Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-03-15
COIN MAKES REPORT ON
STREET CLEANING COSTS
statement Shows That Sweeping by
Motors Is Most Eco
nomical.
COST OF GARBAGE REMOVAL
Long Hauls Raise Garbage-Haul
Charge to II Cents a Load, While
Per Load Cost OF Removing Ashes
to Dumps Is Only 81 Cents.

complying with n request made by
the Administrative Board on February
:. for detailed Information as to tho
cost OF street cleaning operations. STU
perintcndcnt Henry ]. Cohn has Just
submitted statement from which it
appears that marked economies would
follow g further motorization OF this
department.
According to Mr.. Cohn it cost $1,000
TO sweep by hand a single mile Of paved
street The same work. he reports, can
be done by machine swecpcrs drawn by
horses or mules for s4S7 \ single au-
| tomible machine sweeper according to
AIR. Cohn's statement. can sweep II
/ mic or paved street for S4lS.
FROM the sane statement 1T appears
| mat IL costs the Street Cleaning De-
! partirent ~ cents Il load to remove tho
citN's garbage and 81 cents n load to
remove ashes. While the statement
"fas rot detailed enough to show how
these per load costs We're determined
ana what proportion Of the charge rep
resented overhead cost, the amounts
we're looked upon by Mr.. HirschberC,
of the Administrative Board. az i'm
moderately high.
iIIRSCHBF:RG THINKS
CHARGE rs TOO HIGH
Garbage removal at - cents load
certainly looks pretty high" said Mr.
liirschbcrR. Much of this high cost
understand, Is attributable to tho long
hauls that are made by Individual carts.
Of course, If a cart loaded with garbage
in an outlying portion of the city has
10 cross the whole length OF the city
to deposit its load, the per load cost Of
collecting garbage will remain high.
The problem Is TO get rid OF the long
haul.
MY resolution looking to n division
Of the Street Cleaning Department
forces into :wo sections, is still on the
/ table for conSidera ton. We will prob
ably take the matter up for confer
ence some time this week and will dis
"uss with Mr.. Cohn the best way to re-
duce the cost of operation and add eff
ficiency to the department.
"Mr. Cohr has recommended di-
vision OF the street cleaning forces into
six sections. each to operate under n
ton OF the city. In my opinion that
- too much division. | think that the
demands of efficiency would be an
swcrcd by dividing the force into two
scction-one whose headquarters would
he 1T the present city stables. and the
other with headquarters in the West
End"
CITY HAS SINTi-SENEN
MILES OF PAVED STREETS
In his report to the board, Mr.. Cohn
say there are siNty-seven and ne-half
miles of paved embellishments and
one half miles in smooth paving ana
forty-sevcn miles in spall. Taking the
machine cost of sweeping one mile of
paved street which is approximately So.
rs tho basis of calculation. II costs the
city s331.50 to sweep Its mouse once.
At the same rate the cost OF sweeping
the municipal floor once a week for =
year would be s17.550.
The Street Cleaning Department is
now hauling ashes and garbage from
3o,0l6 residences. hotels, restaurants,
stores and other establishments. Mr..
Cohn reports there are eighty six carts
in the department. The ash carts haul
on an average, twelve loads dan.
while the garbage carts average only
three loads Il day. The difference In
efficiency between the garbage and ash
carts is explained by the comparatively
short haul to the nearest dump that is
made by the ash collecting carts, and
the long haul to the crematories that
are necessary in the case of garbage.
The equipment of the department is
summa riZcd by Mr.. Cohn as follows:
Four officers, lS4 men. ll5 mules nine
horses one buggy, eleven wagons,
cighty-siX carts. nine machine sweep
ers, four double and three single
sprnklcrs. four fushcrs, one pick up
machine, tractors, two three-ton and one
one-ton automobile trucks, and two
automobile runabOuts.
REPORTS on EFFICIENCY
OF SWEEPING APPARATUS
Answering questions bearing on prac-
teal strectsweeping operations. Mr.
Cohn reports that in a working day OF
nine hours, three mechanical sweepers
drawn by horses. can sweep ten and
one-third miles of paved streets a
single tractor and combination sweeper
can do six and one-half miles in the
same period OF time 1t tnkes on an
average fifteen minutes for two men to
, round up square OF street refuse
or the 1874 men on the payroll on
December 81, 1914, the superintendent
reports. flfty-one have been in the de-
partment for ten years or more OF
these fifty -one. he reports. thirty-six
are in good physical condition, three in
fair condition and twelve In poor
health.
In reply to the boards question
whether not he regarded his de-
nartment as efficient, Mr.. Cohn saws
that it could be improved by the adop-
tion OF the recommendations contained
in his report for the year 1912. and by
increasing the force and equipment
According to the Auditors report the
city paid out during the last fisca
wear for street cleaning s2O7.05O.7s
For the preceding year the outlay on
this account was s190,65S.71 For the
year 1907. the cost OF street cleaning
was sl16,226.47. both payroll and ex-
penscs having grown steadily each
year