Evening star., 1909-04-29

sioner West this morning by Supt. Wood.
the results. in tabloid form. arc:
Vacant lots in 946 city squares cleaned
OF all rubbish 3.7O0.
| Over 500 private alleys cleaned
About 10000 cellars, woodsheds and
back yards put in ship-shape.
Dropping Of paper and other rubbish
from wagons on streets practically stop
ped. Collateral required for violation
OF the police regulation prohibiting the
dropping of paper on streets fixed at So,
instead of 81. as in the past.
| Warning signs posted in alleys against
| depositng rubbish therein
| Health and street cleaning departments
| cooperating to get insanitary premises
| cleaned up.
The report made by Supt Wood to
Commissioner West this morning showed
| that the crusade for the removal of
| ashes, garbage and miscellaneous refuse
| coming from private residences and de-
| posted in alleyways and vacant ground
contiguous thereto has been vigorously
prosecuted. with the result that 3.7Ol
vacant lots situated in 3B city squares
! have been cleaned and that .4OO cubic
| yards of refuse have been removed
/ Over 800 private yards have also been
! cleaned. The condition Of many of the
1 latter was such as to lead Supt. Wood to
| recommend that hereafter no subdivision
1
| be made for an alley at least nine feet
| wide running through a square, SO that
| 1t can be easily cleaned. He has also
| suggested that steps be taken to remedy
the conditions which arise from the con
| struction of blind alleys of width OF
| three feet or less. The number of these
| alleys is quite large. but he states that
| experience shows that they become the
| depository of all manner of refuse and
| only the closest supervision will prevent
| them from becoming not only uns;Ghtly,
| but menace to health.
Much Done by Householders.
| The work of cleaning up the wood
sheds. back yards areaways and Gel
lars has also been systematically and
vigorously prosecuted. The report made
to Commissioner West shows that the
number Of loads received at the Benning
dump alone aggregated 247s, while the
total number of loads hauled to all the
dumps reached the total of 5394
In view OF the fact that inquiries made
OF the drivers CT the trash wagons in
dicated that each load represented the
| residences, 1t Is believed that upon a
conservative estimate no less than 10000
cellars. woodsheds and back yards, have
been cleaned since the work was under
taken three weeks ago. This cleaning
has not cost the District government a
single penny. but has been paid for by the
householders.
Under a plan devised by Supt. Wood
ana now In successful operation, all
the wagons hauling refuse have been
subjected to inspection, and where both
| horse and vehicle were found to be in
good condition the wagon has been des-
| ignated by an appropriate sign. and
upon the Endorsement of five citizens
the driver Of the wagon has been given
permit. record is kept of the scale
OF charges asked by these drivers. and
no. case OF ovsrchaSge have been re-
ported. All Of the wagons are equip
pea with covers made of condemned
sacking in order to prevent the con-
tents from blowing upon the streets
Helpful to the "White Wings"
The care exercised in this direction
has reduced very materially the time
formerly occupied by the white wings
force in picking up waste paper from
the streets. and it is estimated that In
the course of year the white wings
Will be able to devote a much greater
amount of their time to sweeping the
streets which has hitherto been expend-
ed in picking up paper. The amount
of paper on the streets is shown by
the fact that during the first ten
months of the present fiscal year the
hand sweepers have collected 1896
sacks of waste paper that had been
dropped. scattered or thrown upon the
streets Of the city in direct violation Of
the police regulations.
Within the past two weeks Commits
sioner West has called upon the police
department to enforce as vigorously as
possible the regulation which prohibits
the scattering of paper and trash upon
the city streets As result quite num-
Der OF arrests have been made, but in
| order to secure a more general observance
of the regulation the amount Of collateral,
which has hitherto been 81. has been
raised to s., an action which. it Is be-
| lieved. will go far toward keeping the
city in cleanly and slightly condition
| Considerable trouble was experienced.
| however. in keeping the alleys clean, in
| view or the fact that they cannot be kept
under constant surveillance by the police
and in order to acquaint householders
with the fact that 1t is unlawful to de-
post refuse In the alleys 1900 placards
are today being posted in all the alleys
reading as follows:
| WARNING!
1T is unlawful to deposit filth rubbish
paper. ashes or other material in this
alley"
Before and After" Photographs.
Commissioner west has a number OF
photographs showing conditions in the
city before and after the cleaning process
was begun. and these were examined with
much interest a few days ago by Mrs. +.
B. Coville OF the Twentieth Century Club.
whose work in the endeavor to secure a
clean city Is much appreciated by Com
missioner West. Mrs. Coville. on behalf
Of her organization. made several sugges-
| tions to Commissioner West which will
undoubtedly produce good results.
There is also cooperation between the
| street cleaning department and the health
department in the work of cleaning up
the city, and a few nights ago the in
spectors OF both departments held joint
meeting under the direction of Health
Officer Woodward and Supt Wood and
reached an agreement as to methods
| which would secure the desired results.
The inspectors of the street cleaning de-
partment have reported several hundred
| back yards in unclean condition, and in
one case. where sixty-four yards were re-
| ported to the health department. personal
| investigation by the health officer showed
that over forty of them were in a condi-
| ton that demanded remedial action from
| a sanitary point Of view.
Arrests for Violations.
| Supt.' Wood also reported to Commits