Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-09-06

The street litter Is swept into these
boxes, which are sealed with a cover
similar to the ordinary manhole COW
ers, there to await the arrival OF the
collection cart. which is equipped with
a hosting device by which the box Is
lifted out of it's case to the top of the
cart, its contents dumped 1nd imme-
diately covered with metal covers, sc
as to prevent any scattering by wind
or other agencies.
TT Is q distinctly new development, In
that IL removes one more surface OBJ
bilities for the scattering of the street
sweepings by the ordinary shovelins
process, and that 1t is economical and an
other step forward for the safety Of the
public health, because anything that re-
duces the scattering of the street dust
is for the public health.
Then. too, we conducted important IN
vestigations in the disposal of the waste
of the cities. including incineration on
the one hand and on the other the dis
tribution of garbage over low, swampy
lands and converting such lands into fer
tile farm lands We were inclined to
think the last-named method might not
be safe or wise one, but when we had
investigated 1t thoroughly. as conducted
by the city OF Munich. We were convinced
that. so far as making new land was con-
cerned. il was complete success. That
was possible largely. however, because
~S~e
of garbage.
Garbage Production Small.
They are thrifty and their homes do
not produce as much garbage in a
week, or possibly two weeks as many
of our homes produce in a day. Then.
too. before the collection of garbage
and other accumulatdons were dumped
on the land all of the contents of the
carts had passed through the hands OF
women engaged to pick out and assert
everything that might be OF merchant
able value. such. for instance. as old
shoes. rubbers, crockery, metal, paper,
cotton and wooden goods and glass.
The returns from this collection, to-
land owned by the company owning
the contract, are SO profitable that the
contracting company makes no charge
to the city for its service of collection.
which is a very important development.
meaning. as it does, that the indiv1dual
householder does not pay a tax for that
service nor does the city as collective
body pay.
The only expense to which the city
Is put is that Of transporting by rail
the wagon boxes with their contents.
collected by the company, from the CITY
10 the suburb, where they are again
delivered to the contractor for assert
ment and distribution. But here again
arises a distinction between German
and American methods. Much OF the
street cleaning of German cities IS
done by women and children.
Il don't imagine that our american
cities will come to that practice IN
many years. if ever nor can one mag
Inc women engaged in the same dirty
and mental service that we found tneIh
engaged in at the Munich garbage dls-
demonstrated. however. is that by the
employment of sufficient help. the
streets of large cities can be kept al.
most absolutely clean. and also tnat
garbage and other household waste
can be collected and at very sllght
expense to the cities because or the
returns that may be derived In busl-
ness way by the contractor. l. 70
mains for American ingenuity ana en-
terprise to put into effect in our own
wars systems that will accomplish the
same results.
lone of the very important results
of our trip has been the forming OF
new connections with men OF otner
al with the government and those At
The head of voluntary movements,
which will make it possible for us 10
carry on important Correspondence ana
To get data from Responsible souiees
at any time We desire.
Praises Consular Service.
II must not refrain from adding few
words Of praise to our consular service.
The day has passed when a consul gem
eral or a consul is limited to purely busi-
ness transactions on behalf OF the United
States He is a very busy man in other
directions The service that the consuls
are doing in research work and making
reports on methods OF administration IS
of untold value Few of our people
realize to what extent the consuls have
been called upon by the departments
In Washington for reports on great
variety of subjects. and few realize, what
a mint of valuable information there is
on file in such departments as the State
Department and the Department OF Com
merce and Labor. which may be avaiied
Of at any time by any citizen.
I'VE found everywhere that the con-
sular offices were maintained in a busi-
nessIike manner and that the eonsals
were informed. not only as to the busf-
ness of the cities they were assigned to,
but as to countless details of municipal
administration, education. invention and
science. In every place they showed
their interest in the trip we were taking
by paving the way for us to meet rep
resentative and responsible authorities
and to secure. the information we were
in search of.
1T is our hope in the near future to
issue in bulletin form, for the benefit OF
our members. many OF the findings of this
first European trip.