NEW YORK 



been devised for cleaning the snow from the streets 

 or paying a just price for removing it. Snow-melting 

 m:ieh'mes have been tried without success. Salt is 

 sprinkled <m some of the streets by the street railway 

 companies, but it is objected to because of its chilling 

 effect on the feet. The snow has been shoveled into 

 the sewers to some extent, but this is not approved of 

 by the authorities in charge of the sewers. Snow plows 

 are used only by the street railway companies. The 

 street railways use an underground electric trolley 

 system requiring a slotted rail between each pair of 

 tracks. These roads are very rarely stopped by the 

 snow. 



The cost of dealing with the snow is large. A single 

 snow-storm may cost the city through the Street 

 Cleaning Department $500,000. On the other hand, 

 a winter like that of 1907-08 may occur with practi- 

 cally no snow except such as favorable weather condi- 

 tions remove. Under these circumstances, contractors 

 are unable to make satisfactory arrangements for labor 

 and apparatus. 



After what has been said, it will be understood that 

 accurate records as to the quantity of snow removed 

 from the streets of New York during a winter do not 

 exist. It has been estimated that the quantity removed 

 in the two boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx in 

 the winter of 1906-07 was 16,101,000 cubic yards. 

 Of this amount about 10,000,000 cubic yards were 

 removed by the snow contractor, 5,000,000 by the 

 Street Cleaning Department with its own force and 

 extra carts, and the remainder by street railway com- 

 panies. 



The Street Cleaning Department owns its horses and 



179 



