xx PUBLIC HEALTH AND PERSONAL HYGIENE 305 



all garbage promptly removed, the filth of the streets 

 kept from accumulating, the stables carefully cleaned 

 and disinfected, and all other sources of offensive and 

 dangerous air should receive the immediate attention of 

 the sanitary organization. 



215. Garbage. One of the most important problems 

 for every city is the disposal of its garbage, sewage, 

 and other refuse. How shall the wastes and offal of all 

 kinds, from private houses, hotels, restaurants, stores, 

 markets, produce commission houses, and the like be 

 collected and disposed of ? The garbage should be put 

 into a tightly covered can or pail for that purpose. It 

 is then collected by the city at short intervals, from one 

 to seven times a week, and disposed of in some way. 

 The cans or pails should be kept where they will not be 

 offensive, and occasionally they should be carefully 

 washed or disinfected. 



The garbage is usually collected at public expense. 

 New York City paid about $1,700,000 in 1900 for col- 

 lecting and disposing of its garbage, and over fifteen 

 hundred persons were employed to do the work. Boston 

 employed about one third as many men and paid about 

 one third as much. 



In the country it is an easy matter to dispose of the 

 garbage in some way. It may be used as a fertilizer, 

 buried in the ground, fed to animals, or burned in a stove. 

 But in the city it cannot be burned without producing 

 odors that are offensive to the public, and the first two 

 methods cannot be employed at all for private disposal. 

 For that reason the city itself must find some way for 

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