THE STREET CLEANING SQUAD
It took little time for the news to spread around the camp that a
picnic was planned for that day, and many a Little Citizen forgot newly
acquired table manners, in the eagerness to talk it over.
Breakfast out of the way, the cook and her helpers went to work to
freeze cream, bake cookies, and prepare other delicious goodies for the
treat. The Little Mothers hurried to their Nests to attend to their
several duties.
The Health Board went its round conscientiously to see that all beds
were aired, all dust swept and wiped up carefully, all clothing dry and
clean, and above all, that everyone brushed and cleaned their teeth
properly.
The Blue Birds were present at these visits and enjoyed watching the
older girls of the camp take charge of things and order the children
around.
One of the Health Officers named Marybell was a red-haired, freckled
girl of twelve. She was a born captain and now found her opportunity in
life.
“Say you, Rebecca Einstein, who tol’ you’se to sweep that dust under de
crex rug?” said Marybell upon reaching the Nest where Rebecca had the
sweeping to do that day.
“Dere ain’t no dus’ pan,” complained Rebecca.
“Wall, you’se know where t’ git one, den! Go ’an git it!” ordered
Marybell, pointing a determined finger towards the kitchens.
Rebecca ran, glad to be away from the disconcerting gaze of the Blue
Birds.
“Now you Eliza--come here and show the ladies your teet’ an’
finger-nails,” said Marybell, selecting the girl she had the most
trouble with on those very scores.
“I ain’t all done wid dem yet,----lemme run an’ finish,” said Eliza,
hurriedly, but blushing at being caught so unexpectedly.
“Ain’ done! Laws me, sloven, yeh had more’n an hour since breakfast t’
do yer toilet!” exclaimed Marybell, frowning.
“She gits out of doin’ ’em all the time,” willingly tattled another
girl.
“Come right here, Emmy, an’ lemme see yer own nails!” said Marybell,
while the other little girls in the Nest tittered.
When Emmy slowly shuffled up and held out her fingers, Marybell
expressed disgust at the sight. “A black mark fer you’se, an’ one fer
Eliza! Yeh can’t be depended upon. Mebbe yeh better stay away from de
picnic an’ tend to yer teet’ an’ nails!”
“Oh no, no! Please not dat, Marybell! Give us all black marks, if yeh
wants to, but let us go today!” cried the two delinquents.
“Well den, git a hustle on an’ clean up before I git back,” said she,
shaking a warning head at them and going her way to the next Nest.
This inspection continued, the Blue Birds enjoying every phase of it,
until they arrived at one of the newest Nests--that is the tenants had
just come from the city. Marybell had been asked to look after them
until a regular Health Member was selected for that district of the
camp.
As the visitors came near the Nest they saw a little girl with
skirts pinned up about her waist, standing bare-legged in the creek,
which was up to her knees. She was bending over and doing something
energetically, but her back being turned to the Health Officer and the
Blue Birds, they could not see what it was that so occupied her time
and attention.
“What’s dat gals’ name--out in de brook?” Marybell asked one of the six
Little Citizens of the Nest.
“She’s Annie Markey,” said several voices obligingly.
“What’s she standin’ in de crick fer?”
“She’s scrubbin’ her teet’ like we wuz tol’ to do.”
“Scrubbin’ her teet’ in all dat water! How long’s she been at it?”
wondered Marybell.
“Ever since we came back from breakfus’, cuz she says she was tol’ all
dat grey had to come offen her front teet’, an’ she can’t rub it off,”
explained the oldest of the group.
Marybell hurried down to the creek and called: “Annie--hoh, Annie
Markey, come out here!”
Annie turned and saw the Officer beckoning her. She came up on the
bank, and Marybell saw she held a bit of broken mirror in one hand and
the brand-new toothbrush in the other.
“Open yer mout’,” said Marybell.
Annie obeyed--it opened widely.
“Back teet’ all gone--nuttin’ but holes left dere! Now skin yer
teet’--like dis!” And Marybell showed two rows of sharp front teeth as
she wrinkled up her face fearsomely.
Annie imitated the Officer and Marybell frowned. “You’se ain’t got no
kinda teet’ to clean, nohow! Dey gotta go to a dentis’ an’ be scoured
er pulled--I don’ know which, but I’ll report you to de hospital anyway
and let ’em do what dey says,” was Marybell’s terrifying verdict.
“Oh please don’ report me to a hospital--please! An’ I don’ want all
my teet’ pulled neider! I’ll run away firs’. I come here to eat all I
kin and have a good time, an’ now yeh wants to pull out my teet’ an’ I
can’t chew any more!” wailed Annie.
“Nah, I don’t, Annie! I on’y wants to git out dem bad ones what will
ache, an’ de udders kin be scoured to git de black off. What made ’em
so bad?” soothed Marybell.
“De school-teacher in Harlem says it was ’cause I eat so much candy--me
fadder keeps a candy store wid cigars, yeh see.”
“Hum--we unnerstan’--nuttin’ like trashy candy to eat up good teet’!”
declared Marybell, wisely, for she had just been told a few lessons
prior to this application, about the evil effects of sweets on the
teeth of children.
In the last Nest in the row, Marybell found that a roof had leaked
during a slight shower the preceding night. The bed-clothes of the bed
standing under the stream of rainwater were soaked, but so eager was
the child to finish its work and get away that the damp sheets were
used in making up the bed.
“Say--you chumps, who made dis bed?” shouted Marybell, as the six
Little Citizens ran up to await inspection.
“Franzy Bedell--it’s her bed!” cried five voices in unison.
“Franzy--pull off dem beddings!” ordered the Officer.
Franzy slowly removed the covers and exposed a large damp place at the
foot of the mattress.
“Diden’ yeh know any better! Why, even in Rivington er Ludlow Streets,
de mudders know better’n use soaked beddin’. Ye git a black mark fer
dat!” exclaimed the captain of the squad.
Franzy said nothing but awaited further punishment.
“Now spread each artick’l out on somethin’ to dry an’ don’t yeh dare
make dat bed till dey is good an’ dry--you hear?”
“Yes’sm!” quickly said Franzy, glad to get off so easy.
“I’m comin’ back, remember, so don’t yeh cheat again!” And with that
threat, Marybell led the Blue Birds away.
On the way back to the Infirmary where Marybell had to hand in her
reports, she said: “Sometimes dem ninnies jus’ pull de bed-covers up
an’ smooth ’em out, tryin’ to fool me to thinkin’ dey was all aired and
made fresh, but I kin tell! Yep, I kin tell every time!”
“What else do you have to watch, Marybell?” asked Ruth, who was highly
interested.
“Oh, some of de kids wear clo’es what is dirty or damp from the brook,
an’ I has to make ’em change er report ’em. Lots of dese East Siders
can’t see good, an’ lots got somethin’ wrong wid dere noses an’
t’roats. I has to watch ef dey breat’ hard. Den I tells de nurse at de
infirmary an’ she makes tests.”
“I guess there’ll be a lot of better children going back home after
this summer,” mused Vene, seriously.
“Yes, and it’s too bad the city can’t let girls like Marybell take
charge of certain school departments just as she is doing here at
camp,” said Ruth.
Marybell now reported to the superior at the Infirmary, and the Blue
Birds waited outside for her reappearance. Meantime, the Bobolinks were
entertained by the Captain of the Street Cleaning Squad.
“We begin on Primrose Lane--dat runs down de middle of de camp-ground.
One Member goes down Violet Lane while anudder goes down Daffodil Lane.
Each member of the Squad has his own streets to take care of--dere all
called by flower lanes and paths, but we fellers call ’em streets like
dey do in Noo York, yeh know!”
While the Squad was collecting the rubbish that was placed outside each
Nest in the morning, the Captain showed the boys how they worked for
promotion. A Captain held his office two weeks and at the expiration of
his term, if he was worthy, he was given a medal for service. Any boy
holding a medal would be allowed to come to camp the following year.
Every boy in the Squad was eager to be Captain of course, but such an
office was voted upon and decided by the deportment of the applicant,
during his stay in camp.
“Now come over to Farmer Jones’ dump-heap and I will show you what he
does with trash and debris,” said the Captain.
As the Bobolinks neared the extreme corner of the estate far removed
from camp and house, they noticed a disagreeable odor.
“Ha, ha! You smell our pigs!” laughed the Captain.
“Pigs! Whose pigs?” chorused the Bobolinks.
“Little Citizens’ pigs! We are raisin’ a hull litter of ’em on de
leavin’s of de table. I’ll show you.”
The Bobolinks were soon watching the fat little porkers who had so much
clean food to eat. All the garbage from the kitchens was carefully
sorted by a few of the Squad each day, and the peelings or bits of raw
fruit and vegetables were thrown into a great kettle near the sty. This
was boiled into mush and fed to the pigs. All bread, meat and other
refuse from table or kitchen, was mixed well and given to the pigs at
noon. The mushy food was fed in the morning and at night. The sty was
kept as clean as possible, and the pigs were scrubbed every day to keep
them clean and healthy.
“Goodness me! Who scrubs them?” laughed Ned.
“Oh, we draw lots for that work. Every feller in the Squad wants to do
it, but we take turns,” replied the Captain.
Then he showed the Bobolinks the other refuse heap. The papers were all
picked out and kept in bags to sell. All rags were also collected for
sale. Tin cans and other metals were picked out and thrown in a bin for
sale also. The money thus earned was to be used for an outing or for
some form of general good for the Little Citizens--such as a victrola,
or game, or other pleasure.
The Bobolinks followed their host back to the camp and found the Squad
had completed their rounds and were rolling the little basket-wagons
to the dump. So they said good-by to the captain and ran away to join
the Blue Birds who were coming from the Infirmary.
“Say, Uncle Ben has this plan worked down to a fine system, hasn’t he?”
said Ned, approvingly.
“Of course he has. I’d like to own one of those pigs myself, and try
for a county-fair prize,” said Jinks.
“It’s a wonder he hasn’t thought of keeping bee-hives for Little
Citizens, or mushroom cellars, and a lot of other things,” laughed
Meredith.
“Now say, Mete, that bee idea isn’t so bad. Let’s suggest it. Lots of
these boys would be glad to try it out, I should think.”
“I’ll mention it when we get home tonight,” said Meredith.
“There’s one thing they’ve overlooked thus far, boys,” said Jinks.
“Yes--what?” queried the others.
“Some scheme to get rid of these mosquitoes and flies! That always
takes the fun out of camping, I think,” replied Jinks.
“Maybe they have something planned, but it ought to work. That’s
another item we’ll ask him about tonight,” said Ned.
It happened that night, after everyone was seated on the piazza of Miss
Selina’s house, that the topics were mentioned and Uncle Ben had to
admit that he had not yet taken care of ridding the camp of flies and
mosquitoes.
“I’ll tell you what, boys! I wish you’d take charge of those two
important matters and I’ll attend to the bee idea. I believe the care
of bees will help the boys at camp a lot, and give them honey as well
as pastime.”
“We’ll do the fly and mosquito business, all right, Uncle Ben, but we
must have crude oil to sprinkle over the marshy or pool spots in the
woods,” said Ned.
“Easy enough to secure oil, and whatever else you may need for the
pests,” agreed Uncle Ben.
So the Bobolinks found an important work to do while they visited at
Happy Hills, and not only were the Little Citizens more comfortable
thereafter, but they found out how to keep free of flies and malarial
mosquitoes.