. Benjamin Franklin: his autobiography : with a narrative of his public life and services. days so deep on thepavement that there was no crossing but in pathskept clean by poor people with brooms, it was withgreat labor raked together and thrown up into carts,open above, the sides of which suffered some of theslash at every jolt on the pavement to shake out andfall, sometimes to the annoyance of reason given for not sweeping the dusty streetswas, that the dust would fly into the windows ofshops and houses. An accidental occurrence had instructed me howmuch sweeping might be
. Benjamin Franklin: his autobiography : with a narrative of his public life and services. days so deep on thepavement that there was no crossing but in pathskept clean by poor people with brooms, it was withgreat labor raked together and thrown up into carts,open above, the sides of which suffered some of theslash at every jolt on the pavement to shake out andfall, sometimes to the annoyance of reason given for not sweeping the dusty streetswas, that the dust would fly into the windows ofshops and houses. An accidental occurrence had instructed me howmuch sweeping might be done in a little time. Ifound at my door in Craven-street, one morning, apoor woman sweeping my pavement with a birchbroom ; she appeared very pale and feeble, as justcome out of a fit of sickness. I asked who employ-ed her to sweep there; she said, Nobody; but Iam poor and in distress, and I sweeps before gentle-folkses doors, and hopes they will give me some-thing. I bid her sweep the whole street clean, andI would give her a shilling; this was at nine oclock; LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 201-. at noon she came for the shilUng. From the slow-ness I saw at first in her working, I could scarcebeUeve that the work was done so soon, and sentmy servant to examine it, who reported that thewhole street was swept perfectly clean, and all thedust placed in the gutter, which was in the middle;and the next rain washed it quite away, so that thepavement and even the kennel were perfectly then judged that, if that feeble woman couldsweep such a street in three hours, a strong, activeman might have done it in half the time. And herelet me remark the convenience of having but onegutter in such a narrow street, running down itsmiddle, instead of two, one on each side, near thefootway; for where all the rain that falls on a street 202 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. nins from the sides and meets in the middle, it formsthere a current strong enough to wash away all themud it meets with ; but when divided into
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, booksubjec, booksubjectstatesmen
