Reports of Inspections of Railroad Passenger Stations and Car Cleaning. BY D. C. BOWEN, ASSISTANT SANITARY INSPECTOR. CAR CLEANING IN HOBOKEN. To the Board of Health of the State of New Jersey: GENTLEMEN-In compliance with instructions to make inspections at the terminal stations of railroads in New Jersey and to report upon the frequency, method and efficiency of cleaning day coaches, I herewith report my observations made during an inspection in the car yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, Hoboken. No opportunity was had at the time of this inspection to observe the cleaning, from beginning to finish, of the coaches on any particular train, owing to the way in which the workers shifted from coach to coach on various trains, performing only that particular branch of the work to which they are regularly assigned. Inspections were principally made in coaches used on short trip trains, in which no carpets are used in the aisles. The floors after sweeping were mopped and the method of the mopper was to finish the floor on one side of a car, wring out his mop in a pail of water, mop the opposite side, again wring out the mop and, after mopping the floors in two cars in this way, to throw out the unclean water and procure a pail of fresh water. Markings left after drying of the unclean water used in mopping were plainly traceable over the painted surface of the coach floors. Waterclosets were cleaned with a scraper on a metal handle, a pail of water and a sponge. In transferring the sponge back and forth from the pail to the closet bowl in washing its soiled walls, more or less of the unclean water was dropped upon the floor of the closet apartment and upon the upper rim of the bowl. The cleaner of closets was seen to leave his work and step to the tank in which drinking water is carried in the car, remove the tank cover, grasp the upper rim and peer into the tank, after which he withdrew from his pocket a bit of soap and proceeded to wash his dirtsoiled hands beneath the tank faucet, permitting the droppings from his hands to fall upon the shelf upon which the tumbler sits and to dribble down the face of the woodwork and upon the coach floor. This person was afterward seen to lift the covers from the tanks in two other coaches and in one instance to thrust his hand into the tank as if to learn the depth of the water which it contained. Plush covered seats and backs are dusted during the daily cleaning which all coaches are said to receive, and at intervals the seats are removed from the coaches and whipped or they are subjected to the "blowing" process which consists of cleaning by the use of compressed air. I witnessed the operation of cleaning the tanks in which drinking water is carried in the coaches and which, I was informed by the workman, is per formed about twice each week, particularly during the period in which considerable ice is used, when tanks are found to become dirty much sooner than when little or no ice is carried in them. The tank was removed from its fastenings to the coach platform and the ice remaining in the tank was removed and placed upon the rubber mat on the floor in a vestibule coach, which, in this case, contained the dirt swept from the coach floor; the water remaining in the tank was dumped upon the platform beside the car; a few quarts of cold water were poured from a pail into the tank and the inner walls were washed with a sponge. After washing, the water, which was now quite discolored was dumped from the tank and it was rinsed with a few quarts of clean water, and the ice was lifted from the floor and replaced in the tank, without washing. The tank was then put in place in the coach and subsequently filled from a hose attached to a hydrant said to be supplied with water from the public supply in Hoboken. The ice is said to come from a lake in Mount Pocono. Mr. James Fritts, who is superintendent of car cleaning in the yards above referred to, informed me that the work herein described is supplemented by a more thorough cleansing of coaches at frequent intervals, such as is applied to the coaches used on through, or long trip trains, at the termination of each trip. At the time of such cleansing scrubbing is said to take the place of mopping coach floors. Mr. Fritts also states that when the new yard, which is now under construction, is completed the vacuum sweeping system will be used in the work of car cleaning in these yards, and better facilities will be had for the conduct of the work. CAR CLEANING IN JERSEY CITY. In compliance with instructions I respectfully submit the following report of the methods employed for the cleaning of passenger cars at the Jersey City terminal of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Observations upon which this report is based were made during the cleaning of coaches used on train No. 308, which runs between Jersey City and Point Pleasant. The work was performed by specialists, each person or group of persons performing some one branch of the work in the order herein named. The carpets were removed from the aisles to the car platforms and the car floors swept with a floor broom, the sweepings being brushed from the platform to the ground. The interior walls of the water-closet bowls and their outlets were scrubbed with a long-handled brush and water contained in a metal pail. This water was highly discolored, and gave off an offensive odor imparted to it by use in cleaning a number of bowls without change of water in the pail. There was considerable spattering of the polluted water, upon the floor and woodwork in the apartment, by the rather careless manner in which the work was performed. The car floors, including the water-closet apartment, were mopped over, an entire car being finished without cleaning or rewetting the mop, and many spots on the floor were not touched by it. The mop was wrung out in a pail of water once between mopping the floor of each car, and the same pail of water was used for cleaning at least four cars. An employe with a pail of water for replenishing drinking water in the tanks removed the covers and thrust a stick into the tank to measure the depth of water. The stick used for this purpose was roughly whittled from a piece of pine, was about two feet in length, and one end of the stick was grimy from long contact with soiled hands, while the other end was quite bright from much swishing about in tank water. The tank inspector informed me that the use of a stick for this purpose is a device substituted by himself as preferable to the practice employed when he took charge of the work of plunging the hand and arm into the tanks to measure the depth of water therein contained. The inspector states that the tanks are taken down and washed out at frequent intervals. Water for filling the tanks is drawn from a hydrant in the car yard, and is said to be supplied from the public supply in Jersey City. The glass in the windows was wiped with cotton waste and a cloth, preliminary to a more thorough cleaning which followed. The carpets were dragged from the car platforms and spread in the aisles. That they had not been cleaned was plainly visible from bits of paste board, cut from tickets by the conductor's punch, and several pieces of candy which had been crushed and were clinging to the nap of the carpet. It was stated that the carpets are removed from the cars to the racks and cleaned by the vacuum air system about twice each week. This method of removing dust from carpets is very effectual. The finishing work to the cleansing of the coaches used on this train was performed by two women, all other work above referred to having been done by male employes. These women first dusted the surfaces of the interior of the coach, including plush covered seats and backs, with feather dusters, the windows in the coach being closed during the work. The seats and covers on the water-closet bowls were then wiped with a sponge, wrung from a pail of water, followed by wiping the surface of the woodwork in the closet apartment, also the doors, knobs and the entrance from the car platform, using the same sponge, without change of water in the pail, for all the coaches on this train. The work was finished by wiping the woodwork about the windows, and the glass, with dry cloths. Mr. Samuel Clement, yard superintendent, informed me that, in addition to the cleaning above described, the coaches used on the train referred to receive some daily cleaning at Point Pleasant, and a more thorough cleansing in the Jersey City yards about twice each month. I visited Point Pleasant and learned by observation that the cleaning which the cars receive there consists in a very hurried sweeping of the floors, but not of the carpets. The dust on the seats is brushed off with feather dusters, and any spots seen upon the floor are mopped over. The car windows were closed during the performance of the work, and when the work was completed the doors were locked for the night. A further inspection will be made of the more thorough semi-monthly cleansing which the coaches used on this train are said to receive. INSPECTION OF PASSENGER STATION IN SOUTH AMBOY. In accordance with instructions I herewith submit the following report of inspection of the railroad station of the New York and Long Branch Railroad in South Amboy. The water supplied for drinking purposes in the waiting rooms is from the public water-supply in the borough of South Amboy. The water-closet apartments are located in the north end of the building. The men's apartment has a floor space of about six feet by eight feet, and it contains one window and a door opening to the outer air. The floor and side walls are of wood, and the side walls or wainscoting is covered with sanded paint. The one water-closet is of the washout pattern, the bowl of which is stained and unclean, and a frayed cord has been substituted for the usual chain and pull for flushing the closet. The urinal is constructed of sheet copper tacked to the side wall over a space of about four feet square, and extending over the floor about sixteen inches in which a gutter is formed and connected to a drain. A perforated wrought-iron pipe, fitted with a stop cock which was closed and key removed, serves for flushing. The women's apartment has a floor space of about eight feet by eight feet, and it has two windows opening to the |