Dirty Dustbins and Sloppy Streets

this abominable snow to be immediately carted away?" when the footpath and roa

The range of weight of the snow was found to vary as much as eleven times the minimum. A cubic yard from one snowstorm, weighing as much as 814 pounds, while an equal bulk from another fall only weighed 71 pounds. The weight

ight of a cubic foot of snow is 16.38 pounds, and that a fall of three inches of snow during the night

he snow would soon become compressed after falling, I assume that this bulk would be diminished by one-half, and that consequently (without reckoning the snow which has fallen upon roofs and into courts, passages, and alleys, and which has been quickly shovelled therefrom to the street by the occupiers) about 40 ordinary cartloads, weighing half a

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in the form of water into the sewers, but I have simply advanced the few facts which I have stated in order to give some idea of the labour and cost of snow clearing in a city or town, and I think I cannot do better than at once describe how this important work is car

trict, according to its extent and the particular conditions affecting the several streets and squares comprised within it. Each district is allotted to a contractor, who usually associates with himself six to ten partners, besides the labourers whom he employs. He has to find carts, horses, and carters; the necessary implements-spades, shovels, brooms, scrapers, mattocks, barrows, &c.-are furnished by the city, under suitable stipulations for ensuring proper care in their use. The contracts are made annually, and the same persons almost always apply for them again year after year. The contractors come principally from the trades that are interrupted by winter, viz.:-Paviors, bricklayers and masons, and gravel quarrymen. For the direction and supervision of the work the whole city is divided into four sections, over each[65] of which is appointed an engineer, with an assistant, who are aided in the general arrangements by the police surveillance. Payment is made only for work effectually done.

Milan is accounted for by the low rate of wages and

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with the providers of sand and gravel at the beginning of winter, the contractors for maintaining the public roads being also bound to hold their carts at the disposition of the sectional engineers. In certain cases the half-melted snow is swept into the sewers, especially into those carrying warm water. Melting by steam has been tried, when a continuous jet was turned on to a mass of banked snow, but it melted very slowly at first, and the melting ceased after the cavity had increased to a certain size. Two descriptions of snow ploughs

e have to contend against is the disposal of

where dredging has to be done, as it is surprising what a quantity of road scrapings and other matters are always r

snow thus heaped takes a considerable time to melt, the first effect of a thaw being to consolidate it, but a bet

es, but has failed through the snow consolidating, and[68] although lighted gas jets have

s. Merryweather & Co., of London, have, I understand, melted a cartload of snow in seven minutes. It might, however, be possible to melt the snow by the heat generated in the furnaces tha

following suggestions may be of use to those who ha

e foot passengers and to keep the traffic open. If there should be a high wind at the time, and the

a sudden thaw, when, if these precautions were not taken, serious flooding and great damage to property might ensue; for the same rea

of the street, taking care to leave the channel gutters and gratings quite clear, and a sufficient space between the heaps for at least two lines of traffic. Passages must also be cut

h a clause or clauses may be inserted throwing the onus of such cleansing and sweeping of[70] the footpaths upon the several and respective occupiers of houses and buildings. But on whoever the duty rests there is no doubt that the easiest and quickest method of effecting a thorough cleansing of a footpath from snow is by an application of salt, and then to sweep off the s

rs, and in wet weather those in the main streets are cleansed repeatedly during the day, and this has been do

rom the following interesting remarks on the subject, contained in a re

footways of the most important thoroughfares. It has been stated by medical authorities that the application of salt to snow is detrimental to the health of people who have to walk through the 'slush' produced by the mixture, and that the excessive cooling of the air surrounding the places where the application has been made is injurious to del

specially during business hours, appears to be wasteful and futile, and to

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llowed the snow fall, or when the snow has drifted into extensive accumulations. Were it not for the danger to health by excessive cooling of the air, and for the expense attending the operation, all the impervious pavements could be cl

should also be taken to scrape out and thoroughly clear the roof water trunks, which are frequently found crossing the