Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-02
GARBAGE LAWS
ARE PROTESTED
HOTEL MEN SEEK CHANGE IN
DISPOSAL RULES
MAY TAKE MATTER TO COURTS
TO SETTLE QUESTION
Five=Mle Limit Point at Issue, and
City Council Is Called on to
Settle Mooted Ordi-
nance

Legal proceedings designed to pre-
vent Charles Alexander from carrying
out his contract with the city to col
lect and dispose of garbage and to
continue the disposal of garbage as 1t
is now done, are pending. and before
the end of the present month 1t is
probable the matter will be i'll the
courts.
The action is taken at the instigation
of the organizations composed of hotel
and restaurant men, who claim they
are being deprived of property worth
$4,000 year because Of the contem-
plated system of garbage collection.
The action may mean that the entire
garbage situation will have to be re-
viewed by the present council and may
result in the elimination of the five
mile clause from the contract.
1t is this five-milc clause that has
caused all the trouble, and the board
of public works would like very we'll
to see it eliminated. The board be-
lieves the best interests of the city
would be served if the contractor was
not required to dispose of the garbage
five miles from the city limits.
John S. Mitchell and AL Levy, repre-
senting the hotel and restaurant men,
appeared before the council yesterday
to ask that body to repeal the ordl-
nance under which the contract with
Alexander has been arranged. The
council referred it to the legislation
committee and this committee is eX-
pected to hold a hearing on the matter
this week.
Trouble for Council
If the council expects to take up a
complete discussion of the matter 1t
win find one of the troubles OF the
former council falling on its shoulders.
For months the matter of garbage
contract was in the hands of the COM
mittee of the whole of the former
council and a number of hearings held.
At that time the city's garbage was
being collected chiefly by hog raisers
and the residents of the Sixth ward,
who claimed they were suffering be
cause of unsavory odors from the pig
pens made life a burden for the coun-
Gil Driven almost to desperation, the
council adopted specifications requlr-
ing that the garbage must be disposed
of not less than five miles from the
CITY limits This would eliminate the
Vernon hog raisers altogether. Under
former conditions the hotels and res
taurants sold their table refuse to these
hog raisers and received an amount
aggregating about 100000 for the garb-
age. ODutI lllt lAtN Sl'NSAAA~N
were required to deposit a bond of $1,000
that the garbage they sold would be
disposed of five miles from the city
limits, but they could get no con-
tractor to take it off their hands un-
der those conditions. Consequently all
the garbage they produced had to be
turned over to the general garbage
contractor.
Alexander Secures Contract
The board of public works adNer-
tised for bids and Charles Alexander
was the lowest bidder. He agreed to
dispose of the garbage five miles from
the city limits. Although the contract
was awarded to him in the early part
of December he was allowed extra time
in which to secure his wagons.
In the meantime the city's garbage
is being collected by the Vernon Live
stock association and fed to hogs in
Vernon, and the city is paying less
for this collection than it has at any
time in several years. The hotel and
restaurant men will continue to sell
their garbage until Alexander takes
over the contract and then they must
give up that course of profit.
TO prevent this they expect to en-
ioin Alexander from collecting the
garbage and will ask that the council
repeal the ordinance providing for the
contract.