The New York herald., 1921-10-28

bard would telephone every evening and.
give orders as to how many trucks
should be employed and who should fur
rish the trucks" and that "vaccarelli is
quite active in the district Of which Hub
bard is leader"
MacStay obeyed orders. Hubbard's
resignation was demanded and received.
Did Hubbard wilt and die under the
Mayors displeasure? Oh. no. The
Mayor permitted him to accept a nice
new job. this time in the Department of
Public Markets, at salary increase of
$1,000 over his old position
Brooklyn Hit Hard on Ashes.
Under examination Mr.. MacStay adj
mitted that Brooklyn--the Mayors home
borough-pays about two and one-half
times as much as Manhattan for It's
removal Of ashes because the Brooklyn
Ash Removal Company sis intrenched
IN monopoly In that borough. nobody
else having the necessary equipment
and dumps to get into the business
Julian Marks. an engineer employed by
The Meyer committee as an investigator.
testified that the cost of removing ashes
and rubbish in Brooklyn had increased
from s663.3S5 in 1914 to s1.791,G19 last
year. The cost per cubic foot in 1917
was % cents and last year II was
So cents The cost for Manhattan and
The Bronx for 1920 was s1,939,35S and
the cubic foot rate 81 cents.
The Superintendent of Docks reported
numerous instances where scows loaded
with ashes had turned over at their
docks and the. city had to pay the
expense of dredging. S&
According to figures made public
Il 49, fraa
Cleaning Departments expenditures IN
creased from $7.629,000 in 1917 to sl6.-
T90. 900 in 1921.
Commissioner Leo has made rela-
lively favorable impression as the head
of the department. His plan Is to estab-
lish system OF incinerators in the
several boroughs to save long hauls and
dumps. The scheme has been authorized
tentatively by the Board of Estimate,
but it has not yet been permitted TO
become operative. Mr.. Leo last Febru-
ary complained OF the decadence and
lack of discipline hip found in the de-
partment when he became Its head.
When the Meyer committee began IN
vestigattng the Department of Licenses
1t uncovered the fact that among the
city's licensed drivers Of taxicaos are
l53 men against whom felony convic-
tions stand and 2cS who had been found
guilty Of lesser crimes. John +. Gil
christ. Commissioner of the department.
issued a statement in which he said he
had initiated. in September, 1913, the
system of taking finger prints OF appii-
cants for taxicab licenses.
Ex-crooks as Taxi Drivers.
These revelations are particularly
suggestive at time when motor vehicles
have been playing more conspicuous
part than ever before In street holdups
and other bold crimes of violence AS
long ago as in December, 1920. Mayor
Hylan, in reply to letter from a woman
who inquired what the police were DO
ing to check crfme.s wrote:
"All persons using taxicabs are re-
ouested to use only the cars of reputa-
Bile taxlcab concerns and to take number
of the cab, so that II any crime is per
petrated or the law violated the police
may have some clue to the violator."
Referring to this editorially at the
time as "a statement that will rouse
mingled feelings of astonishment and
alarm" THE NEW YORK HERALD said:
mo taxicab is permitted to be op-
Grated in this city without license. All
taxicab licenses are issued by one OF the
Mayors subordinates. Are we to under
stand from the Mayors statement. as
quoted, that he has permitted the IL
censng Of cab drivers OF character 80
doubtful that he must warn the public
not to patronize them? If the Mayor
thinks as he talks, why does he not
suspend or revoke the license of every
driver whom he advises the public to
avoid?"
Since the Meyer committee began It's
Inquiries in the Department OF Licenses,
Commissioner Gflchrist has asked and
received the resignation of Deputy COM
missioner James F. Geraghty. and one Of
his inspectors, John Gaffney, connected
with the Department of Licenses, has
been arrested on charge OF extortion.
Geraghty is Tammany leader Of the
First district in The Bronx.