White Ducks
New York City was a town a filth and garbage. 40,000 people died from the garbage and disease. In 1895 120,000 horses dumped 445,000 pounds of manure on the streets of New York City. The City was really dirty and needed alot of help. Lucky help was soon to come.
New york during the 19th century was filthy. Households garbages were just thrown outside on the streets. The garbage was items like animals carcasses, human wastes, and ash. Rubbish workers would pick up certain items and sell them to plants that would use them. The left of the garbage was left there or fed to hogs. In the summer the heat made the smell of the trash unbearable.
In 1881 New York City Established a Department of Sanitation. At first this did not help the situation. Then George Waring came to help. George was hired as a commisioner in the Department of street cleaning. This was in 1895. He was strict since he was a Civil War Veteran. He made his workers wear white clothes as a symbol of cleanliness. This is how they got their nickname the White Wings.
George Waring recruited 2,000 sanitation workers. They recycled the sewage from organic wastes into oil and grease. They saved many lives. After 16 years most of the American cities had waste systems. In 1907 every big city had sewers.
The White Wings cleaned up the city. George Waring successfully created New York City's waste-disposal program. After he cleaned up the city Waring took a job in Cuba doing the exact same thing. While in Cuba he got yellow fever. He died in 1898 at the Rutherford.
http://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/when-the-white-wings-cleaned-up-new-york/
http://www.history.co.uk/explore-history/history-of-america/crime-and-grime.html
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