12. Do you think that the person at the head of each of these departments should be appointed by the head of the city government so that he could require them to work together? Why?

13. Are other cities so near to yours that both might want to use the same water supply? If so, how would they divide it? 14. When a new street is built, how may the water company be permitted to tear it up to put in new water pipes?

15. How do you think the management of the water and light for your city could be improved?

16. If you wish to improve this service how would you set about doing it?

CHAPTER VIII

THE DISPOSAL OF WASTE

72. Waste in the Country. In the country or the small village the disposal of waste is a simple matter. Ashes may be buried in the ground, or if they are from coal they may be used in making walks and roads. Much of the garbage may be fed to chickens or pigs. There are places where such rubbish as paper, empty boxes, and the like may safely be burned. Much of the material commonly called sewage may be used as fertilizer; and when not so used it may be buried in the ground without danger to health or comfort. Dead animals may be buried in the fields. Where land is plentiful all sorts of things may be hidden in it, often with benefit to its fertility. Homes are far enough apart for each family to care for the disposal of its own waste as it wishes without danger to the community. Therefore but little coöperation is necessary.

73. The Waste Problem in the City. In the large village or city all these conditions are different. There are no pigs or chickens to eat the garbage; there are no gardens in which to bury sewage or ashes; it is dangerous to build fires to burn rubbish, and the police should not permit it. Every foot of land is valuable, and almost all of it is in constant use. Yet many hundreds of pounds of this waste material must be disposed of for every inhabitant. The health and comfort as well as the beauty of the community require that it be removed promptly. If it is left even for

a few days, the danger from disease or from fires will arise.

74. Coöperation Is Necessary. It is out of the question to depend on private families to do this work. There must be public officers to attend to it; and there must be a law requiring all citizens to coöperate in aiding the officers. A

A model way to remove rubbish from a community.

few careless people may endanger the health of a whole city; the rubbish of a few families may ruin the appearance of a whole street. It would also be extravagant for each family to try to have this work done separately, for it would cost several times as much as to have it done through coöperation. Few communities, if any, attempt any other sort of management of this problem than that of public service. In fact, Europeans sometimes criticise us because, as they say, our cities always coöperate in doing for the people those things which are expensive for the citizens to

do for themselves, but give to private corporations the right to do the things which are profitable, such as the management of gas and electric plants.

75. The Street Cleaning Department. Most cities have a department of street cleaning which attends to much of this work. It sweeps the streets, into which careless people

throw many kinds of waste, and removes from in front of houses boxes of rubbish which are put out at regular times to be taken away. This task is made much more difficult in some neighborhoods by people who do not understand that the taxpayer must pay for the collection of newspapers and other trash which they throw into the street. In New York the city government has appointed children to watch such people and require them to pick up the rubbish they thus throw about. These "block captains," as they are called,

have done much good and have saved much money for the city. The street cleaning department in some cities also removes ashes. Now and then a contractor makes two profits when he is permitted to do this part of the work. He is paid once for hauling the ashes away and again for making a fill with them, just as if he had found the material for the fill himself. To save the city from this kind of extravagance requires constant attention on the part of public officers.

76. The Disposal of Garbage. This subject and the others which we are discussing in this chapter are mentioned not because we can give any idea here of the way the work should be done, but only to show how important and difficult the work of city government is; and therefore how important it is to secure trained men with experience and to pay them well for their tasks. Garbage consists mainly of waste from kitchens, and it can often be disposed of in such a way as to bring an income to the city, or at least to pay all the costs of its disposal. Most of it contains grease or oil, and these may be pressed out and used for axle grease or soap. Other parts of it, such as vegetable matter, may be fed to hogs; and some cities have large ranches on which hogs are fattened for profit. But either the places for making soap or the ranches are disagreeable neighbors, and it is not an easy matter to find location for them near a city without causing a protest from the people who live near by. Another method of disposal is to burn the garbage, using the rubbish collected by the street cleaning department as fuel. This entire program requires the finest planning and administration. Therefore it cannot be economically attended to except by experts who are willing and able to give it careful study. They must know the local