What does it mean that clean water splashes on the streets and loess mats?

The word "street throwing" seems to have not been mentioned for decades. I grew up in Beiping, and now middle-aged people in their forties don't know this business in nine cases out of ten. What is the so-called street water splashing method? At the beginning of the Republic of China, we took the area around Wupailou on Qianmen Street as an example. In the middle is Yong Road (now the fast lane), which is one or two feet higher than the sidewalks on both sides. Although Yong Lu is high, it is also paved with layers of gravel and soil. The weather in Beiping is dry and the rain is scarce. However, in the rainy season, the rainy season can last for ten and a half days. Therefore, some people describe the road in Beiping: "Three feet of soil in sunny days, a street mud in rainy days." Although the words are ridiculous, they are also true. According to the older generation, at first, most of the splashing on the streets of Beiping was done by a bunch of soldiers. At the end of Qing dynasty, there were small official halls on every street. When the army crossed the border, the officers and men stood guard and the guards patrolled, they all rested their legs and drank water in the small official hall. Waiting on Guanting is the so-called pile of soldiers. I still remember the remnants of Dongdan, Xisi and Xiaoguanting when I was a child. Although practice makes perfect, a spoonful of water is splashed out, and the water is very thin and uniform, it is difficult to ensure that no drop of water splashes on the shoes and socks of pedestrians if you are not careful when crossing the road. No matter right or wrong, smile and apologize to others. If you don't have any self-restraint, you can take people to the pavilion all day (the police station was called the pavilion in those days), then don't do it. Because the sweeper is also a soldier, paying wages is also called paying wages. Close one and a half hands, only one hand. Only the street sweeper in Zhongshan Park was hired by the park board at its own expense. It is not only well paid, but also easier to work. However, on one floor, the sweeper in the park has to lay loess on the ground and roll the road with a roller, so the road in Zhongshan Park has never been paved with asphalt. Because the chairman of the park was Zhu Qiqian, the chief of the interior, he thought that the sun was not easy to dissipate heat on the asphalt road, and he was baking in a panic. If loess is used as a cushion, water will splash evenly and moderately before sunset. If you walk around the park in black satin shoes with a thousand layers, you will feel refreshed, and even satin shoes will not be clay stars. However, if you are tired of shopping, there are still relatively complete small official halls in Dongsi and Xidan. In case of heavy rain, you can also go to the small official hall with the almost inclined wall to chat and smoke a cigarette. Later, the Shi Jing Police Department was established, and the arrangement of street sanitation was the responsibility of the internal and external regional departments of the police department. Therefore, soldiers who have no ownership are assigned to the regional department as street cleaners. Water is splashed on the streets in summer and snow is shoveled to sweep the streets in winter. When street lamps are not changed into electric lights or oil lamps, it is one of the jobs of street sweepers to light up and refuel every day. The street sweeper's main job is to splash the street, in groups of two, a big wooden bucket with two ears that can only be carried by two people together, and a long wooden spoon made of rattan. The work is divided into two parts. Of course, people who splash water with spoons earn more. You should also pay attention to the technique of splashing water. You should splash it far and evenly. People spilled 20 buckets of water, making the streets wet and in proportion. If a novice spills it, he will choose 25 barrels or scatter it all over the place, not because he has worked hard. Most of the sven people who walked in the street in those days were white socks and soap shoes. As soon as they sit down in the teahouse, they have to dust with a shoe duster, otherwise the vamp will be covered with dust. How uncomfortable it will be. It is said that when Empress Dowager Cixi visited the Summer Palace in midsummer, she must have made a trip to the Summer Palace, euphemistically called "resting", until the golden breeze made Qiu Chan feel anxious. One after another, it is necessary for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to send workers to use loess to cushion the road and splash clear water on the street so that the soil does not raise dust. Because there are too many servants who take over driving, if boots, hats, gowns and coats are all covered with dust, people who do this job will be more than one bargained for, so this job must be served properly and carefully. Although we heard that, we didn't catch up with the loess mat and the clean water splashed on the street.