HINTS 
TOWARDS PROMOTING 
THE \ 
I ■ 
HEALTH AND CLEANLINESS 
OF THE 
/ 
CITY OF NEW-YORK. 
NEW-YORK: 
Printed by T. & J. Swords, and sold at their Book-stores, 
No. 99 & 160 Pearl-street. 
1802. TO THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN, 
AND 
COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW-YORK; 
The following Hints for promoting the Health 
and Cleanliness of the City, are respectfully sub- 
mitted to their consideration, 
By their very humble servant, 
And well-wisher, 
THE AUTHOR, 
Long-Island, 1802. HINTS, Be. 
As a stranger in the city of New-York, I have been led 
to inquire into the causes and circumstances of the Yellow 
Fever, which has now become so frequent in its appearance, 
as to induce the belief that it is permanently fixed. This, cer- 
tainly, is a very unhappy opinion, as it tends to prevent those 
exertions to remedy the evil which, possibly, might prove ef- 
ficient. 
It is also a matter of dispute whether, on the contrary, it is 
not annually introduced from foreign countries or other parts 
of the United States. Whatever the cause, the real truth is, 
that the city is not sufficiently cleansed, and that it therefore is 
not to be wondered at, when once introduced, the fever should, 
even without an annual importation, continue to make its ap- 
pearance every year, during the hot months, and rage with 
more or less violence, until again rendered inactive by the 
cold. 
People also differ on the subject of the remedies. Some 
place most confidence on the rigid execution of quarantine, 
which, in New-York, in certain months, is enforced on vessels 
and their crews; but very little regard is paid to the examina- 
tion of persons coming to the city by land. Others think that 
cleanliness is of most consequence, and two laws of the Corpo- 
ration, the one “ for regulating the paving, and preventing 
obstructions,” and the other “ for preventing nuisances,” are 
generally considered as efficacious in this line as any additional 
rules can make them. 
I beg leave, however, in return for many civilities received 
in this city and other parts of the State, to point out some 4 
further improvements which, if they do not completely eradi- 
cate the disorder, as I sincerely believe they will if zealously 
executed, must, no doubt, greatly alleviate it. 
In treating the several subjects necessary to attain either of 
these objects, I shall seldom have occasion to touch on those 
regulations which are already pointed out by the laws, many 
of which are of sufficient importance to merit more attention in 
practice than they at present meet with; which omission is, I 
find, occasioned by the idea that, except in the unhealthy sea- 
son, remissness may be indulged without hazard. But this 
opinion also is as erroneous as the former. A habit of clean- 
liness, like every other, is the more to be depended upon the 
more regularly it is practised; and ill-health, occasioned by 
uncleanliness at any season, may, and assuredly does, lay a 
broad foundation for disease, in those months when sickness is 
most active. May not the time arrive, when, by clearing 
the lands in the back countries and other unknown causes, the 
winters may be so far ameliorated, that the cold will no longer 
produce the effect of impeding the disorder? We know that 
formerly the Tyber was annually frozen over, and we are 
certain that it never is the case at present. 
In those countries where the plague is most known per- 
sonal uncleanliness is so excessive that the most fatal disor- 
ders arise from that circumstance alone. In some, the natives 
never change the clothes which they wear next to the skin; 
but in a great measure trust their health to frequent bathings. 
In others, though attentive to this particular, the inhabitants 
are indifferent to that which delicacy has ever considered as the 
most degrading to our nature. The people of the United 
States, in general, are not to be reproached with the first of 
these causes, but such undoubtedly is the case among some 
of the poorer people, especially the emigrants. In the second, 
they are not, perhaps, so indifferent as they are ill some court- 
tries which boast of greater refinement; but the heat during 
the months of July‘and August renders every precaution mare 5 
necessary in this climate than in those, where, though the 
cold is less intense in winter, the heat also in summer is less in 
extremes: such negligence in more moderate climates thereby 
proves an inferior evil in point of health, though by no means 
so in point of moral delicacy. 
The great means of cleanliness, if properly applied, is 
Water ; and the most certain means of giving to water its na- 
tural effect, is, after the application, to get rid of it as soon as 
possible; and, through that medium, to convey away also 
those impurities, which otherwise, by floating in the air, 
would probably be inhaled by the lungs, and so enter into the 
system, and appear in a variety of shapes to baffle the skill of 
the physician. Impurities, no doubt, may be removed or ren- 
dered inactive by other methods, which become the more ne- 
cessary where water cannot conveniently be brought to act 
alone. To this end, lime has been found the most effective, 
both used dry and mixed with water. The particles, which 
otherwise would cause disease, like arsenic when incorpo- 
rated with lead, are rendered inactive when mixed with lime. 
There probably is in no country a city where water can be 
procured and again conveyed away with more ease than in 
New-York. The point of land on which it is built, with a 
rapid river of salt water on each side, is in no instance very 
wide, and it has a ridge running through the middle, from 
which the descent is amply sufficient to drain all that is super- 
fluous. Even the remoter parts of the city are so situated, that 
the one river or the other can be made to receive all the drains. 
No person will doubt this opinion, when it is understood that 
engineers have found, from experience, a descent of three inches 
in one mile sufficient to give activity to pure water; but a 
drain for foul water should never, if possible, be less than two 
feet in a mile, which is a trifle compared to what can be ob- 
tained from the Broadway. 
I have divided the observations, herein submitted, into the 
following heads: 1. Common sewers. 
2. Kennels in the streets. 
3. Drains above ground from houses. 
4. Drains below ground from houses. 
5. Vaults. 
6. Docks. 
7. Lodging houses. 
8. Burying grounds. 
9. Cleansing the streets. 
10. Watering the streets. 
11. Paving the streets. 
1. COMMON SEWERS. 
Were it possible instantly to convey the whole filth of a city 
to a place from whence no danger could arise, there would be 
no use for sewers; but the various liquids used in houses are so 
impregnated with offensive substances, that it is proper to re- 
move them from the open air as soon as possible. The practice 
therefore in well regulated cities is to have a common sewer to 
run through the middle of every street, and with these the drains 
from the houses and the kennels are communicated. The Ro- 
mans are said to have made them so large that a cart and horses 
could be driven through them. In London the modern sewers 
are circular, and built of a double row of bricks, set on edge, 
checking each other. They are of a diameter to admit a per- 
son to walk in a stooping position. They are often, on account 
of the distance from whence they run, and the nature of the 
ground, sunk at the outlet to the depth of fifteen or twenty 
feet; but this would seldom be necessary in New-York. ri he 
bricks ought to be formed in a mould made for the purpose, 
that the bevel may suit the circumference. They should be of 
the most perfect manufacture, and the mortar formed of the 
best materials. The circular shape of a drain or sewer has two 
very powerful effects. It is stronger than any other; for, if 7 
well supported at the sides, it can never be over-loaded, and ft 
is not liable to choak up, because the channel narrows and ex- 
tends in proportion to the quantity of water running in it: if 
there is any sediment in the sewer, be there ever so little cur- 
rent, it must wear a channel in the middle of it, and of course, 
the sides of the mud will cave in and be carried off; but where 
it is built flat and broad, that cannot often happen, as nothing 
but a torrent can keep it free. The distance from the Broad- 
way to either river is so short and steep, that, I will venture 
to say, a circular drain would never choak up. In the city of 
Philadelphia the streets are very flat, and are four times the 
length of those at New-York, having at present but one river 
to empty into; on this account the drains sometimes overflow 
the streets. 
2. KENNELS IN THE STREETS. 
The kennels are those drains on each side the carriage way, 
next the foot-pavement, which are above ground, and ought 
to serve no other purpose than to carry off the rain-water which 
falls on the pavement of the streets, and such other water as 
may be used for washing them. But as the water which runs 
in them must, of necessity, be often impregnated with offen- 
sive substances, there should be gratings at short distances to 
admit the water into the drains running at right angles into the 
sewers. The gratings should be neither too large nor too small 
—if the former, the substances passing through being too gross, 
will tend to choak the sewers; and if the latter, the water will 
be prevented in its passage, and thereby overflow the streets, 
unless removed by the neighbouring inhabitants, which is an 
attention not generally to be depended on. These kennels 
should never be made to cross a street; but where many 
ways meet, there ought to be as many gratings; for they 
must always be foul, and, besides, cause a disagreeable jolt to 
carriages. 8 
3. DRAINS ABOVE GROUND FROM HOUSES. 
The drains when above ground, ought only to convey the 
rain-water from the tops of the houses into the kennels; and 
even when applied to this purpose alone, they would be much 
better if conducted under the foot-pavement; for in this case 
the spouts would not annoy foot-passengers, by spattering on 
their feet. A narrow crevice of an inch over, to run the 
breadth of the pavement, may be left open to clear away any 
obstructions. 
4. DRAINS BELOW GROUND FROM HOUSES. 
It is on several accounts necessary that these should be well 
constructed; but principally because they will generally be 
sunk so deep that the expense of opening the ground will be 
considerable, and the inconvenience to the public very great, 
as they must of necessity be as numerous as the houses. They 
should communicate with the sink of the house at one end, and 
with the common sewer at the other. There should be an 
iron grating in an accessible situation to stop any gross matter 
from flowing into the body of the drain; and just in front of the 
grating there ought to be a cess-pool, of about eighteen inches 
square, and two feet deep, below the upper surface of the drain, 
to receive into it any heavy substances which may have escaped 
from the sink; to which last there ought also to be a grating. 
With this drain there may be a communicating branch from 
the vault, to carry off the water; but it should be fixed three 
feet from the bottom, and care should be taken to empty the 
privy before the night soil can arrive at that height. See 
figure 1. 
5. VAULTS. 
The vaults of privies ought to be constructed of the best ma- 
terials ; and the bricks, if bricks are made use of, should be 9 
sufficiently hard and well made to resist the passage of the soil 
as well at bottom as the sides; the walls should be covered 
with the best terrace work, and by that means made perfectly 
tight. But a composition of boiled tar and charcoal, finely 
pulverized, will be found, for durability, superior to any other 
covering. The vaults, if there is room to extend them side- 
ways, need not sink more than six feet below the surface of the 
ground. It is of importance to arch them completely over, 
except where the seats are placed, in order to confine the efflu- 
via from the building. There should be two air funnels in oppo- 
site places to admit and let out the air. When vaults are 
emptied, the soil should be mixed up, and afterwards covered* 
with coal-ashes or lime, which will almost entirely prevent 
the effluvia. This should be done by persons who under-* 
stand the business, who have covered carts, and other necessary 
conveniences provided, and are licensed for the purpose. The 
Soil should be conveyed out of the city to a distant and retired 
Spot. The detestable and injurious practice of throwing night- 
soil into the docks, and the use of tubs, Unknown any where 
except in New-York, should be abolished under much more 
severe penalties than exist at present. See section 5. 
It is a very false prejudice to suppose that the springs will be 
injured by sinking vaults. Every good bricklayer knows, or 
ought to know, how to make them secure; and, if any dif* 
ficulty should in this respect arise, the master workmen in this 
branch of trade should be put under license, and be sworn to 
execute such works as may be thought worthy of legal regu* 
lation. It is not uncommon for the laws to dictate to a man 
how he shall build his house. Great evils require extraordi- 
nary remedies, and it must be recollected that we are devising 
means to rid the community of a distemper little less infectious 
than the plague. A vault, well built, will not become pecu- 
liarly offensive, even though, as in London, it is not emptied 
more than once in eight or ten years. 10 
6. DOCKS. 
There is nothing in the city of New-York so offensive as 
the docks, which emit effluvia sufficient, one would think, 
to cause sickness in every season of the year. The remedies 
here recommended, may be expensive at first; but if properly 
executed, I sincerely believe they will prove not only greatly 
efficacious but profitable, besides being highly ornamental. It 
will, at the same time, provide for the conveniency of shipping, 
and prevent the dangerous consequences of the ice, which, in 
winter, if the ships lay at the end of the wharves, would injurs 
their bottoms. The docks, as they are at present constructed, 
impede the current as well as the ice, and all the dirt which is 
either thrown in, or otherwise lodged, remains in the ship until 
removed at a great expense by hand, and then occasions an 
excessive stench. 
The docks should be extended to one even front from the 
Battery up the East and up the North rivers, according to the 
plan proposed by the Corporation, with a face of stone, leaving 
a quay of sufficient width, in front of the stores, for the passage 
of carriages. This should be not only sufficient for the present 
commerce of the city, but provide for a future increase. The 
wharves, which may be built from the quays, should project 
into the rivers equally from one end to tire other, and should be 
formed by arches, the piers of which should be on one line, 
and at the bottom and above the common tides have the form of 
a lozenge. By this means the tides will not be impeded, as 
would be the case if they presented a square front, but will 
have their full power, be it more or less, in carrying off the 
dirt; at the same time, the cakes of ice which run there will 
be but small, as they must necessarily, in a great degree, be 
broken and obstructed by the piers, and be thereby turned off 
into the stream beyond the wharves. . The stones of which the 
quays and wharves are built should be very heavy, not less than 
a ton each, wherever the water is liable to reach; and every 11 
two adjoining stones should be clamped together, and the irons 
fixed in the stone with lead. If these piers are continued to be 
built of logs, the filth will still settle between them.—'The next 
thing is to prevent, as much as possible, the filth from lodging 
in the slips. In order to this, the common sewers should be 
carried over the arches to the ends of the wharves, and thereby 
fall as far in the stream as possible. See figure 2. 
Another very essential regulation is to forbid people on board 
vessels laying at the wharves, to throw any thing whatever, 
except liquids, into the slips, but be obliged to reserve their 
dirt for the city carts, which should go round and ring a bell as 
a notice of their coming for the shipping, as they by law are en- 
joined to do for the houses. 
1. LODGING HOUSES. 
Here, probably, is deposited the seat of the disorder. 
For more than twenty years the town of Manchester, in 
England, had been greatly afflicted with a contagious fever, 
which seemed to baffle the utmost skill of the faculty; at length, 
a few years ago, an inquiry was set on foot, and a report, made 
by Dr. Ferriar, on the subject, showed that it existed, almost 
solely, in those lodging houses where the poorest people re- 
sided ; that many of the lodgings were in cellars, which had 
no ventilation, were seldom cleaned, and were very crowded: 
that it often happened, that people coining fresh out of the coun- 
try, were at night put into beds from whence others who had 
died of the fever had been buried the same day. The reme- 
dies which were recommended were carried into execution, 
and proved efficacious. I shall here follow the same, with 
some additions, and have a sincere belief the like good conse- 
quences will ensue in New-York, if rigidly attended to; for I 
believe no doubt remains in the mind of every unprejudiced 
person, that the yellow fever is more likely to lie concealed in 
/isuch places than in others. 12 
The first thing to be done is to oblige every person letting 
lodgings to take out a license. It will be best to make the rule 
general, in order to avoid invidious distinctions. 
The next is to appoint a visiting committee for this especial 
'purpose, who shall report all delinquents of the regulations, and 
note such occasional observations as may occur. This requires 
only an extension of the 16tn section of the present law. 
This committee should see the following rules put in execu- 
tion : 
1. There should be but a certain limited number of beds in 
any room, and every bed should be allowed such a space as 
will tend to keep the air from becoming unwholesome by too 
quick a respiration. 
2. The rooms should have their floors well washed and 
scrubbed with soap or ley once a week; the walls and cielings 
white-washed twice a year. 
3. There should be no lodging rooms in cellars. 
4. There should be some efficacious prevention of tubs in 
privies, by obliging every householder to have such a vault on 
his premises as is deemed to be of the best construction. A 
matter of such essential consequence ought not to be left to the 
judgment or caprice of any individual. See section 16. 
5. The floors should be sound and tight, that if liquids are 
spilled, dirt and wet together may not be collected underneath, 
and occasion ill smells. 
6. Every means of ventilation ought, at least, to be recom- 
mended, and, if necessary, should be enforced. When two 
rooms are contiguous, it is convenient to have a window be- 
tween them, in order that a thorough draught may be had in 
hot weather; but it should be an object of police to promote the 
making of sashes to let down at top, as well as lift up at bottom, 
for all heated air has a tendency to rise, and is least pure at the 
top of the room. Ventilated at top, it is sure to be as pure at 
bottom as circumstances will admit; but although every person 
is sensible of this property in nature, how very few sashes, ex- 13 
cept in the dwellings of rich people, are so constructed, and. 
this on account of the expense of the lines, pullies, weights, and 
carpenter’s work; all which are unnecessary, for two spiings to 
each sash (one on each side) if well made, will be found to be 
simple, cheap, equally useful, and much more neat, as they are 
placed completely out of sight. The stiffness of the spring 
should be proportioned to the weight of the sash. See 
figure 3. * 
8. BURYING GROUNDS. 
If properly attended to, the rules established for the burial of 
the dead in the 14th section of the law, will probably answer 
every object required; but should further precautions be at 
any time necessary, the adoption of the practice of burying in 
lime, very prevalent in some parts of Europe, will effectually 
guard against ill consequences from death by means of any dis- 
order whatever. There may be some prejudice against such a, 
practice among a people not accustomed to it; but incase of a 
very extraordinary mortality, such a measure may become ab- 
solutely necessary. 
9. CLEANING THE STREETS. 
The streets can never be well cleaned if left to be executed 
by the individuals of the public, as ordered by the sections of 
the law Nos. 1, 2 & 3.—Housekeepers will generally have 
it done by their servants, who will neglect it from idleness or 
indifference. All that can be expected from them is to sweep 
and wash the foot-way, and in this even some attention should 
be paid by their employers, or it will be but half performed. I 
am convinced that in many places near the wharves it is never 
done. Taken as a general rule, it will be found that the zeal 
which depends on individual exertion, when unattended by pe- 
cuniary advantages, is short-lived and feeble. . The surest way . 14 
is to pay for the doing of it—it will be but a trifle for each in- 
habitant, and then, instead of being an advocate for neglect, 
the housekeeper will become an inspector to complain of the 
omission. 
10. WATERING THE STREETS. 
Another reason why the streets are not well cleaned, is the 
dust, which is occasioned by sweeping them in those months 
when cleaning is most required. In hot weather windows 
must be opened, and if so the furniture and goods will be in- 
jured, and much trouble be given to every inhabitant of the 
premises, as well as to all the neighbours. Some people go out 
of town and leave the business entirely to others, without any 
attention whatever from themselves. A few indeed, more 
particular than their neighbours, may use the watering-pot to 
lay the dust, but that practice is not universal, or at least suffi- 
ciently so to be in any essential degree depended on. 
A better method is to have water-cocks in every street, and 
at a certain hour to set them running. The scavengers, with 
6coops, should sprinkle the carriage-way, and the carts take it 
up immediately. It is important that the number of the water- 
men, the sweepers, the carts, and their attendants, should be 
proportioned to each other, which experience only can regu- 
late ; otherwise the water will be exhaled before the sweepers 
come, and the dirt be spread again by the carriages before the 
carts arrive, or else they will wait for each other. So many 
water-cocks set running at a particular hour, will infallibly keep 
the sewers clear, and have the further advantage of being al- 
ways in order in case of fire. 
11. PAVING THE STREETS. 
The inconveniences and evils attendant on bad pavements 
sre numerous. Wanting frequent repairs, they become more 15 
expensive than those which are well executed. The additional 
wear of carriages can more easily be imagined than calculated. 
They never can be well swept, for the broom cannot always 
reach to the dirt, at least it will take longer time, and there- 
fore is an inducement for neglect. The holes are receptacles 
for offensive articles, and even a hard rain, instead of contri- 
buting to cleanliness, has a contrary effect, by fermenting 
those substances, which in a dry state would, in some measure, 
continue inactive, and in a great degree harmless. 
Paving streets should never after the first time be executed 
by the individual inhabitants of a city, but by persons appointed 
and paid by the Corporation. This method would not be so 
expensive as that directed by the 7th clause of the act. 
Cobble-stones, at best, make but an indifferent pavement. 
In the city of London they bring squared granite from Scotland, 
and find it turn out much the cheapest method. This article 
abounds in the Eastern States. 
Before I conc lude, I beg leave to recommend one general 
practice, which will save much trouble and produce a greater 
perfection in all public works undertaken in this city and state. 
It is to procure every information on the subject from older 
countries. There is no man or society of men possessing so 
much intuitive knowledge as to be placed above the necessity 
of advice. By despising other people’s experience we are often 
led into a situation past remedy; and when we may wish, in 
future, to render a work complete, we probably shall find that 
to obtain some radical principle which has formerly been bv 
neglect omitted, we must throw down the whole fabric in or- 
der to get at the defect. Many additional lights may be 
thrown on all the subjects here only touched upon, particu- 
larly the articles of common sewers and vaults, the former of 
which in London is placed under a particular set of commis- 
sioners, and is in that great city become a subterraneous topo- 
graphy astonishingly complicated—a complicacy easily avoided 
in New-York, Iij London improvements for ages have gra- 16 
dually been making without regard to the direction of tliS 
sewers; sometimes they run across the streets, sometimes ob- 
lique, and often under the houses; but in New-York the 
direction of the streets is usually the best course for th® 
sewers. 
A work like this must take time, and will require patience 
and perseverance; but the propriety of it must appear so evident 
that it ought to be begun as soon as the necessary information 
can be obtained. 
In regard to she rest, that is, the regulation of lodging houses 
especially, and indeed some of the others, they may be made 
to take place in the course of the present season, and the re- 
mainder within a year or two. 
But every subject contained in these few pages is of such im- 
portance in point of health, convenience, beauty and projit, 
that an office, subject to the controul of the Corporation, should 
be appointed to carry the whole system into effect, and then 
New-York would, in truth, be the first city on the continent 
of America, and in time vie with some of the most splendid ill 
Europe. a. The Sin/e. ■ 
b. The gra/itu; to the Sirih . 
CC C C. The. JTouse. dmin. ■ 
3. A passage from die sur/Uce ofthe sard to 
the Cess -pool, phased. before du. grating of die. 
draitts nutde- big etun/ph to admit a person to 
go down, to elear it out caul. repair die- t/radtig. 
This passage should be built of brie/t, a/d covered 
with a tav/>-door, tnid. flush, wi/h. fhe. pavement 
of the. pa/rl. 
e . The Cess-poof.. 
f . The. grnlitig to the. drain. 
S • The Common, sewer . 
Fig-. 1. 
Housed and 
Fig*. 2. 
Fig-. 3. 
Score.?