Evening star., 1915-04-16
FIGHT AGAINST DIRT
STARTS MONDAY
First Clean Up-Paint Up
Campaign Soon to Begin in
National Capital.
CITIZENS ASSOCIATIONS
TO GIVE VALUABLE AID
"Great Benefit to Be Derived Is Its
Sanitary and Hygienic Effect"
Says DR.. Murray.

The first clean up-paint up cam
paign ever waged in tn National Capt.
tai Is to open Monday, continuing two
weeks. until May /. That the entire
District of Columbia is to be given q
more thorough cleaning up and paint
ing up than 1t has ever had before is
indicated by the practically unanimous
pledges of cooperation in the cam
paign which have been given by every
civic, commercial and labor organiZa-
tion in the District.
Clean up campaigns have been waged
In Washington each spring for several
years, and the amount of good that has
been accomplished by these municipal
housecleanings, In the matter of pre-
vention of summer diseases and the
sanitation of alleys, back yards, dwell
fngs and business houses, Is amply
testified by the decrease that has been
shown each summer since the first of
the campaigns was waged in the num-
Der Of cases of typhoid fever. malaria
and other summer diseases reported to
the health department.
This springs campaign is to be waged
on broader scale than those of former
years, and with the increased publicity
that has been given to the 1915 effort
to make Washington cleaner and
more beautiful city in which to live, it
is confidently expected that results sur
passing those of preceding campaigns
will be attained.
Everybody Joins in Clean Up.
Practically every citizens associa-
ton in the District has pledged the
active cooperation of its members in
the two weeks warfare against dis
ease-breeding conditions and dirt. Boy
Scout troops are ready to get TO work
cleaning up as soon the campaign
opens. and in MANY instances the mem
bers of these troops have already be-
gun their clean up work. Camp Fire
Girls and Girl Scouts are also helping
In the work, and during the Easter
vacation thousands of school children
acted as volunteers in the clean up
army that is to make its united assault
Monday on the city's winter accumula-
tons Of trash. dirt and filth.
1T is not merely In the removal of
accumulations of trash, and the conse-
quent tidying up Of the city that
Washingtonians are to find the great
| est good from the 1915 campaign" said
DR.. Arthur L. Murray. secretary of the
proper disposal Of such matter is. of
course. a greatly-to- be desired feature
OF the clean up campaign. The great
benefit to be derived from the cam
hygienic effect-its effect on the health
of Washington residents during the hot
weather that Is almost here.
piles Of trash and rubbish: heaps OF
empty tin cans. decayed animal and vege-
table matter lying In cellars, back yards
and alleys. and all forms of refuse, accu-
mulated over winter. are the breeding
places of disease germs OF many kinds
In addition to being eyesores and offenses
| to the nose, these Accommodations OF refuse
Of all sorts are incubators of disease, and
the maintenance of high standards of
| health is dependent upon their removal
and proper disposal.
Flies Garry Disease Germs.
PLIES breed in filth. and flies carry the
germs Of disease from their breeding
places to human beings, and from one
person to another. Remove the filth
Danish it altogether from the city-and
the flies. deprived of breeding places, can
| not propagate. Once f1;es are eliminated
| from the scheme Of things, and we have
, made q long. long step toward the elm
ination OF sickness and suffering. This
doesn't mean that without flies there
! would be no sickness; it does mean, how
| ever, that without flies, or with vastly
| fewer files, there will be much less sick
ness.
| Mosquitoes. some species of which
also transmit disease. especially mala-
ria, to say nothing of yellow fever,
do not. as some people imagine, re-
quire ponds or pools Of stagnant wa
ter in which to breed They can do Just
as we'll with the water left after a rain
| in lot of old tin cans if they are not
disturbed. heap containing a score
or hundred tin cans offers exactly
that many breeding places for mosqui-
| toes and il frequently happens that
an entire neighborhood suffers a plague
of mosquitoes simply because Of the
failure to remove few tin cans from
a weed-overgrown lot. The trash col
lector may not find the cans, but the
Inc will
refuge they will emerge to torment
the residents of several city blocks.
with the aid of all the scores of
organizations and the thousands of in
ldividuals who have pledged co-opera-
ton in the 1915 campaign, the District
of Columbia is sure to he made a much
| cleaner city, and q cleaner city means
. healthier VnA.