MODERN METHODS OF STREET CLEANING 



A marked personal interest is taken by the average 

 street-cleaner in Europe. lie receives less money for 

 his services and owes his position less to political in- 

 fluence than is the case in the United States. He takes 

 pride in his work and is not above it. He may spend 

 his whole life in this employment and have no other 

 ambition than to rise to a position of trust in the or- 

 ganization he belongs to. The difference in the cost 

 and efficiency of labor has much to do with the cost 

 of keeping streets clean, for hand work is and must 

 always be one of the chief items of expense of public 

 scavenging. 



Considerable difference exists in different cities con- 

 cerning the organization of the forces engaged in clean- 

 ing the streets, particularly as to the number of men 

 employed and the extent to which military discipline 

 prevails among them. In German cities it is the rule 

 to employ workmen who have done military duty 

 and in most places none but men of good physique 

 and energy are used. In some other countries it is 

 evident that much less care is exercised with regard 

 to the physical qualifications of the workmen; occa- 

 sionally men can be seen who are superannuated and 

 in other ways incapable. In a few small places on 

 the continent, women take part in the work of street 

 cleaning, but the employment of women for this kind 

 of work is strongly opposed to prevailing tendencies. 

 An effort is being made to substitute machine labor 

 for hand labor for reasons both of speed and economy. 



So far as could be learned, in all cases responsibility 

 is assigned in the street forces very much as in mili- 

 tary organizations. At the head is a superintendent 

 who has officers under him upon whom he can rely for 



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