Page:McClure's Magazine v9 n3 to v10 no2.djvu/191

Rh their improvement has been constant and most satisfactory. Their white uniforms, once so derided, have been a great help to them, and they know it; and the recognition of the people has done still more for them. Indeed, the parade of 1896 marked an era in their history. It introduced them to the prime favor of a public by which, one short year before, they had been contemned; and the public saw that these men were proud of their positions, were self-respecting, and were the object of pride on the part of their friends and relatives who clustered along their line of march.

What has really been done has been to put a man instead of a voter at the other end of the broom-handle. The "White Wings" are by no means white angels, but they are a splendid body of men, a body on which the people of New York can depend for any needed service without regard to hours or personal comfort. A trusted sweeper, for example, will stand on a windy dock-log all night long, and night after night, protecting the city against the wiles and tricks of the snow-carters. He gets no extra pay for this, but his extra service and his hardship are compensated by the consciousness that he is doing good work, that his good work is appreciated by his officers, and that the force to which he belongs is winning public favor partly because of what he himself is doing. In other words, the whole Department is actuated by a real esprit de corps, without which no organization of men can do its best, either in war or in peace.

The stock and plant have undergone an almost equal change. The horses are the finest in the city for their work. They are well trimmed, well groomed, and well treated. The carts are clean and in good order, and we have a complete duplicate outfit of harness in reserve. The stables are always in "show" condition; and order and neatness characterize all branches of our outfit so far as the kind of work done will allow.

The methods of work are now undergoing a change, but much of the old still remains. In its completeness it was as follows:

The streets were swept by men, to each of whom a certain area was assigned. The sweepings were gathered into little piles at the gutter. The carts, in their regular tours, took up these piles, which were thrown into them with a shovel, the wind carrying away its share of the fine dust. The refuse from houses (ashes, garbage, paper, and all manner of rubbish) was put into cans, barrels, boxes, firkins, and even bandboxes, which were stood at the edge of the curb. They were habitually over-filled, the sidewalk and the gutter being badly littered and papers being blown into the street. These receptacles were emptied into the carts with much scattering of dust in dry weather. This constituted the "street-cleaning" as the people saw it. It was supplemented, late at night, by a considerable amount of machine sweeping, which raised impenetrable clouds of dust.

The final disposition of all matters collected is little seen, but it constitutes one of the most important and interesting parts of our work. There are seventeen dumping-boards on piers along the city's front on both rivers, where the carts discharge their loads on to scows, to be towed to sea. It is necessary that the refuse be properly spread and piled on these scows to keep them on an even keel. This is known as "scow-trimming," and it has