garbage in the Sums Of the city