Gate covered with Unhealthful Mold.
This growth on the walls is a great hurt to the health of people living in the houses. It breeds disease, and keeps the moisture in the walls, so that the houses are damp and unwholesome. It is of no use to shut our windows at night, for the early morning chill that we hope thus to shut out is in the walls themselves. It is far better to leave the windows open, that fresh air may come in and drive out some of the poisonous vapors that rise from the walls and creep into the house. The walls of the house should be kept clean of mold. They should be scraped and whitewashed very often, and the green, unhealthy growth kept down.
In the cities of Europe and America there are great sewer systems to take the waste and refuse from the houses and carry it far from the city. The sewers empty into the sea or into drainage canals, and thence to points where the sewage can be destroyed so that it will not endanger life. The city of Manila has some sewers. We can see the openings into them in the streets. They are small, square openings, covered with stone. But the sewers that run through the streets empty into the open moat that surrounds the walled city! It will become necessary, before many years, to fill this moat, to save the people of Manila from being killed by the gases that rise from it.
Damp walls, damp floors, damp rooms close to the ground, make the very best sort of places for dirt to gather. It is not enough that walls should be scraped and floors cleaned once in a while; they must be kept clean all the time. This is why sanitary inspectors go about the city to examine houses and walls and report on their condition. We should be glad that they do this; for we know that if they are faithful about it, the city will be more healthful and many lives will be saved.
The dirt that gathers in the streets is of many sorts. A great deal is made by the horses and carabaos, mules and oxen, that draw loads about the city. The wheels of the vehicles, too, grind the stone pavement to dust, and this is blown about by the wind. Dead leaves drop from the trees, choke up the gutters, and, left to themselves, will make sodden masses of decayed vegetation in corners. Waste paper blows about, and all sorts of unclean things are thrown into the streets by careless people. It takes a small army of laborers to keep the streets in order. They go over the city with brooms, shovels, and dust-boxes, and sweep and gather up refuse and dirt. They put it into carts and take it away to where it is loaded upon barges and sent out to sea, or used to fill in low places where it can do no harm.
There is a great deal that each of us can do to help keep the streets clean. No one should ever do anything that is likely to leave any dirt about them. Banana and orange peel should never be thrown on the sidewalk. This is not only a dirty and untidy trick, but often a bit of peel does serious mischief; a person may step upon one, slip, and get a very dangerous fall.
School children are the very best sort of helpers to the street-cleaning department. They can form what are called “Good-Government” clubs or societies, to help. They can keep a sharp lookout for careless people who are about to throw paper or fruit parings into the street. When they see any one doing this, they should not be afraid to remind him that it is a dangerous and an untidy thing to do. Most great cities now provide sheet-iron boxes along the sidewalks to receive all these things. We should have them in Manila. The children could then point them out to any one who needed to have his attention called to them. If they saw paper or peelings lying about, the boys might pick them up, if no street-cleaner were near, and put them into the boxes. We may be sure that girls and boys who were thus careful, never would do anything themselves to make the city untidy. They would not throw paper and peelings about, nor spit upon the sidewalks. Even school children ought to remember that they are growing up to be citizens. They cannot begin too young to take pride in their city or town or village and try to make it one of the best-governed places in the country. They should take pride in keeping school buildings nice. Even if these buildings are old, as so many are, at present, in the islands, they can still be kept so clean that any one entering will know that the pupils are self-governing, order-loving boys and girls, who will some day be self-governing and order-loving citizens.
The elements of good living are, after all, very simple. If we would live long and keep our bodies in condition to do their work, we must be clean. We must have clean surroundings; we must drink pure water and eat clean, wholesome food. We must not eat or drink things that will hurt us. We must do nothing that will make our bodies less fit dwelling-places for our souls. We must be honest and kind, ready to help and to take part in keeping everything about us clean and well ordered. Thus we shall be useful citizens, each ready to do his own part to make this world the place it should be.