Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-11-16
DENY POLITICS IS
BACK Of WHITE
WING DEFAMATION
Street Cleaning Officials Say
There Will Be No Cutting
Down of Force.

The reports that political influence
is being brought to bear to cut down
the working force of the street cleaning
department and that the hours are tc
be shortened to such an extent that
the men will be paid scarcely enough 10
live on is e~mphatically denied
by department heads. who are re-
sponsible to the city for the work Of
the street cleaning employees.
For some time there has been a force
of 3O6 men in the street cleaning de-
partment. and General superintendent
Of Works Shipman said today that this
force would be continued as long as
there was work for them to do. About
this time every year the department
of streets and highways finds it ad-
visable to cut down the force of men
engaged in cleaning the streets. and
there are several reasons for 1t. In the
early morning and late in the after
noon the frost begins to gather in tho
streets and makes the work of SURFACE
cleaning impractical.
Winter Limits Work Hours. G
AS the winter season advances this
condition becomes more more pro-
nounced, so that the actual hours dur
ing which the men can work on the
streets to advantage is limited to the
middle OF the day when b ice has
thawed and some of the frost has left
the ground and freed h sweepings.
Naturally this reduces the working
hours of the men, but politics or econ
ony has nothing to do with 1t.
Then, too, in the late fall severe
storms are of more frequent occurrence
and of longer duration, so that In this
respect also the men in the department
have to face fewer working hours
After a heavy fall of nov there are
many sections of the city where the
streets cannot be touched for days at
a time, and some sections are closed
entirely to the operations of the street
cleaning department as soon as the
snow and Ice take possession of the
city. Years of experience have shown
the department of streets and high
ways that it is useless to maintain the
same working force in winter as in
summer, but the fact remains. and the
records of n auditors department to-
day proved 1t, that if the present force
of 306 men was to be continued for the
rest of the year there would be ample
IllOI6y " pay @a0 tAOy 1C1AN
work on full time every day at that.
100000 Available for Department.
There will be available for the de-
partment of streets and highways at
least $780, 600 for the balance OF the rear,
and the chances are that the receipts
from various sources will make 1t more
than thai amount. The estimated ex-
p%enditures for the balance of h year,
based on those of former years for the
same period, should aggregate a little
over $40, 900, so that q liberal working
margin seems to be available for every
legitimate expense.
The records of the department of
streets and highways for several years
show that during the months of No
vember, December, January, February
and March each season there has been
a large reduction in the cost of main
tanning the STRENGTHENING department.
the difference being as much as $40, 600
in some months In the payroll alone.
For street repairs the cost during the
five months mentioned has usually
been 80 per cent. less than during the
summer months, showing that the
streets are practically tied up during
the period in question.
The only item in the STRENGTHENING
department that how an increase
during the winter months is the main
tenance of the city stables, whsre the
STRENGTHENING apparatus is housed
and during the months when this APP
paratus and the horses are Idle the
cost of running the stables, Mth the
additional work involved, is a few hun
dred dollars more than during The
months when the stables have less to
take care Of n the course of the day.
Flushing Machines Take Place of Men.
Another item hat has served to cut
the force of men in the street. cleaning
department during the past year and
that will cut it still further the COM
ing year is the introduction of flushing
machines. The last report of General
superintendent Shipman contains this
statement while very satisfactory
progress has been made during the
past year in the improvement of the
street-cleaning service as a whole,
especial attention is called to thesxoD<