Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-08-24
GET RID OF THE DUST

AMONG all the things that are 80 big
IA you can't see them," the blanket Of
no rival, at once for harmfulness and for
objectionable neglect. It Is the great
outdoor nursery for germs of all kinds.
1t not only has been shown to be an in.
variable factor in causing a number of
diseases, but it acts as a universal irri
tant upon the noses and throats of the
community and lowers the general health
perhaps it's most sinister phase in the
long run, because this general impairing
| Of vitality cannot be easily defined or
translated into statistical information.
"Contagion is spread by flies and dust"
! Prof Arnold Meter says Of infantlle
paralysis. He is leading European au.
thority on that disease. And again, THE
germ penetrates the body toward the
nervous centers by way of the nose and
the back OF the mouth" Contagion Is
spread by dust, and the dust irritates
noses and throats, fills them with mucus
and prepares them for a ready acceptance
of the germ.
Proof of the condition is obtainable by
any one with the energy to take the ele
almost any large city From there, late
on a clear afternoon, he can see the
clean blue sky he had forgotten in the
street below and, clearly defined, brown
ish, Ereenlsh haze of poison over and
among the housetops. 1t is the sweep.
ings of several hundred thousand build.
ings and many miles of streets, mixed
with the smoke of factories and with
enough Of the fumes of oily waste to
give it body and immobility in the face
of what slight breeze there may be on an
August day.
This is not sad condition which is
always with city dwellers. Pittsburgh is
still called the Smoky City" but the
term is becoming meaningless. Reforms
have reduced the smoke nuisance by as
per cent there. This phase of the evil can
be eliminated everywhere, though it
would take some time.
But what can be done-what must be
done-at once in Philadelphia to produce
in one day an immense Improvement is
the proper laying" and removal of the
dust. Every street and sidewalk in the
city should be sprinkled each morning
before attempts are made to cart the
dust and refuse away. The sweeping |
that goes on is now often simply a redis. |
tribution of dust. Dust is swept off the |
sidewalks into the street, or, rather, it is |
swept up into the air. Temporarily, Of |
course, sidewalk and doorstep look clean. |
The same process goes on in the street |
between sidewalks. The revolving brushes |
of the dust wagons are the signal for a
neighborhood to close windows and for
pedestrians to close their eyes. For they
simply fill the air with clouds of dust, and
what the sweepers later shovel up and
cart away is probably not one.half of the
poisonous matter that our children
breathe.
This could all be obviated by thorough
sprinkling. In emergency measures the
Health Director has had a free hand,
and it has not required new legisla-
ton to enable him to take new precau-
tions. The police can be sent TO each
householder with verbal and printed in.
structions to water the sidewalks before
sweeping, The householders should be
shown that It is also their duty to help
out the city street sprinklers by using
hose in front of their houses, or, If they
have no hose, by pouring bucketfuls of
water over the few square yards of
asphalt adjoining their sidewalks. This
would be little to require by law; it would
be as little TO request of residents.