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81
Cleansing Public Streets.—The wood-paved roads
and the principal main thoroughfares have been swept
daily, in some eases certain streets twice a day, and
occasionally the surfaces washed; the bye-streets
swept two or three times weekly, according to requirements.
This work has been assisted, whenever
practicable, by the use of sweeping and scraping
machines, and in two or three main thoroughfares by
the employment of street orderly boys.
The past winter has been most severe and trying,
owing to the several heavy falls of snow in December,
January, and March, which caused a considerable
pressure of extra work and long hours to officers, men,
and horses. Every exertion was made early and late,
and as speedily as possible, to open up the traffic after
each fall; but in a parish like Paddington, intersected
by so many important omnibus routes, it is no easy
matter to clear a track of over 12 miles of roadway
six or eight inches in depth of snow in a few hours, and
with a limited number of men, at the same time opening
up the channels, gulleys, and crossings, which is the
most important work of all, and must be attended to
promptly. Again, the wharfage accommodation at
such times is generally inadequate, owing to the
accumulation of dust, slop, and snow which has to be
deposited thereon, and the canal traffic being stopped
by frost, as was the ease for upwards of three continuous
weeks in January.
Sanding Frosty Roads. — Owing to the many