MODERN METHODS OF STREET CLEANING 



such profit as the public authorities see fit. Waste is 

 not necessarily something which is intrinsically useless, 

 but something which, when properly collected and 

 transported to some other locality, may be of consider- 

 able value. Papers, bits of metal and glass, bones, 

 scraps of meat, and pieces of cloth, such as are thrown 

 out from every household and cast away by every person, 

 when suitably collected and sorted, may have a com- 

 mercial value which will more than repay the cost of 

 recovery. 



The solid wastes which are collected by public scav- 

 engers in small cities are most often disposed of by 

 being dumped in a mixed condition upon low- 



The Manage- 

 ment of lying land. In this way extensive marshes 



have been reclaimed, ravines have been filled 

 and considerable tracts of land have been added to 

 cities. 



In spite of strong prejudice to the contrary, there is 

 usually no great sanitary objection to this practice 

 provided the work is well done. As a rule much of the 

 putrescible kitchen slop of small American cities is kept 

 separate at the households and removed by private 

 scavengers who use it for hog feeding, so that the 

 mixed refuse of small cities is not likely to produce offen- 

 sive odors when dumped on land under proper circum- 

 stances. More trouble is likely to occur from the blow- 

 ing about of loose papers and dust from the dumps. 

 The papers should be burned or buried promptly and the 

 dumps should be leveled constantly. The overhauling 

 of refuse at the dumps for the recovery of useful articles 

 is an insanitary practice which is, unfortunately, well- 

 nigh universal. Often women and children engage in 

 this practice under circumstances which make this 



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