Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-25
ROME ATTRACTIVE,
BUT IS NOT CLEAN
Inefficiency of the Methods for
the Removal of City's
Refuse.
TRASH GOES TO STREETS
FROM THE FRONT DOORS
Police Force Not Kept Busy-Care
Exercised in Selection of the
Carabinieri.

Staf Correspondence of The Star
ROME. May with all its attractions
it cannot he said that Rome Is a clean
city. 1t has plenty of water in foun-
tains and in mains: it has street clean
ing department and refuse collection
system. and they are kept busy. after
Rome is not clean, and the particular
tourist has occasion soon after arrival
to institute unfavorable comparisons, and
to wish for better ways of municipal
housekeeping.
But it would require a revolution not
merely of politics but of human nature
to institute cleanliness here. and there is
naught to do but to accept Rome as it
is. smears and SMELLS refuse and dirt.
and to regard these manifestations as
part of the atmosphere. Perhaps some
day city administration will try to
compel the householders of the lower
sections to put all their trash into re-
ceptacles. instead of throwing it into the
street. Many policemen would be kept
busy a long time enforcing such an
order The task is too formidable to be
considered possibility.
The trustfulness of the poorer class
Roman in the ultimate disposal of the
refuse he losses carelessly from his
front door upon the pave is delightful.
Perhaps he does not really care whether
it is even gathered up and carried on.
He does as many generations of ances-
tors have done. and that is all there IS
to the matter.
In many other cities it is forbidden to
throw handbills about the streets Not
so in Rome The distribution of these
rIto n11 nj
shows and shops and proclaiming the
virtues of candidates for office. forms
considerable item of the local industries.
You are passing calmly along street
downtown and suddenly your ears are as
sailed by loud clamor of voices. A
score of men have come into view
around the corner, each brandishing a
handful of bills and crying loudly in the
hoarse tones of the Roman street vendor.
In a moment the air Is filled with pieces
of paper. They are scattered lavishly.
and when the squad has passed the pave
ment is Uttered from curb to curb.
Employs Simple Method.
The street cleaning system is simple.
Men armed with long twig .brooms,
which they WELD sideways, go leisurely
over the pave, adroitly lodging vehicles
and gradually get the dirt moved down
into the cutters. Presently along comes
a dignified manager of a trash can. and
after philosophically contemplating the
accumulation for a time he proceeds to
gather it into bags. somewhat after the
Washington method. though much more
leisurely Here and there lines of hose
are used to flush the streets. and this is
the most effective practice
The street car tracks are almost in
variably on steep slant. so frequent are
the hills. and in order to facilitate the op-
Roughly speaking. the Roman traffic
follows the left-hand rule as in London.
but there is apparently but little insist
ence upon it. Drivers ignore it whenever
occasion offers. and consequently contro-
verses arise now and again that add
considerably to the entertainment afford
ed by a drive about town. The univer-
sal hostility between drivers and chauf-
feurs is in evidence here strongly. The
former delight in getting the right of way
in a crowded street just in front of q
motor car. leaving the chauffeur no re
course but to voice his feelings by loud