[ 35§ ] • RICHARD SKOLNIK The appointment was certain to be applauded by reformers, for Waring possessed those qualities of dynamism and executive ability that they sought but rarely encountered among public officials. The new Commissioner's abilities were augmented by his familiarity with the specific problems before him. Long a critic of street-cleaning activities in New York, he had, even before his appointment, considered measures to remedy the situation.4 He assumed office, therefore, with some definite ideas on what had to be done. The Department of Street Cleaning would now be led by an internationally recognized sanitary engineer and drainage expert. Waring had considerable experience in the design and construction of sanitary facilities for towns, cities, and private institutions across the nation; he was one of the pioneers of sanitary engineering in the United States. New Yorkers could themselves observe Waring's work in Central Park, where he had advised Frederick Law Olmsted on landscaping and drainage matters. Waring's considerable practical experience made him a most sought-after lecturer at architectural and engineering societies, and his technical books and articles enjoyed a wide audience.5 Waring was appointed to a key position in the largest city of the United States, although as he noted, he had "passed most of . . . life far from the great towns!'6 Born in Poundridge, New York, Waring pursued an early interest in scientific agriculture. His expertise in the areas of farm management, stockbreeding, agricultural chemistry, and land drainage led to the position of agricultural manager, first at Horace Greeley's farm in Chappaqua and then at the Ogden farm in New- 4 George E. Waring, Jr., "The Sanitary Conditions of New York" Scribner's Magazine, XXII (May 1881), 64-76; Richard T. Fox, Report on the Examination of Personnel, Methods of Work and Equipment of the Department of Street Cleaning of New York City, with Special Reference to the Installation of a Model District in the Borough of Manhattan (NewYork: 1915), 18. 5 For an interesting discussion of Waring's conservatism concerning the transmission of disease see James Cassedy, "The Flamboyant Colonel Waring" Bulletin of the History of Medicine, XXXVI (March-April 1962), 163-76. Among Waring's'own works see The Sanitary Drainage of Houses and Towns (New York: 1876), The Purification of Sewage by Forced Aeration (Newport: 1895), Draining for Profit, and Draining for Health (New York: 1867), Earth-Closets and Earth Sewage (New York: 1870), How to Drain a House . . . (New York: 1885), The Disposal of Sewage . . . (Philadelphia: 1886), Modern Methods of Sewage Disposal. . . (New York: 1894). 6 Waring, "Government by Party" The North American Review, CLXIII (November 1896), 590.