Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-02-15
BY IMOGEN p, OAKLEY


Under the new housing and sanitation
act, approved nne II, 1915, 1t Is provided
I that ''the occupant or tenant OF every
! dwelling, and of each apartment In
two-room family house. and the couduc-
tor OF every tenement house, shall pro-
vide for each apartment under his super
vision n suitable nonabsorbent, nonlcak.
able. covered receptacle for garbage;
| and receptacle of approved kind for
ashes"
Furthermore. all occupants and tenants
of buildings shall securely bundle all
rubbish. waste paper and like refuse In
such manner as to prevent 1t from caus-
Ing n nuisance upon the property or upon
the street when the collectors are taking
1t away
| The "nonabsorbent. noneakablc. covered
receptacle for garbage" Is no new require
ment. The garbage of the city Is collected
and carried to the reduction works in
West Philadelphia where it is manufac.
| tured into commercial oils, aud to make
this process n success II is necessary that
no other waste product shall be mixed
with the garbage. For this reason n
| tight covered receptacle has been re.
duired for some years by ordinance of
/ Councils, and this ordinance is the only
ono that the street cleaning officials have
been able to enforce with any degree OF
success.
Many housekcepcrs have really learned
| with II cover more or less-Eenerally less
| tight fitting. and IL the cans were not
] upset by stray hungry dogs. or their
contents scattered by irresponsible scav.
cngers, household garbage would not add
! greatly TO the filth of the streets,
DRY WASTE NUISANCE.
It is the ashes and other dry waste
| that make our streets look as II n cyclone
! had struck them There has been no
| nj I'm ~ I,n Nd Of eli
! In which ashes and other dry waste should
| he placed hence we see on the sidewalks
/ any kind of receptacle from peach baskets
and fruit crates TO old dish pans and iron
| pots all filled to overnowing with ashes,
papers and sweepings, and all without any
attempt at cover which might prevent
the refuse from flying on the four winds
of heaven.
1t has been impossible for the Bureau
OF Highways to arrest any of the house
keepers whose carelessness and untidi-
ness cause this litter in our treets, for the
housekeeper has the right to put out her
ashes In n sieve, should she desire to do
so. She has done almost this very thing,
for old peach baskets and fruit crates are
only sicves on larger scale,
Last summer the street cleaning de-
partment conhscated $4,000 dilapidate
peach baskets in one week, hoping to dis
courage the practice of using them as
ash and rubbish reCeptacles, but the
courts, being appealed to by the owner
of one of the $4,000 peach basket sleves,
ruled that the department had exceeded
its power: and so one more desperate
attempt to enforce cleanliness came to an
rntlmely end.
LAW OF 1915.
This new act of 1915 provides that ashes
must be put out in a receptacle of an
approved kind" and the Bureau of Health
is empowered to do the approving. VIII
1t tolerate the various kinds OF sieves
that have been used in the past, or will
II approve only an uneakable box or can
with tight cover?
The disposition Of paper and rubbish,
under the new act, is not eft to the dis
cretion of any bureau or department The
law is emphatic in stating that all such
waste shall" he securely bundled so that
it shall cause no nuisance.
During the last administration Director
Cooke made many appeals to housekeep-
crs in regard to the waste-paper nuisance
lie urged them to tie waste papers and
dry rubbish into bundles. which would be