26 May 1870 • Buffalo, N.Y. (Buffalo Express, 27 May 70, UCCL 11723)
STREET SPRINKLING.
The manner in which Delaware street is sprinkled above Virginia is simply ridiculous. A crippled infant with a garden-squirt could do it better. The work is done by the city government &Ⓐemendation paid for by the property owners along the street—& the pay is amply secured & the work contracted for for three years. Now one thing or the other is absolutely true, viz: Either the contractor is not paid enough to justify him in doing his work well, or else he shamefully shirks his duty. Which is it?
The Buffalo Express published this reply on Memorial Day, 30 May:
Street Sprinkling.—In answer to the communication published on Friday, under “Notes From the People,” with regard to the sprinkling of Delaware street, we are requested to state that the contract for sprinkling the public streets does not commence until the 1st of June. (4)
The same day the Express also reported:
Street Commissioner George W. Gillespie has with commendable forethought and energy secured a sufficient number of street sprinklers to thoroughly sprinkle Delaware street and the roads in the cemetery, previous to the moving of the procession today. (“City Notes,” 4)
The Memorial Day procession included civic officials, clergy, and numerous groups of Sunday School students and twice passed the Clemenses’ house at 472 Delaware (“Memorial Day,” Buffalo Express, 30 May 70, 4; Buffalo Directory 1870, 62).
“Notes from the People,” Buffalo Express, 27 May 70, 4.
L4 , 141.