The subject of this story is Capt. W.J. Simmons, the “boss” of Elizabeth City’s street forces. Capt. Simmons is 67 years old and going strong. He hasn’t had must newspaper advertising; his name isn’t paraded around on the occasion of every municipal political campaign; he doesn’t ask any recognition from the public, but for five years he has been Elizabeth City’s sanitary inspector, and his conduct in office, his application to his duties, and the public approval in general he has merited and won entitle him for once to break into print.
The fact that Elizabeth City is one of the cleanest towns in the state because of its orderly and well-kept streets is often emphasized by the favorable comments of enthusiastic visitors.
Why Elizabeth City is so clean and orderly looking is because Capt. Simmons, with his street cleaning force, takes 20 cartloads of trash a day off its streets. He also sees that six to eight tons of garbage are taken away daily, and superintends the dozen men in the force who do it.
Capt. Simmons’ force works 9 ½ hours a day. There are four miles of paved streets to clean up besides the 10 miles more or less of unpaved streets. He keeps four carts going all the time and a fifth one on special occasions. In his equipment he has a motor garbage truck also, as well as a sprinkling wagon and a sweeper.
It costs the city about $25 a day to keep this gang and equipment working. It isn’t cleaning streets all the time, for under the direction of the City Manager, repair work to paving and drainage is done. It takes about two days to sprinkle and sweep the whole city. That is quite a task compared with the little lawn of a city home, the sweeping and cleaning of which is the dread of every housewife. Capt. Simmons’ gang could clean up an acre lot in 30 seconds.
Besides being sanitary inspector, Capt. Simmons has for 15 years been weather observer here for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is he who receives every forecast from Washington, and hoists his flags by day and lights by night on the tower at the foot of Fearing Street to warn the shipping of what the weather may do. In other words, he is the “weather man.”
Capt. Simmons doesn’t claim any credit for keeping the streets so clean. He says he just helps the city manager. But the old Captain is altogether too modest. He believes that Elizabeth City can best advertise itself by its appearance, because the casual stranger is apt to be a critical observer and not so lenient in his judgment of a new place. The strangers are the ones to look out for because nothing so disgusts the visitor at the beginning of his stay than disorderly and unsightly streets. The streets make the impression as they are kept, and Capt. Simmons’ force is co-operating to give Elizabeth City a good name.
From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Dec. 23, 1921
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