| Show THE NEW SANITARY BELIEFS our grandmothers were no doubt the neatest housewives the world has ever seen and yet we know better than to use the feather duster which she used to whisk over and under and in and around every dusty object in the hause modem sanitary intelligence teaches us that she simply drove countless millions of microbes mic robes and particles of dirt into the air most of which came and settled back again to be disturbed once more by the next mornings dusting the present day house cleaning wipes the dust ot into a dustpan or a moist cloth and burns it the same line of reasoning has now brought the health board the street cleaning department and the medical journals of new york to the realization that our street methods are as unsanitary and old fashioned as our grandmothers dusting it Is now pointed out that the whirling brush of the big two horse street sweeper does more than it does good the variegated assortment of countless myriads of microbes mic robes lying harmlessly in our city streets are picked up and scattered through the air the clouds of bacteria saturated dust which rise from the street sweepers are druyen through the avenues and side streets pass into the doors and windows of stores and houses and rise n diminishing quantities even above the roofs street sweeping it is now declared should be stopped and street washing should be substituted many of the larger cities of europe have for a number of years washed their asphalt avenues every morning and it Is urged that american cities should adopt the more sanitary and healthful system of washing the pavements and driving down into the sewers the filth and disease germs on the important avenues the pavements are wiped dry by driving over them a rubber squeeze wagon no more evidence to prove the daneece ot street sweeping could bg brought forward than the figures of dr the kew york street cleaning who has found that one third of his entire farce of treet cleaners hav ber culos ls he states that five years work a a cleaner mattes the average individual a consumptive when it Is rons hat every employed in his department must pass an examination and show a perfect condition of health before he is admitted Into the service A these figures are even more significant and again when it is further considered that street cleaning is an outdoor out door occupation and that in european cities street cleaners show extremely small mortality it la not surprising that the attention of health boards and sanitarians sanit arians has been attracted to this question the editor of the new york medical journal discussing the subject says now it is not ane tubercle bacillus alone which renders our street cleaners consumptive but it Is the constant inhalation of all kinds of dust and tho consequent irritation of the pulmonary surfaces which make the invasion of the germ of tuberculosis more easy the sweeping of streets in the dry state should bo considered as a crime against our lel it Is not the air but the dust in the air which reif ders new york such a dangerous place summer to people predisposed to pulmonary troubles whilo as a natural consequence of beans in closer proximity to the dust the street cleaners are the first to suffer the catt zens at large who are obliged to remain in new york during the sum mer months suffer also to a considerable degree we are all apt to breathe tue irritating and infectious dust raised by sweeping by guests of wind by street cars and by automobiles something effectual must be done to stop this source of tuberculosis and other diseases of the respiratory organs in our metropolis it street cleaning as it Is done now renders the average employed consumptive within a few years the sources of infection are increased furthermore the majority of the street cleaners being of the poorer classes they will become burdens to the community the moment they cease to be breadwinners by a wise decision of the city authorities there is now an increased provision for water supply to the city this should be used immediately tor extensive sprinkling of all the streets of new york the few private sprinkling companies are in no way adequate to cope with the situation instead of forbidding individual house owners to use a hose tor sprinkling purposes in front of their houses though they may possess a water meter such a lure should rather be encouraged no street should be swept without being previously sprinkled and the gutters in the streets should be flushed dally except in freezing weather to forbid people to spit altogether when outdoors is unreasonable and any such law would not be carried out but a law could bo enforced which made spitting in the gutter permissible but expectorating expect orating on the sidewalk aej in the middle of the street punishable by a sever fine besides all these precautions street cleaners could be with respiratory masks as an additional protection particularly in very dusty localities dr thomas Darll neton president of the board of health of new york city says sir woodbury and I 1 are of one opinion least the streets should be sprinkled before they are swept lo 10 minimize the danger of breathing in germs the tuberculosis bacilli aa Is well known in the profession fes sion are infectious only when dry that is the reason we have BO earnestly advocated that the city bring salt water into manhattan island by a system of pipes we advocate the salt water not because it serves the purpose any better but because it Is cheaper than fresh we cannot afford the carolon water I 1 am alao in favor of sprinkling the streets with a strong disinfectant what kind I 1 have not yet decided the men in the street cleaning department are urged to close their uniform closely about the wrists and neck so that germs will not become lodged on their persons they are warned too to keep their clothes as clean aa possible for may dry upon the and so be communicated to the body there are men in new yorks street cleaning department gilld commissioner woodbury and I 1 am having them nil to learn the extent of the dicera dicers in each cae I 1 have what to take to check it nor athan I 1 know until I 1 lern fully the condition of he force tida which will be after juno bolh t |
