The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1912-05-17
FOR A CLEAN CITY.
IA CORRESPONDENT SHOWS WAYS and
MEANS ITO REMOVE ALL FILTH
AIT SMALL EXPENSE.


fits to be derived from a perfectly
clean and sanitary city are begin
ming to be appreciated by a number
of our leading citizens, and if abe
program now under way is carried
out there is no doubt that within a
short time our city of Westminster
can claim to be al clean and sani-
tary city a. there il anywhere in
the world That lit il not 20 AIT pres
ent will be news To some of our
readers, but to anyone who has paus-
al tn analyze the situation The con-
ditions here are little short of bar
barous. Consider the following
Here IL a town of over three thousand
human population, with numerous
horses, cattle, hogs, dogs, cats, and
poultry. Each home has to keep
fires going and has to eat AS re-
suit of the preparation of the food
and the fires there is a large amount
of garbage as table refuse, tin cans,
broken china, glass, etc., and from
other household activities there al
boxes, discarded and broken furni-
ture, excelsior and miscellaneous
trash. In addition to this there Is
a large amount Oh ASHES.
Now consider the animal and the
human waste. Each horse, COW, hog,
dog, cat and human being produces a
daily amount OF filth. Each home in
the city has either a stable, COW
shed, pig pen, chicken yard, Or "a
privy, and some homes have all of
them The result OF 1T Ill fl simply
this, that every day We have Deposit
ed in our midst an enormous amount
of trash, ash, garbage, and unthink-
ably disgusting filth, and as town
up to this time we have made practi-
cally no organized effort to rid our
premises of it. In this respect the
city of Westminster is in just as bar
barous a condition as any place in
the world. 1t is analogous to a
handsome individual of careless per-
sonal habits, well clothed, who looks
well from distance, but cannot bear
close examination either visual or
olfactory. We keep our main streets
clean, but God help our privies,
stables, back yards, and alleys. Ev-
cry little alley has an odor al its
own, and most OF the yards, stables,
hog pens, and privies a. well. In ad-
ditiOn to this We have untold millions
of reaches, flies, rats and other YER
min whose whole scheme OF life seems
to be to move from one filthy place to
another with a. many side trips into
our homes, and stores, and over our
food as possible
This state of affairs can be readily
overcome at small expense as fol-
lows: Make the cleaning of the city
a function of the city government
and not matter depending upon the
energy or convenience of the individ
ual citizen. In regard to the gar
bage, trash, and ashes it could be ac-
complished by placing in each alley a
number of sanitary garbage, trash
and ash cans, to be emptied daily by
the city garbage man, and the refuse
all taken to the out skirts of the city
where it could be- burned. If this
were done every housewife in town
would know what to do with her gar
bage and trash and ashes, and there
would b. no more piles of accumulat-
Cd debris i'm our alleys and back yards.
tn regard to the privies: Tt would
be perfectly possible to change the
present type exposed privy into the
sanitary screened bucket type at a
very slight expense probably not ex
ceeding a dollar and half to two
dollars each. With this type of privy
it would be perfectly possible for the
city to send an employee around once
in two weeks or oftener to empty the
buckets and convey the night soil out
of the town, whereas at the present
time the privies are rarely attended to
until conditions become too oDJec-
tionable to describe. In regard to
the hog pens and stables, there are
many farmers near &C hand who
would be delighted to get the manure
for their lands, and number of
horse and hog owners have indicated
that they would b. willing to give
the manure To one who would come
after it every day. tit therefore a
farmer could get, say from 20 to 30
people to give him their manure if he
would remove 1t daily, he would find
that he could get one load every day
in the week in a comparatively short
time each morning. The town could
be divided into districts, and several
farmers could take hold of it and in
this way we would have this filth re-
moved daily and without expense
through the summer time when it is
These simple remedies, namely the
removal of all filth daily, have result
ed in the city Of Ashville, North Car
DINA, in reducing the death rate to
the astonishing low figure of eight
deaths per thousand of population
per year whereas the death rate of
the country AT large il from sixteen
to seventeen deaths per thousand pop
ulation per year, and Al a result Ash
vile il growing rapidly and the In
flux il of people who are seeking a
healthy place in which to live and
raise their families. Now Westmin-
ster is situated within thirty miles
of Baltimore, the sixth city of the
United States, and has good train
service which will soon be much i'm
proved. This part of Carroll County
is recognised as the nearest accessi-
BILE high and cool point to Baltimore,
and if the Merchants and Manufac-
turers Association could advertise
Westminster as the cleanest and most
sanitary town in the country and in
vite people to make their residence
here, it would result in a steady and
substantial growth of a very desir-
able class of citizens who would ben
eft and profit the town and every
business enterprise operating here.