Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1892 — A Point of Order. [ARTICLE]

A Point of Order.

It is almost impossible to teach neatness to men and women; but it is possible to infuse into children a horror of the anti-social practice which helps a great deal to disfigure and vulgarize our cities, of throwing down refuse of whatever nature—pea-nut-shells, bits of paper, ends of cigarettes and cigars, old shoes, hats, ashes, and so on, in places frequented by one’s fellow citizens, such as streets, roads, lanes, sidewalks, and public stairways. Our indifference to this practice, which appears to be the result of a long familiarity, is incomprehensible to foreigners. It disappeared from European countries completely fully one hundred years ago. It is now found nowhere in the Eastern hemisphere except in Turkish or other Mussulman towns and cities, and is looked upon as a sign of low civilization. It is considered in every European city a grievous offense against a man’s neighbors to make any public display of filth or rubbish of any description. A horror of it might be taught to any child in the public schools. To instill it should be one of a teacher’s first duties, for it must be remembered that the chief observable superiority of the civilized man over the savage lies in the greater cleanliness of his person and dwelling. No child should leave the public schools without having a drtad of refuse ground into him. He should be taught to hate the sight nf unswept streets or sidewalks, of saliva stained marble or granite, of ashes and refuse of every description, and especially of bits of newspapers and ends of cigars, as signs of gross selfishness and a low social tone.