Municipal housecleaning

by William Parr Capes; Jeanne Daniels Carpenter

Relative Cost of Street Cleaning

Most experts agree that little can be gained by comparing unit costs in different cities as local conditions and prices paid for labor, etc., vary so widely. Another reason is the lack of uniformity in standards and records maintained in the various cities. And still another reason is the varying standards of cleanliness. Very few cities in considering the sum to be appropriated first determine the standard of cleanliness to be attained. An investigation conducted by the United States Bureau of Census indicated that the unit cost of street cleaning in cities having less than 300,000 inhabitants is less than that in cities having over 300,000.

When the many different methods of record and cost keeping are considered as well as the difficulties encountered in obtaining accurate information as to conditions and methods used in the cleaning of streets, the reasons for these differences are apparent.

The Municipal Journal in January, 1915, printed a table which shows that the average number of cleanings per year in thirty-one of the largest cities was 156, varying from 37½ to 300. The cubic yards of sweepings per year per thousand square yards of street area averaged 20.5, varying from 5.7 to 48; the latter being in Boston and nearly four times that reported from Washington. The average amount of sweepings collected at each cleaning was 191 cubic yards per million square yards cleaned, varying from 32 to 440. The cost per thousand square yards of cleaning done averaged 35½ cents, varying from 14 cents to $1.53. The cost per cubic yard of sweepings averaged $2.70, varying from 79 cents to $8.75.

Table I (a)
STREET CLEANING IN AMERICAN CITIES
Name of City	Population	Miles of Streets Swept per Year			Area in Square Yards Subject to Cleaning
					Hand Sweeping					Machine Sweeping
		By Hand	By Machine	Total	Smooth	Rough	Macadam	Total	Smooth and Rough	Smooth	Rough	Macadam	Total	Smooth and Rough
Buffalo, N. Y.	461,335	9,600	34,000					749,600					7,964,500
Beacon, N. Y.	10,165	1.5							26,400
Binghamton, N. Y.	53,000	2	25.6	27.6				114,829
Cincinnati, Ohio	402,175	20,112	10[[1]]			254,951
Cambridge, Mass.	110,000	15	108.5					350,000					1,250,000
Chicago, Ill.	2,200,000	4,674,396,308 S.Y.	12,039,859 S.Y.		19,841,482	7,551,053	6,605,237
Camden, N. J.	95,000			2,249,314
Columbus, Ohio	220,000
Cleveland, Ohio	561,000
Cortland, N. Y.	13,000	6
Dunkirk, N. Y.	17,870			26
Denver, Col.	245,523	102,501,230 S.Y.		215,046,848 S.Y.
Elmira, N. Y.	40,093			20,672	41,000
Fall River, Mass.	124,791
Grand Rapids, Mich.	131,000
Hudson, N. Y.	13,000			21.5
Jamestown, N. Y.	38,000	1	30
Kansas City, Mo.	319,000			462.65[[2]]
Kingston, N. Y.	27,000	4
Los Angeles, Cal.	550,000	333						9,150,000
Louisville, Ky.	224,000			8,331
Lowell, Mass.	106,294
Lynn, Mass.	96,000			35
Lackawanna, N. Y.	17,500		5.5
Little Falls, N. Y.	13,000	6			74,000	5,000	3,000
Milwaukee, Wis.	450,000	82	252.5					1,600,170
Middletown, N. Y.	18,000	4.2			88,235
Mechanicville, N. Y.	8,208	5.
New York City (Manhattan, Bronx & Brooklyn)	4,551,860			1,487					28,429,785					10,391,283
New Orleans, La.	400,000
New Bedford, Mass.	111,000
Newark, N. J.	370,000
Norwich, N. Y.	8,500		6
New Rochelle, N. Y.	35,500	58			4.67 Mi.	47.1 Mi.	6.3 Mi.						25,000
Niagara Falls, N. Y.	45,000		400
Newburgh, N. Y.	27,876
Oakland, Cal.	215,000	4,128	5,160				7,333,000		180,800			187,851
Oswego, N. Y.	24,000		90						412,866					778,374
Ogdensburg, N. Y.	14,388	1–3	10
Philadelphia, Pa.	1,800,000	461	1,165		750,139		3,835,217
Providence, R. I.	248,000
Rochester, N. Y.	248,465			258,171
Rensselaer, N. Y.	11,112
Reading, Pa.	110,000			209,659 squares
Richmond, Va.	160,000							56,820,400					208,031,600
St. Louis, Mo.	835,000			405
San Francisco, Cal.	500,000			460				525,105,551					65,228,812
Salt Lake City, Utah	120,000	30		54
Springfield, Mass.	102,971
Seattle, Wash.	238,000							3,521,624					12,324,340
Scranton, Pa.	130,000
Troy, N. Y.	76,000		40.89								727,112	53,542
Utica, N. Y.	85,000		½ sq. mi. daily.
Washington, D. C.	360,000						1,513,562		3,682,766					1,584,524

Table I (b)
STREET CLEANING IN AMERICAN CITIES (Continued)
City	Area in Square Yards Subject to Cleaning
	Hand and Machine Sweeping					Sweeping and Flushing
	Smooth	Rough	Macadam	Total	Smooth and Rough	Smooth	Rough	Macadam	Total	Smooth and Rough	Total
Buffalo				8,714,100					187,400[[3]]
Beacon
Binghamton									71,804.4
Cincinnati		651,213	4,981,710			1,272,846	2,963,948				10,124,668
Cambridge				35,000
Chicago				38,466					8,339,014[[4]]
Camden
Columbus
Cleveland
Cortland											172,226
Dunkirk											316,601
Denver
Elmira						429,442[[2]]
Fall River
Grand Rapids									62,474,499[[2]]
Hudson
Jamestown											531,582
Kansas City
Kingston											7,526,762[[5]]
Los Angeles									8,000,000[[6]]
Louisville
Lowell
Lynn
Lackawanna											100,000
Little Falls
Milwaukee									6,375,676[[7]]
Middletown
Mechanicville
New York City					10,391,283					10,280,982
New Orleans
New Bedford	141,098.22	98,843.03
Newark
Norwich
New Rochelle
Niagara Falls						900,000
Newburgh
Oakland
Oswego											174,830
Ogdensburg											75,000
Philadelphia									17,335,027
Providence
Rochester											4,265,061
Rensselaer
Reading
Richmond				264,852,000					2,846,000[[2]]		267,698,000
St. Louis											9,427,212
San Francisco				590,394,363					704,240,828
Salt Lake City
Springfield
Seattle				15,845,994					189,038,712
Scranton
Troy						301,878[[2]]
Utica
Washington										2,671,963[[4]]

Table I (c)
STREET CLEANING IN AMERICAN CITIES (Continued)
City	Square Yards Cleaned per Week
	Hand Sweeping					Machine Sweeping					Hand and Machine Sweeping		Sweeping and Flushing
	Smooth	Rough	Macadam	Total	Smooth and Rough	Smooth	Rough	Macadam	Total	Smooth and Rough	Total, Smooth, Rough and Macadam	Smooth and Rough	Smooth	Total, Smooth, Rough and Macadam	Smooth and Rough	Total
Buffalo				8,714,100[[8]]					511,111,111[[8]]		519,825,210[[8]]			5,622,000[[8]][[2]]
Beacon
Binghamton
Cincinnati				5,747,174					53,276					4,617,277		10,417,677
Cambridge	700,000					100,000
Chicago	119,048,892	45,306,308	39,631,422								230,796			50,034,064
Camden
Columbus
Cleveland
Cortland
Dunkirk
Denver
Elmira
Fall River
Grand Rapids
Hudson
Jamestown																1,679,593
Kansas City
Kingston
Los Angeles	[[9]]	[[9]]	[[9]]											10,000,000[[6]]
Louisville
Lowell
Lynn
Lackawanna																100,000
Little Falls
Milwaukee				4,742,044[[10]]
Middletown
Mechanicville
New York City					539,611,598					17,300,158		17,300,158			5,273,638	562,184,394
New Orleans
New Bedford
Newark				11,754,257
Norwich
New Rochelle																7,743,792
Niagara Falls													18,000
Newburgh					180,800
Oakland			11,480,833[[8]]	2,477,196						3,449,606
Oswego	350,000					264,717							566,532
Ogdensburg
Philadelphia			3,835,217											59,238,912
Providence
Rochester																4,265,062
Rensselaer
Reading
Richmond
St. Louis
San Francisco			75,015,076					9,326,973		84,342,051			100,605,832
Salt Lake City
Springfield
Seattle
Scranton			139,377,763[[8]]					27,844,483[[8]]					236,000[[2]][[8]]
Troy						1,453,224	107,086					1,811,268[[2]]
Utica
Washington		984,000		21,772,596					789,000					782,000[[4]]

Table I (d)
STREET CLEANING IN AMERICAN CITIES (Continued)
City	Cubic Yards of Street Sweeping Removed per Week											Number of Weeks in Cleaning Season	Average Number of Cleanings per Week
	Hand Sweeping					Machine Sweeping			Sweeping and Flushing
	Smooth	Rough	Macadam	Total Smooth, Rough and Macadam	Smooth and Rough	Smooth	Total Smooth, Rough and Macadam	Smooth and Rough	Total Smooth, Rough and Macadam	Smooth and Rough	Total
Buffalo												35 to 40 for hand sweeping, machine sweeping, and hand and machine sweeping. 25 for flushing. This is for all kinds of pavement.	6 for hand sweeping all kinds of pavement, 2 for machine sweeping all kinds of pavement, and one for sweeping and flushing all kinds of pavement.
Beacon												35 weeks in cleaning season.	6 times.
Binghamton												27 for hand sweeping, smooth and rough, 29 for machine sweeping, smooth and rough, and 32 for sweeping and flushing, smooth and rough.	6 for hand sweeping all kinds of pavement, 6 for machine sweeping smooth and rough, and sweeping and flushing, smooth and rough.
Cincinnati											2,496	52 weeks.	Business daily, residential one to two times a week.
Cambridge	500					500						52 for hand sweeping smooth pavement, 10 for machine sweeping smooth pavement.	Six for hand sweeping smooth pavement, 2 to 3 times a year for hand sweeping rough and macadam.
Chicago	9,329	5,428	1,558				288					36 for hand sweeping all kinds of pavement.	Six for hand sweeping smooth and rough, and three for hand sweeping macadam.
Camden											14,871[[8]]
Columbus				10,586[[8]]			27,348[[8]]		12,284[[2]][[8]]
Cleveland
Cortland												32 weeks.	Six for hand sweeping smooth, and one for hand sweeping macadam.
Dunkirk													6 times.
Denver											58,214[[8]]	52 weeks.
Elmira												40 weeks.	Seven for hand sweeping smooth, and 2 for flushing rough, and one for flushing macadam.
Fall River												52 weeks.	Nine for hand sweeping smooth and rough.
Grand Rapids
Hudson													Six for hand sweeping rough, and 3 or 4 times a year for machine sweeping smooth.
Jamestown											90	27 weeks.	4½ times.
Kansas City												52 weeks for hand sweeping all kinds of pavement, and 6 times a month for sweeping and flushing all kinds of pavement.	Business section 35, semi-business 7, and residential section one.
Kingston
Los Angeles											1,500	52 for hand sweeping and for flushing all kinds of pavement.	5 times daily for congested and once daily for residential hand sweeping all kinds of pavement. 3 times daily for congested, and one and one-half times daily for residential flushing all kinds of pavement.
Louisville												52 weeks.
Lowell												52 weeks.
Lynn												52 weeks.	Business section twice a day; residential section once a week.
Lackawanna												32 weeks.
Little Falls												32 weeks.	Six for hand sweeping all kinds of pavement.
Milwaukee				75,423[[11]]								Varies.	From one to six, depending upon districts.
Middletown												32 weeks.	41,300 S. Y. daily; balance twice a week.
Mechanicville												From 30 to 35.	6 times for hand sweeping smooth.
New York City											15,625	52 for hand sweeping, machine sweeping, hand and machine sweeping, and sweeping and flushing smooth and rough pavements.	Nineteen for hand sweeping smooth and rough, 27 for eight months for machine sweeping smooth and rough; number for hand and machine sweeping and sweeping and flushing smooth and rough depends on weather.
New Orleans												52 weeks.	Six, excluding rainy days.
New Bedford												42 for hand and machine sweeping smooth and rough.
Newark	2,001	1,500	388									52 for hand sweeping all kinds.	2 for hand sweeping all kinds.
Norwich												25 weeks.	Once a week.
New Rochelle											72	52 weeks.	Six times a week.
Niagara Falls											150	30 weeks.	Sweeping and flushing smooth once.
Newburgh				48								34 weeks.	Twelve times for hand sweeping smooth and rough.
Oakland			31,276[[8]]		170			288				All cleaning continuous with reduced force on rainy days and irregular force on macadam cleaning. No machine sweeping on rainy days, which are equal to five to ten weeks a year.	Six times for hand sweeping smooth and rough, from one to four times per year for hand sweeping macadam, four times for machine sweeping smooth and rough.
Oswego												36 times for hand sweeping all kinds of pavements; 36 times for machine sweeping smooth pavement, and 30 times for sweeping and flushing rough pavement.
Ogdensburg													Streets not paved 2 cleanings a year; sections most traveled cleaned with sweeper twice during summer season also. Patrol system in business section also flushed twice a week.
Philadelphia			51,961[[8]]							377,345[[8]]		52 for hand sweeping and 45 for machine sweeping all kinds of pavements.	One for hand sweeping macadam, from two to six for machine sweeping smooth and rough, and sweeping and flushing all kinds of pavement.
Providence												52 times for hand sweeping smooth, 8 times a month for hand sweeping macadam and machine sweeping rough.	Six times for hand sweeping smooth; 6 times a year for hand sweeping macadam, and once for machine sweeping rough.
Rochester													Rough swept by hand 3 to 6 times a week; macadam swept by hand once a week; rough machine swept from once to three times a week. Smooth swept and flushed 3 to 6 times a week.
Rensselaer												27 weeks.	From once to twice a week.
Reading													Twice a week.
Richmond
St. Louis											1,000 a day.	52 weeks.	Business daily, residential once a week.
San Francisco											[[12]]	52 weeks.	Once.
Salt Lake City				24 a day.								10 a month hand sweeping smooth, 3 times a year hand sweeping macadam.
Springfield
Seattle												52 weeks.	Business six, semi-business 3, residential from one to two.
Scranton
Troy												33 for machine sweeping macadam, and 33 for hand and machine sweeping smooth; 33 for sweeping and flushing rough.	Two for machine sweeping macadam and rough; 6 for flushing smooth.
Utica												32 weeks.	From 3 to 6.
Washington			8,602		63,242			29,089				52 for hand sweeping, machine sweeping and flushing and sweeping all kinds of pavement.	Six for hand sweeping smooth and rough; ⅗ for hand sweeping macadam, 3 for machine sweeping smooth and rough, and 2 for sweeping and flushing smooth and rough.

Table I (e)
STREET CLEANING IN AMERICAN CITIES (Continued)
Force										Methods of Cleaning Used
City	Number of Foremen and Inspectors	Wage and Hours Daily[[14]]	Number of Mechanics and Skilled Laborers	Wages and Hours Daily[[14]]	Number of Teams	Cost and Hours Daily[[14]]	Number of Unskilled Employees	Wage and Hours Daily	All Others Employed	Sweeping		Flushing		Squeegeeing
										Machine	Hand	Hose	Machine
Buffalo	22	$2.50–3.00	19	$2.50–4.00	100	$4.00	139	$2.00		Sheet asphalt, rough block, brick, cobble, asphalt, block, bituminous.	Sheet asphalt, rough block, brick, concrete, bitulithic, asphaltic concrete, macadam, cobble, asphalt block and bituminous.	Asphalt, rough block, brick.	No.	No.
Beacon	1						3	1.75
Binghamton	1	3.00			7	4.50	18	2.00		Brick, concrete, bitulithic.	Brick, concrete, bitulithic, macadam.		Brick, concrete, bitulithic.
Cincinnati	8	20.00 Wk.	10	3.50–5.00	60	2.19	261	2.25–2.75	6	Macadam and cobble.	Macadam and cobble.		Sheet, rough block, brick, wood block, bitulithic, bituminous.
Cambridge	2	2.75			8	City teams.	40	2.50		Smooth pavements frequently.	Smooth pavements frequently.		Smooth pavements occasionally during summer.
Chicago	112	2.60–2.85			165	6.00	1,800	2.35		None.	All.	None except sidewalks.	Sheet asphalt, brick, wood block, concrete, smooth block.	Sheet asphalt.
Camden	1	93.32 Mo.			12		20			Yes.	Yes.		Yes.
Columbus										Yes.	Yes.		Yes.
Cleveland											Yes.		Yes.
Cortland	1	1.75			3 single.	2.50	4	1.75			Yes.
Dunkirk										Brick, asphalt and concrete.
Denver	4	75.00 Mo.	3	2.50	40	5.00	70	2.50
Elmira	1	2.50			5 double 1 single.	4.00 double 3.00 single.	12	1.75			Asphalt and brick.		Asphalt, rough block, brick and wood block.
Fall River	1	3.50			4	3.75	57	2.40		Yes.	Rough block.
Grand Rapids													Yes.
Hudson											Brick and macadam.
Jamestown					2	5.50	8	2.00		Brick, wood block, bitulithic asphalt block, bituminous.			Yes.
Kansas City	24	75.00 Mo.	3	3.00–3.50	30	5.00	225	2.25	18		All.	All.	All.
Kingston											Yes.		Yes.
Los Angeles	1	100.00–125.00 Mo.	2	3.00–3.50	89	5.00	333	2.50			All.	All hills.	All except hills.
Louisville	25	2.00–3.00 9 hrs.			66	4.00 9 hrs.		1.75		Yes.	Yes.	Yes.	Yes.	Yes.
Lowell						7.50		2.25		Smooth block.	Sheet asphalt, brick, wood block, concrete, bitulithic, macadam, smooth block, bituminous.
Lynn	1	3.20			2	5.38	26	2.50			All.
Lackawanna	10	2.50–3.00	10	2.75–3.25	4	4.75	35	1.85	3	Brick and macadam.			Brick and Macadam.
Little Falls	1	2.00			1	4.50	7	1.75			All.
Milwaukee	27	1,000.00–1,900.00 Yr.		.45¢. hr.		5.00		2.00		Sheet asphalt, brick, concrete, bitulithic, asphaltic concrete, macadam.	Same as machine.	None.	Sheet asphalt, rough block, wood block.	Sheet asphalt, bitulithic, asphaltic concrete.
Middletown	1	2.25			1	3.50	4	2.00			Yes.		Yes.
Mechanicville	1	2.25				4.00	55	1.60	2		Concrete, brick, bituminous.
New York City	134	1,212.00–1,380.00 Yr.		3.00–3.50		5.00		2.50		Sheet asphalt, rough block, brick, wood block, smooth block, cobble, asphalt block, bituminous, iron slag.	Same as machine.	Same as sweeping.	Same as sweeping except cobble.	Sheet asphalt, wood block, smooth block, asphalt block.
New Orleans	27	75.00 Mo. 9 hrs.			93	City teams.	340	2.00		None.	Sheet asphalt, wood block, concrete, bitulithic.	Rough block, cobble.	Sheet asphalt, brick, wood block, concrete, bitulithic.	None.
New Bedford	1	3.50			2		65	2.25		Sheet asphalt.	Sheet asphalt, rough block, brick, wood block.		Same as hand sweeping.
Newark	15	3.83			35 double 34 single.	4.80 double 3.20 single.	300	10.00 Wk.			All.		Will start soon.
Norwich					2–6	5.00	4–6	1.60		Yes.	No.	Yes.	No.	No.
New Rochelle					5.50						All.
Niagara Falls	6	3.00			30	5.00	50	2.00		Yes.	Yes.		Yes.
Newburgh			1	80.00 Mo.	1 single 1 double 3 hrs. day.	2.75 single 75¢. hr. double.	18	2.00			Yes.	Yes.	Yes.
Oakland	2	110.00 Mo.			2	6.00	37	2.50	[[13]]	Sheet asphalt, brick, wood block, asphaltic concrete, smooth block.	Sheet asphalt, macadam, smooth block, bituminous.		Sheet asphalt occasionally.
Oswego					4–6	4.00–5.60		1.60–2.00		Sheet asphalt, rough block, brick, wood block.	Sheet asphalt, wood block, macadam, bituminous.		Sheet asphalt, rough block, brick.
Ogdensburg	2	2.00–2.50	2	2.50		4.00		1.75		Yes.	Yes.	Yes.	Yes.	No.
Philadelphia	80	2.50 9–10 hrs.			229	5.50 9–10 hrs.	1,020–1,140	1.75 9–10 hrs.		Sheet asphalt, rough block, brick, smooth block, cobble, asphaltic block, miscellaneous.	Bitulithic, asphaltic concrete, macadam, bituminous.	Concrete.	Rough block, brick, smooth block.	Sheet asphalt, wood block.
Providence	5				47	3.00 9 hrs.	200	2.00 9 hrs.		Rough block.	Sheet asphalt, brick, wood block, bitulithic, macadam, smooth block, bituminous.
Rochester	20–25	2.00			15–18	4.80	400	1.75–2.00		Rough block, brick, cobble.	Sheet asphalt, rough block, brick, wood block, bitulithic, macadam, cobble, bituminous.	Sheet asphalt, rough block, brick, bitulithic, bituminous.	Same as hose.	None.
Rensselaer	2		3	2.00	7					Yes.
Reading													Yes.
Richmond	6	2.62½ 9 hrs.	3	2.75 9 hrs.			180	2.25 9 hrs.	3
St. Louis	50	75.00 Mo.			177	4.00	675	1.50	12
San Francisco	22	3.50	3	3.75	67	6.50	163	3.00	12	Yes.	Yes.		Yes.	Yes.
Salt Lake City	4	3.20	1	4.00	20	4.50	24	2.25	70	Yes.			Yes.
Springfield	1	4.00			16	5.60	105	2.40		Yes.	Yes.			Yes.
Seattle	20	90.00–115.00 Mo.		3.00	City teams.			3.00		Plank roads.			All except plank roads.	No.
Scranton										Yes.	Yes.		Yes.
Troy	2	2.00	3	3.00	8	3.46	2	2.00		Rough block, brick, macadam.			Sheet asphalt, bitulithic, smooth block.
Utica	7		130		27					Yes.	Yes.		Yes.
Washington	19	720–1,300			70		406	1.50–2.50	11	All except dirt.	All.	None.	Rough, smooth and asphalt block, brick, cobble.	Sheet asphalt, brick, asphaltic concrete, smooth and asphalt block.

Table I (f)
STREET CLEANING IN AMERICAN CITIES (Continued)
City	Number of Appliances Used	Which Are Giving Satisfaction	Total Square Yards Cleaned	Times Cleaned per Week		Area Cleaned by White Wings During 8 Hours	Work in Gangs or Singly	Where and in What are Cleanings Stored by White Wings	Equipment of White Wings	How are Assignments of White Wings Determined?	Standard Day’s Work for Cleaning Each Class of Pavement[[14]]
				Winter	Summer
Buffalo	37 horse sweepers, 10 horse sprinklers.	All.				8,000 Sq. Yds.	Singly.	Barrels or tubs.	Broom, shovel, scraper cart.		Heavy traffic 5,000 Sq. Yds., Light traffic 12,000 Sq. Yds., rough pavement 6,000 Sq. Yds., good pavement 12,000 Sq. Yds.
Beacon
Binghamton	1 horse drawn flusher, 4 horse drawn rotary brooms.				6	9,275 Sq. Yds.	Singly.	Bags.	Cart, broom, scraper, shovel, 3 bags.
Cincinnati	6 horse scrapers, 40 horse flushers.					8,661 Sq. Yds.	Singly.	Cans.	Cart, long and short handled broom, scraper.	Traffic, condition and kind of street.	Flushing, 35,550 Sq. Yds. gutters after flushing 6,000 to 8,000 lineal ft., brooming 5,330 to 7,100 Sq. Yds.
Cambridge	8 horse sweepers, 1 horse squeegee, 4 horse sprinklers, 2 horse oilers.						Singly.	Gutters.	Can, shovel, cart and broom.	As needed.	None.
Chicago	1 horse sweeper, 2 horse squeegees, 75 horse flushers, 3 power flushers, 35 horse oilers.	All satisfactory.				17,000 Sq. Yds.	Singly.	Metal boxes 4 Cu. Ft.	Broom, shovel, scraper cart.		Asphalt 21,500 Sq. Yds., Brick 13,400 Sq. Yds., Granite 13,400 Sq. Yds., Macadam 21,500 Sq. Yds.
Camden
Columbus	8 flushers, 16 sprinklers, 11 horse sweepers, railway flusher.
Cleveland	Street car flusher in addition to other equipment.
Cortland	2 horse sprinklers, 1 horse oiler.						Singly.	Gutter.	Scraper and broom.	By traffic.	Each man has definite area to clean.
Dunkirk	Motor and horse sweepers.				6
Denver	12 horse sweepers, 3 horse sprinklers, 8 horse flushers, 8 pick-up sweepers.						Singly.	Alley boxes.	Cart, shovel, broom scraper.	Teams travel 3 miles an hour, routes cover 22 to 23 miles, allowing for filling and oiling.	None.
Elmira	1 horse sprinkler, 1 horse flusher, 3 horse sweepers held in reserve.		Sheet asphalt 104,649, rough block 28,101, brick 295,159, wood block 1,530.		1–6		Both.	Cans.	Broom, shovel and hand cart.	By traffic.	None.
Fall River	4 horse sweepers, 1 horse sprinkler, 4 horse road oilers.						Singly.	Cans.	Broom and cart.	By street superintendent.	None.
Grand Rapids	2 horse flushers, 31 horse sprinklers.
Hudson					Brick once, macadam, 4 times a year.
Jamestown	2 power sweepers, 1 horse flusher.	All except horse flusher.					Singly.	Bags in alleys.
Kansas City	4 machine sweepers, 31 horse flushers.		Sheet asphalt, 4,913,158, rough block 145,204, brick 859,982, wood block 161,545, concrete 1,246,367, bitulithic 14,639, macadam 1,074,579, Imperial 11,288.			10 to 15 blocks.	Gangs.	Gutters.	Cart, broom, shovel.	By district superintendent.	None.
Kingston	1 horse flusher, 2 horse oilers.		Brick 730,666.				Singly.	Cans.	Can carrier and push broom.
Los Angeles	31 horse and 5 power flushers, 40 to 100 horse sprinklers.						Singly.	Gutters and side streets.	Brooms and scrapers.	Area, amount in nature of traffic and street.	Controlled by local conditions.
Louisville	16 flushers, 2 squeegees.					No White Wings.	Gangs.
Lowell	2 horse sweepers, 6 horse sprinklers, 2 power sprinklers, one power road oiler.					6,000 Sq. Yds.	Singly.	Gutters.	Push and hand brooms and hand pan.
Lynn	2 horse sweepers, 2 horse sprinklers, 1 pick-up sweeper, 1 power road oiler.						Singly.	Gutters.	Broom, cart, shovel.	By foremen.
Lackawanna	1 horse sweeper, 3 horse sprinklers, 1 horse flusher, one horse oiler.		Brick 5.5 mi. Macadam 14 mi.		2		Gang.	Gutter.	Push brooms.		Yes.
Little Falls							Singly.	Cans at Corners.	Broom, cart with dust-pan.	By condition of pavement and traffic.	Each man has definite area to clean.
Milwaukee	8 horse sweepers, 10 horse squeegees, 2 power squeegees, 120 horse sprinklers, 16 horse flushers, 10 horse oilers, 2 pick-up sweepers.	All satisfactory.	Asphalt 1,600,170, brick 674,008, macadam 4,742,044, granite 236,555, creosote 73,953, cedar 27,522, Mulleni mix 418,756, limestone 34,517, sandstone 168,321.			5,000 to 25,000	Singly.	Receptacles.	Pan scraper and broom.	According to traffic.
Middletown	2 horse sprinklers, one horse flusher, 1 road oiler, 1 pick-up sweeper.	Flushers.	Brick 88,235.				Gangs.		Broom, shovel.
Mechanicville							Singly.	Vacant lots.	Cart, broom and shovel.		Each man has definite area to cover.
New York City	148 horse sweepers, 28 horse squeegees, 121 horse sprinklers, 4 horse flushers.		28,420,785	19	19	9,000 Sq. Yds.	Both.	Cans.	Can carrier, 5 cans, scraper, broom, shovel.	Population, traffic, character of buildings and pavements.
New Orleans	18 horse sprinklers, 32 horse flushers.	Flushers.	Flushers cover 42,000 Sq. Yds. daily or all paved streets of smooth surface.				Gangs.	Gutters.	Shovel and hand brooms.	By foremen.	None.
New Bedford	4 horse sweepers, 1 pick-up sweeper.	All except pick-up sweeper.	Sheet asphalt and bitulithic 141,098.22, rough block 98,843.03.				Singly.	Gutters.	Cart and broom.		None.
Newark	27 horse sweepers, 8 horse flushers.						Gangs.	Gutters.	Broom, hoe and scoop.		None.
Norwich	1 horse sweeper, 4 horse sprinklers.	Sweeper not satisfactory.	Brick 50,000, bitulithic 15,000, bituminous 35,000.		1–2
New Rochelle	1 horse sprinkler, 2 horse oilers.		1,290,632		6		Singly.	Cans.	Can, cart, broom and scraper.		None.
Niagara Falls	4 horse sweepers, 1 horse sprinkler, 2 horse flushers.		900,000			8,000 Sq. Yds.	Singly.	Cans.	Scraper, cart, broom.		Each man has definite area to clean.
Newburgh	1 horse sweeper rarely used, 1 power flusher, 1 horse oiler.						Singly.	Gutters.	Wheelbarrow, broom, shovel.	Age of sweeper and traffic.	None.
Oakland	2 rotary power sweepers, 2 horse flushers, 1 power suction sweeper.	Suction sweeper doing excellent work but too expensive.	Sheet asphalt 344,116, brick 4,200, wood block 12,000, asphaltic concrete 4,800, macadam 3,733,000, smooth block 4,500, bituminous 3,600,000.	Same as summer.	Sheet asphalt, 2–6, brick 3, wood block 6, asphaltic concrete 2–6, smooth block 3–6, macadam and bituminous 1 to 4 times a year.		Singly.	Cans at curb.	Hand scoop and broom with scraper.	Area and traffic.	8,000 Sq. Yds. upward according to horse traffic.
Oswego	1 horse flusher, 1 pick-up sweeper.		Sheet asphalt 53,059, rough block 6,578, brick 111,638, wood block 3,555.		Sheet asphalt 2–4, rough block and brick the same, wood block 6.		Gangs.	Cans and gutters.	Scraper and broom.		Each man has definite area to cover.
Ogdensburg	1 horse sweeper, one horse flusher, 1 horse sprinkler.					3,000 Sq. Yds.	Singly.	Barrels in alleys.	Cart, shovel and broom.		Each man has definite area to clean.
Philadelphia	77 horse sweepers, 28 horse squeegees, 51 horse sprinklers all year and 28 extra in summer. 7 power flushers.	All satisfactory.	Sheet asphalt 7,722,806, rough block 62,380, brick 2,615,102, wood block 218,057 concrete, 750,139, macadam, bitulithic and asphaltic concrete 2,850,404, smooth block, 6,534,737, cobble 57,752, asphalt block 69,950, bituminous 984,813, slag block 54,242.		Sheet asphalt, rough block, brick, smooth and asphalt block 2–6, wood and slag block and cobble 3–6, concrete 1–6, macadam and bituminous 1.	4,000 in business, 18,000 in outlying.	Gangs on macadam, singly on others.	Cans and bags.	Bag carrier, bags, broom, watering pan, scraper, plug wrench.	Number of cleanings, traffic and population density.	Machine broom 90,000 Sq. Yds., auto flusher 90,000, squeegee 80,000.
Providence	3 horse sweepers, one horse sprinkler, 2 horse oilers, 1 power oiler.		Sheet asphalt 168,604.6, brick 6,734.8, wood block 72,576.5, bitulithic 172,901.9, macadam 3,243,386, granite block 691,342.9, cobble 47,669.2, bituminous 101,764.			3,500 to 16,000 Sq. Yds. 9 hrs.	Singly.	Gutters and cans at curb.	Pan, broom, shovel, cart.	Fitness for condition of area.	Yes.
Rochester	9 horse sweepers, 40 horse sprinklers, 4 horse flushers.						Both.	Barrel.	Cart, broom, scraper, barrel.
Rensselaer	2 horse sweepers, 1 horse sprinkler.
Reading
Richmond	6 rotary machine sweepers, 1 power rotary machine sweeper, 3 horse sprinklers, 3 horse flushers, 1 pick-up sweeper.						In alleys.		Push cart and broom.
St. Louis	11 horse sweepers, 4 horse squeegee machines, 10 horse sprinklers, 4 horse road oilers, 2 power road oilers.		Rough block 1,615,428, brick 4,390,336, wood block 383,590, bitulithic 1,170,528, asphalt block 1,867,340.			2,400–4,800	Singly.		Push cart or roller scraper, hoe, broom, shovel.
San Francisco	9 horse sweepers, 3 horse squeegees, 3 horse sprinklers, 15 combination sprinklers and flushers, 1 auto flusher, 3 20th century sweepers.					9,000 Sq. Yds.	Blockmen singly.	Cans at curb have holes in top for depositing papers.	Broom with sweeper, pick-up can, cleaners with pan attached.	By superintendent.
Salt Lake City	15 horse flushers.					1½ blocks.		Cans.	Push cart and broom.	By foreman.
Springfield	6 horse sweepers, 2 horse squeegees, 14 horse sprinklers, 2 power oilers, 1 horse and 1 hand pick-up sweeper.					Singly.		Cans.	Broom, scraper, cart, cans.	By foreman.
Seattle	All except squeegee.						Singly.	Cans.	Broom, scraper and two wheeled cart.	Traffic conditions.
Scranton	Street car flusher owned by company, city furnishes 2 men to operate it—auto flusher.
Troy	6 horse sweepers, 2 horse sprinklers, 2 power flushers.		Sheet asphalt 119,347, rough block 399,143, brick 327,969, bitulithic 12,389, macadam 53,543, smooth block 58,641.		Asphalt 6, rough block, brick and macadam 2, bitulithic and smooth block 6.
Utica	9 horse sweepers, 3 horse sprinklers, 2 power sprinklers, 1 horse flusher, 2 power flushers.					½ Sq. Mi.	Singly.	Cans.	Scraper, push and hand broom, can and shovel.
Washington	9 horse sweepers, 13 horse squeegees, 12 horse sprinklers, 3 horse flushers, 5 horse oilers, 7 alley sweepers, 3 alley sprinklers.						Singly and in pairs.	Sacks in alley.	Bag carrier, shovel, pan scraper, combination broom.	By foreman and office planning.	No.

Table I (g)
STREET CLEANING IN AMERICAN CITIES (Continued)
City	How is Efficiency of Employees Checked Up?	System and Method of Street Cleaning	Organization of Street Cleaning Force	Innovations that Have Reduced Cost of Cleaning	How Are Machines Routed?	Gallons Water Used per 1,000 Sq. Yds Cleaned		City Own Horses and Wagons?	Street Sprinkling
						Flushing Machine	Squeegee		Sprinkle Streets for Laying Dust Only?	Sq. Yds. Sprinkled During Year	Driver’s Daily Wage[[14]]
Buffalo	Supervisor.	Residential, hand and machine sweeping; business, flushing and White Wings.			By districts.			Yes.	Yes.	18,000,000
Beacon
Binghamton		Swept at night.		Will clean between 11 P.M. and 7 A.M. when traffic is light and few autos are parked.	Usually in batteries of three.	500.	No horses.	By private contract.
Cincinnati	Foreman’s field reports.	Residential, flushing followed by guttermen; business, flushing followed by White Wings. Flushing at night except in winter. Streets not flushed are broomed by gangs.	Foremen, drivers, helpers, broom-men and White Wings.		3 men to each route.	844.	Yes. Private contract.
Cambridge	None.	Residential, swept twice year; business, once a week.		No.				Yes.	Yes.
Chicago	Supervision by ward superintendent and section foreman.	Residential, block system; each man has section to clean. Business the same.				400.	65.	No.	No.
Camden
Columbus
Cleveland
Cortland	Complaints of residents.								Yes.	86,133.	4.00.
Dunkirk
Denver	Supervision.	Residential, sweepers; business, White Wings and flushers.		Sweep streets before flushing.	According to nature of dirt.			No.	Yes.		2.25.
Elmira		Residential, day flushing and gang picking; business, night flushing and day patrol.					400. No.
Fall River	None.	Daily patrol in business section; scrap gutters in residential twice a year.							Some.		2.65.
Grand Rapids									Yes.	236 miles.
Hudson									Yes.	358,000	2.10
Jamestown					Two routes, north and south side of city.			Yes.
Kansas City	Monthly, grades by commissioner to civil.	Residence, winter, hand sweeping; summer, flushing. Business, service. flush at night.	In gangs under foreman and district superintendent.	No.	Districts.	5,000,000 daily for all flushing except squeegeeing.		Yes, some hired.	By contract No.
Kingston								Yes.
Los Angeles	Thorough supervision.	Patrol system.	Five foremen in 5 districts.	Routed all men or assigned to each route to increase from business center out.		4,900.	Wagons.	Yes.	447 miles, 40′ width.
Louisville								Yes.
Lowell		Residential, patrol; business, patrol and machine sweeping.	Foreman, 8 men, two teams in residential. Foreman, 8 men, 2 teams, machine sweeper and sprinkler.					Yes.	Yes.		2.50.
Lynn	By foreman.			No.				Yes.	Yes.		3.04.
Lackawanna	Foreman.	Sweeper, sprinkler, push brooms.	One gang for each ward.					No.	Yes.	313,550.
Little Falls			7 sweepers with one street superintendent.
Milwaukee
Middletown		A section assigned to sweeper; flushed after hand sweeping.						Yes.	Yes.
Mechanicville	None.	Hand sweeping.	One man on given beat.					Wagons.	Yes.
New York City	Officers.	Hand and machine sweeping, hose and machine flushing, squeegeeing, litter picking.	District superintendent, section foreman, assistant section foreman, sweepers, drivers.	Motorized a section known as model district; systematized machine sweeping, squeegeeing and hose flushing covered parts.	Area and traffic conditions.			Yes.	Contractor.
New Orleans		Smooth surfaces flushed daily. Hand broom men follow flushers. Business section cleaned at night by flushers and hand cleaning.									2.00
New Bedford								Yes.	Yes.		2.50.
Newark		Ten districts. Number of men assigned to each according to size of district.		Men held responsible for these districts.					No.
Norwich	None.	Sweep to gutters, shovel into piles and then into wagons.	Sweeper team, wagon team.					Wagons.	Yes.		1.60.
New Rochelle	Supervision of Commissioner and time keeper.	By hand broom.						Yes.	Yes.		2.25.
Niagara Falls	By 2 deputy superintendents.	Residential, sweeping; business, flushing.						Wagons.	Some.
Newburgh								Yes.
Oakland	Patrolmen visited once or twice daily by foreman; contract work inspected daily.	Small gangs on macadam, occasional flushing after wet-weather. Machine sweeping and patrol.	Gangs of 6 to 8 men under sub-foreman. Directed by district superintendent of streets on macadam. Patrol and machine sweeping.	Readjusted patrol routes; substituted hand patrol for suction sweeper.	Swept 2,3,4 and 6 times weekly. 2 and 3 times schedules adjacent to 4 and 6 times schedules.			Yes.	Macadam streets.		$2.25 to $3.00
Oswego		Pick-up sweeper, flushing and hand sweeping.			By yardage.			No.	No.
Ogdensburg	By foremen.	Residential sprinkled and machine swept; business patrolled and flushed.		Flushing.				No.	Some.		1.75.
Philadelphia	Inspectors supervised by district engineers.	Blockmen assigned to sections by chief of bureau; patrol duty. Inlets cleaned, county roads cleaned.	Machines followed by gangs and carts and wagons, number depending on length of haul to dump, season of the year and traffic.	Street cleaning parade annually.	Batteries of 2 or 3.	300.	250.	No.	Yes.
Providence	Foreman’s daily report of neglect of duty.	Residential, gangs; business, patrol.	Residential, foreman, 17 men and 10 single teams; business, patrol in charge of foreman.		Divide into 6 sections.			Yes.	No.
Rochester		Residential, gang and patrol; business, patrol.						No.	Yes.
Rensselaer								No.	Yes.
Reading
Richmond				Elgin machine sweeping in residential section.				No.	Yes.
St. Louis				By scrubbing business districts streets nightly cost reduced 40¢. per great square.				Yes, flushers hired.	Yes, by contract.	14,000,000
San Francisco	Time cards, trip cards, efficiency cards as to attendance, sobriety and obedience.		Residential, gangs of foremen, 3 laborers and 2 teams each. Business, blockmen, night-gangs of 2 foremen, 9 laborers and 8 double teams.					No.	Yes.	382,344,303
Salt Lake City		White Wings and flushing.					Wagons and some horses.	Yes.	150 miles.
Springfield	Foreman calls on each man several times daily.	Residential, crosswalk sweepers, machine cleaning, gutter scraping. Business, squeegeeing, flushing, patrol.	Individuals and gangs.				Some.				30¢. hour.
Seattle	Reports from foremen and district foremen.	Residential, flushing, sweeping and patrol; business, flushing and patrol.	Residential, under sub-foreman; business, under district foreman.	Flushing is most economical.				Yes.	No.
Scranton		Business, hand and machine sweeping and flushing. Residential hand and machine sweeping.
Troy		Smooth streets flushed, rough streets and brick, machine swept. Patrol.
Utica					By districts.			No.	No.
Washington	Unit cost, conditions, observation.	Residential, machine and hand cleaning, squeegeeing, flushing, oiling and sprinkling. Business, patrol, squeegeed or flushed.	Assistant superintendent, chief inspector, foremen, working force.		By foremen, subject to superintendent’s approval.	1,500.	162.	Yes.	Some macadam unpaved and streets.		2.25. 1.75.

Table I (h)
STREET CLEANING IN AMERICAN CITIES (Continued)
City	Street Sprinkling
	Daily Cost per Team[[14]]	Total Annual Cost of Street Sprinkling	Paid out of City’s General Fund?	Paid by Abutting Property Owners?	Method of Assessment. Who Pays for Street Intersections?	Total Gallons Used a Year for Sprinkling	Average Rate of Assessment per Foot Front for Sprinkling	Does This Include Cost of Water or is Water Non-assessable?	Do Corporations Sprinkle Streets on Which the Trolley Cars Run?
Buffalo		$10,000.00		Yes.	No charge for intersections.	7,500,000	10¢	Yes.	On two streets.
Beacon
Binghamton
Cincinnati
Cambridge		40,000.00[[15]]	No.	Yes.	4¢. front foot each side; intersections sections not counted.	15,000,000	4¢.	No.	No.
Chicago
Camden
Columbus
Cleveland
Cortland		948.68		Yes.	City pays for intersections.	6,470	5¢.	Yes.	No.
Dunkirk
Denver	$2.50	80,227.95	Yes.			311,364,000		City pays $25 a year for hydrant for all purposes.	No.
Elmira									No.
Fall River	6.00	2,809.24	No.	Yes.	Intersections paid by city.	4,403,200	2¢.	Non-assessable.	No.
Grand Rapids		25,131.23				117,821,750			Yes.
Hudson		1,500.00	Yes.
Jamestown
Kansas City
Kingston
Los Angeles	4.45			No.		40,000 tanks per month, each tank 550 gallons.			No.
Louisville					City pays for intersections.[[16]]		5.5¢.	Yes.	No.
Lowell	6.00		$17,000	Yes.	No pay for intersections.		5¢.	No cost.	No.
Lynn		24,061.77		Yes.	per foot front in residential; 8¢. in business.
Lackawanna	4.75			Yes.
Little Falls								Non-assessable.	No.
Milwaukee		60,310.05	5,205.28[[17]]	Most.	Assessed to property owners.		1.6¢.[[18]]	Non-assessable.
Middletown			No.	Yes.	City pays for intersections ½c. per front foot per week.			Non-assessable.	No.
Mechanicville	5.00	1,200.00	Yes.			8,000,000			No.
New York City
New Orleans
New Bedford		3,061.59	Yes.						[[19]]
Newark
Norwich	5.00	1,700.00	No.	50%			3¢.	Yes.	No.
New Rochelle		1,202.32	Yes.			1,100,509			Yes.
Niagara Falls	5.00	2,000.00	Yes.						Yes.
Newburgh
Oakland	5.00–6.00	43,651.95	Yes.			10,197,400 Cu. Ft.			Few cases.
Oswego									No.
Ogdensburg	4.00			Yes.					No.
Philadelphia		24,367.14	Yes.						No.
Providence
Rochester		42,271.73		Yes.					Pays proportionate cost.
Rensselaer
Reading
Richmond
St. Louis		250,000.00		Yes.	Special tax 4¢. per foot front.	1,727,362,500	4¢.	Non-assessable.
San Francisco			Yes.	No.					At times.
Salt Lake City	4.50	25,000.00	Yes.
Springfield		13,493.68	Yes.					Yes.	Yes, $100 a mile.
Seattle									Yes.[[20]]
Scranton
Troy									No.
Utica
Washington	3.55	4,633.58	Yes.

Table I (j)
STREET CLEANING IN AMERICAN CITIES (Continued)
City	Cost Data
	Street Cleaning Done by City or Contract	Yearly Contract Price	Total Cost of Street Cleaning Year, Exclusive of Snow Removal	Salaries and Wages	New Appliances	Repairs and Maintenance of Appliances	Other Expenses	Cost per 1,000 Sq. Yds. Street Cleaning Done	Average Cost per Sq. Yd. of Hand Sweeping	Average Cost per Sq. Yd. of Machine Flushing[[21]]	Average Cost per Sq. Yd. of Squeegeeing[[21]]
Buffalo	City.		$146,517.43	$84,499.70	$17,233.42	$44,784.41		28¢.	30¢.
Beacon	City.
Binghamton	City.
Cincinnati	City.		186,847.17					.00035
Cambridge	City.		59,300.00	47,500.00	500.00	300.00	$11,000.00
Chicago	City.
Camden	City.		26,056.80			238.09
Columbus	City.		126,897.19	94,180.68					.388¢.	.617 per Gr. Sq.[[22]]
Cleveland									.42786 per Gr. Sq.	.15388 per Gr. Sq.[[22]]
Cortland	City.		31,000.00
Dunkirk	Contract.	2.8¢. per Sq. Yd per season.
Denver	City.		108,296.60					One-sixth of a mill.	15–100 of a mill.	13–100 of a mill.
Elmira	City.		11,748.20	10,047.18	1,000.00	711.52		0.397	0.321	0.0815
Fall River	City.		53,867.80
Grand Rapids	City.									.0385[[23]][[24]]
Hudson	City.		1,400.00
Jamestown	City.		5,638.70	3,983.67		1,655.03			.1464¢.
Kansas City	City.		200,000.00	170,000.00		30.000.00
Kingston	City.		9,500.00	9,300.00	100.00	50.00	50.00
Los Angeles	City.								.069 to .285 per day.[[23]]	.16 to .21[[23]]
Louisville	City.		80,819.80
Lowell	City.
Lynn	City.		29,298.85
Lackawanna	City.
Little Falls	City.
Milwaukee	City.		238,335.00 including sprinkling.						26.2¢-35.3¢.[[23]]	25.5¢.[[23]]
Middletown	City.		3,975.65
New York City	City.		7,643,936.74	5,380,620.63
New Orleans	City.		322,000.00
New Bedford	City.		60,478.81
Newark	City.		268,732.54	237,213.15
Norwich	City.
New Rochelle	City.		37,665.71	34,974.67		2,245.79	445.25	26¢.	.027¢.
Niagara Falls	City.		118,000.00			20,000.00	10,000.00
Newburgh	City.		9,000.00
Oakland	Both.	$44,663.44	74,951.32	25.969.25[[25]]		436.75	3881.88[[25]]	.00366[[26]]	.201[[23]]
Oswego	City.		4,231.41	3,226.01	517.79	457.61
Ogdensburg	City.		4,428.66
Philadelphia	Contract.	1,232.847.00							17.8¢[[23]]	16¢.[[23]]	18¢.[[23]]
Providence	City.
Rochester	City.		183,783.44
Rensselaer	City.		2,740.00
Reading	Contract.	Three year basis $12.90 per city square, length 540 ft. $35,000 a year.
Richmond	City.		Not separated from garbage and ash collection.
St. Louis	City.		527,000.00							1.25 per Gr. Sq.	92¢. per Gr. Sq.
San Francisco	City.		350,400.00		6,000.00
Salt Lake City	City.
Springfield	City.		243,952.86						.00035		.00017
Seattle	City.		148,456.56
Scranton									17 to 35¢.[[23]]	18¢.[[23]][[22]]
Troy	City.
Utica	City.
Washington	City.		264,869.70						$ .156[[23]]	$.262[[23]]	.150[[23]]

Table I (k)
STREET CLEANING IN AMERICAN CITIES (Continued)
City	Preventive Work			Any Unusual Conditions with Which Your Department Has to Contend?	Disposal of Sweepings
	What Effort, If Any, Made to Secure Cooperation of Public to Reduce Street Litter?	Is Cost of Cleaning Considered in Selecting Kind of Pavement?	Do Police and Health Departments and Courts Cooperate?		Average No. of Cu. Yds. of Sweepings per 1,000 Sq. Yds. of Area Cleaned	Average Amount of Sweepings Collected at Each Cleaning	Method of Disposal
							On City Dump	Used for Filler	Sold for Fertilizer	Price Charged	Total Yearly Receipts
Buffalo	By ordinance.	No.	Yes.	None.			Yes.	Yes.
Beacon	Waste cans.	No.	Yes.	No.					Yes.	Contract.	$137.00
Binghamton
Cincinnati	Through press and clean-up campaigns.	No.	Yes.	Land slides and floods.	.24	Yes.	Yes.
Cambridge	Clean-up Week.	No.	Yes.	No.		Yes.
Chicago			Yes.		.079	.079	Yes.	Yes.
Camden	Education campaign cooperating with civic organizations.
Columbus
Cleveland							Yes.
Cortland		No.	Some.	Some lanes in rear of stores used for dumping papers.			Yes.	Yes.
Dunkirk							Yes.
Denver							Yes.
Elmira	Waste cans used.	Not much.	Yes.	No.				Yes.
Fall River	No.	No.	No.	No.			Yes.
Grand Rapids
Hudson		Yes.	Yes.	Existence of alleys.	½ cu. yd.		Yes.	Yes.
Jamestown				City very hilly.	.053
Kansas City	Superintendent arrests violators.	No.	Yes.	No.			Yes.
Kingston
Los Angeles									Yes.
Louisville	Yes.		Yes.				Yes.
Lowell		Yes.	Very little.				Yes.		Yes.
Lynn			No.	Papers from refuse collectors.			Yes.
Lackawanna	Clean-up campaign.	Yes.	Yes.	No.			Yes.
Little Falls	None.	To some extent.	No.				Yes.		Yes.
Milwaukee	Publicity and circulars.		Yes.	No.			Yes.
Middletown	Placed cans for paper. Through press.	Yes.	Yes.	No.			Yes.			30¢. for 1½ yds.
Mechanicville	Police department and waste cans.		Yes.	No.				Yes.
New York City	Anti-litter League Educational work.		Yes.	Construction work; push carts.	28.6 per yr.	.029 cu. yds.		Yes.
New Orleans						Yes.
New Bedford
Newark	Police department and public schools.	No.	Yes.	No.				Yes.
Norwich	Very little.	No.	No.	No.			Yes.	Yes.
New Rochelle	Yes, by ordinance.	Yes.	Yes.	No.	119 cu. yds.		Yes.
Niagara Falls	Placing waste cans.	Yes.	Yes.	No.			Yes.
Newburgh	Through press, cans provided, hand-bills distributed in business section.						Yes.
Oakland	Distribute cards, enforcements of ordinance prohibiting dumping of refuse in streets.	Yes.	Only in extreme cases.	None.			Yes.	Yes.
Oswego	Use waste cans.			No city garbage or ash collection; people dump on back streets.			Yes.
Ogdensburg
Philadelphia	Pamphlets distributed. Rubbish cards distributed, lectures to school children. Place waste cans.	In general way.	To some extent.	Overloaded wagons, storekeeper sweeping dust into street.	.17	.23 cu. yds.	Yes.	Yes.
Providence			Yes.				Yes.	Yes.		$2.00 per cord.
Rochester
Rensselaer		No.	Yes.	No.			Yes.	Yes.	Yes.	No.
Reading
Richmond							Yes.	Yes.	Yes.	15¢. per load.
St. Louis	Placing metal refuse boxes on sidewalk.	Yes.					Yes.	Yes.
San Francisco	Place dirt cans and paper cans.		Yes.				Yes.
Salt Lake City	Enforcement of ordinances.		Yes.				Yes.	Yes.
Springfield							Yes.		Yes.	No.
Seattle	Through the press.		Yes.	Many hills.			Yes.	Yes.
Scranton
Troy
Utica
Washington	Placing waste paper boxes, police regulation.	No.	Yes.				Yes.	Yes.

Note: Seattle and Denver are the only cities which report that they clean their sidewalks. Denver limits its work to the business district. All cities report they do not dump sweepings in manholes. All cities except Salt Lake City and Norwich report they sprinkle streets preceding sweeping. Cambridge, San Francisco, and Springfield, Mass., are the only cities which report they do not have sprinklers precede squeegee machines.

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[1]. On account of favorable weather conditions and the necessity of economising very little machine brooming is done.

[2]. One-tenth of it cleaned four times daily. Two-fifths once a day. One-half once a week.

[3]. Flushing only.

[4]. Hand cleaning, flushing and squeegeeing.

[5]. Not including alleys.

[6]. Flushing only.

[7]. Hand and machine sweeping and flushing.

[8]. Entire year.

[9]. Sweepers patrol streets from one to ten times daily.

[10]. Also includes machine sweeping, cleaned periodically.

[11]. Also includes machine sweeping—per year.

[12]. 43,341 loads in year; 85% 2 cu. yds. each and 15% 3 cu. yds. each.

[13]. Four of these on the average will be sub-foremen at $3.50, and the other laborers at $2.50 for 8 hours. These men are also under the supervision of four district deputies at $125 a month each. These district deputies have many other duties.

[14]. Length of day eight hours, unless otherwise noted.

[15]. For water and oil.

[16]. .045 foot frontage for 40 foot street.

.055 foot frontage for 50 foot street.

.065 foot frontage for 60 foot street.

[17]. City also paid for water and hydrant rental $25,329.88

[18]. Based on street 30 feet wide and sprinkled twice daily for 150 days.

[19]. Railroad company furnishes electric power and use of tracks for car sprinkler and power flusher. City pays for car.

[20]. City furnishes two men and company motormen and conductor. City owns sprinklers.

[21]. Including 10% of cost of machinery for depreciation and repairs and 4½% interest on machinery.

[22]. Trolley car flusher.

[23]. Per 1,000 sq. yds.

[24]. Does not include depreciation and interest.

[25]. On city work only. Does not include amount paid to contractor.

[26]. Includes cleaning drains and gutters and inlets, cleaning under small highway bridges and removing fallen trees from roadway.

[27]. One square equals 540 ft. including salaries and wages, cost of new appliances, repairs and maintenance of appliances and all other overhead charges.

[28]. Includes depreciation and repairs, but not general supervision.

SEWAGE DISPOSAL
EFFICIENCY OF PROCESSES USED BY AMERICAN CITIES—OPINIONS OF AUTHORITIES—EXPERIMENTS WITH NEW METHODS.

Recognition of the necessity for the proper disposal of sewage is now quite prevalent in most American communities, whether large or small. In many sections the problem has become vital, and as the population increases, it is only a matter of time when all will be compelled to solve the problem, for its importance grows in direct proportion to the rapid increase in inhabitants. The continued concentration of population makes it increasingly difficult and expensive for a municipality to secure and maintain a pure water supply and forces community activity for protection against disease germs. It also causes the demand for the improvement of the esthetic condition of bodies of water within or near a city’s boundaries. Many states have already recognized the conditions due to these nuisances and have enacted strict legislation with a view to preventing the pollution of streams and other bodies of water, for the protection of water supplies, surface and underground, and for the elimination of disease germs accompanying sewage. States and even nations have realized that sewage disposal is more than a local problem. In every case it is an inter-community problem, in some it is inter-state and in a few the question must be settled by national governments.

Even those communities which have not already provided a proper method of disposal of their sewage know that it must be done sooner or later, and many are preparing for it either by making a preliminary study, by preparing tentative plans, by reconstructing their sewerage systems or planning new extensions with that end in view, or by shaping their financial programs so that the community will be prepared to assume the financial burden when the necessity becomes imperative.

The quantity of harmful waste produced by a community is surprisingly small in comparison with the disastrous effects it may produce. All authorities agree that in cities provided with an abundant water supply sewage contains less than one-tenth of one per cent. of foreign substances. This organic matter and the products of its decomposition the Massachusetts State Board of Health has found rarely exceed one-half of one per cent. of the sewage. George W. Fuller, consulting sanitary engineer, says that 99.9 per cent. of sewage is ordinarily pure water and that even much of the remainder is harmless matter of a mineral nature. The experience of George S. Webster, Chief Engineer of the Bureau of Surveys and of the Philadelphia Sewage Testing Station, with sewage works, indicates that on an average 1,000 persons produce per annum forty-five tons of dry sludge matter, or the solid part of the sewage after treatment; and the United States Census Bureau reports that the volume of sewage discharged daily during the year per person is 164 gallons. Yet the small amount of decomposing matter must be properly treated for it is that which gives sewage its offensive character and power to cause disease.

The proper solution of the sewage disposal problem involves first, the construction of a sewerage system that will remove the sewage from the community completely and as rapidly as possible, and secondly, the construction of a disposal plant at which the sewage can be treated in such a way that when it is discharged into the body of water it will not cause a nuisance and disease.