Telephone
Main 4900
Telephone
Main 4900
DUMPS CAN BE CONTROLLED
That the proper disposal of Bir
mingham’s garbage, so as to protect
the public health and prevent the
breeding of flies, is not the compli
cated and highly expensive under
taking officially intimated is indicated
by what is being done along this line
in other cities. It is reported that
Anniston, for example, a city ot
twenty thousand, finds that one plant
costing five thousand dollars is ade
quate to care for the garbage prob
lem there. Assuming that Birming
ham, a city ten times as large, yvould
have ten times the garbage at ten
times the cost of disposal, there still
remains a probable cost of only fifty
thousand dollars. But it is likely that
the Anniston plant is not utilized to
capacity, and that much less than
fifty thousand dollars would be Re
quired to prevent the Birmingham
dumps from producing flies ad libitum.
Unfortunately, i n Birmingham,
there appears to be an official indif
ference to the situation, and a failure
to study the question carefully with a
view to finding out what can be done
to stop fly-production, at least. The
mal odors of a dump are disagreeable,
but the real menace lies in the flies
the dumps produce. The care of the
public health is the most solemn ob
ligation of the municipal commission
—and apparently the least understood
and most neglected. The public would
like to have demonstration of an ac
tive, intelligent and resultful applica
tion of official diligence to this prob
lem. The present apathy and failure
tre being written into the record,
that record can be changed in only
one way.
