, 1859-02-14
Street Paving.


Edto.1 rrtn ard Tribune:
UurinE the p1rt 1wo unEtila Several articles
have been published in your dd,1y as to the best
kind Of pavement for the streets Of Chicago, in
which The writer has 1sisrepresented the situe-
tiou OF the p6ved atres:s. aud the qultity Of the
BoulGers used, &c.
In order to clear the way for ahe Nicholeon
wooden pavement he charges that there are no
bonldets in Illinois saitao'u Tor paving, aud
that the streets paved With cobble or boulder
etone are dangerous 10 the life and limbs Of
horses, DC.
As to the quality Of The Joliet or lllinois
bowlders, they are not all granite it is true. but
when properly selected they are hard, sound
and durable, quite eqoal to The boulaers used in
Cincinnati; and those now lid in the streets Of
Chicago, aame Of which hare been in wear
about Eve years, will he doing good service
uauy yeara after This wooden block pavement
shall have been discarded IN Chicago - it has
been IN Boetoo i
LAKE, Randolph aul Si.:e,) Lake street has
heen payed several vea1E. The boulderH were
laid down in lake eaad, which is not a good Is
gravel
::5e: two to tour essss ss'
it wa4 pared in ssry careleas manner, aud
with stone not properly selected Many more
stone could hsve been put IN than wss; hui had
it been paved With Boston Er&ulte boulder6,
and laid down in &he best maoner On snch
foundation, it would have given wsy and be.
cume uneven. The filing, settling more in
ZONE places than others, the pavement would
follow, Of course.
know Of DO ins:ance. when the foundation
WAS solid and the pavement laid with suitable
gravel, where the paving has given way or re.
quired re-iaJipg.
the wooden or Nicholson pavement that it has
been in use in the City OF Boston during the LAST
ten years. That you1 readers may know the opin-
Jon IF those having bad the best opportunity OF
trating 1t, after trial Of eight yeazs.l will gre
an extract from the official report ot Allied 7.
Turner, superintendent Of Streets Of the City Of
Boston, to the City Council on the l2th Of jam.
ary, 1857. ,..-
"Tba, committee on paving last gear were ad-
verse 10 paving any more stseets With wool for
"fhe round {co,,ble) stone paving believe to
Streets Of the City Of Boston. Our streets aFe SO
much broken into for eewer, water and gas purpos-
es that with no pavement can they be repaired
will 30 much cheapnes2 and rapidity as With
round stone. 4 much smaller size Of round stone
is now USED than wls used several years ago."
IL Il appears that after eight yeara trisl th's
Nicholson wooden pavement was discarded in
Boston, Will the property boiders Of Chicago
learn the true worth Of this patent wooden pave
neut ut their cost, and Tor the benefit Of thoee
having the monopoly, or will they avasl them
eelves Of the experience Of othersf
The following extract is from the Saturday
Ettning Post. OF the 9Th OF February, 1859:
"srskkr PArsG.- Oar correspondent ct Chi
cago may inform the authorities from Us, thet of
all modes Of paving the streets Of this city yet
disCorered, the paving them with large round
stope ar boulders Is the best Iron becomes too
slippery With wcnr, lnd 80 do blocks of granite,
endsngering tbs necks aud legs Of both horses
s0o,st Of du. aud we upbbdse for that reason bid
fair to BE- adopted in Chicago. boulders eueh
81 We have in Philadelphia. laid down with graz
el are decidedly the best, with all their faults;
and fthis kind OF paving can hs oheaply done
at Chicago, a1 our correspondent says, it ia the
kind that ought TO b adopted"
As to The limestone block pavement like thst
on Dearborn and LIZ Salte streets In Cincn.
nati, from 1852 to 1915, it was used for paving
the streets Of thb citT generally. The stone
used there WEE quite equal in quality to any ne
use here; jet it soou became very rough Hpd
uneven By wear. 80 much 50 as to be almost
impassabla. The effect Of heavy loads passing
over such pavement may bo eeen on the east
end Of South Water street, between the Rich
mond House md the Depot.
About ten OF twelve years ego they com.
menced taking up the stone block pasements
and ]aJing down boulder atone. 1t this time
ell or nearly all the streets Of Cincinnati are
pared with bouldera- The boulders there used
generally average considerable smaller than
those used IN Chicago. They are taken from
the Ohio aud Miami rlFerE, and are very much
the same kind sud quality ss the Joliet BOULDER;
certainly not better or more dursble. -.
There hss been no BtoDc block pavement laid
f..F1 Fr. H. lat elf rrnk,
they have more durable kind OF limestone
that cpuld be used for paving than any We hare
here e mean tho Dayton limestone) which is
extenslvely used for building Purposes
/ know Of no instance where boulder pare
ment has been generally adopted in my city
and been superseded By any other Except the
city OF Paris. where they were TOO convenient
tor the people 10 use against their despots).
Other kinds Of pavement hare been tried in
most Of the Eastern cities, and found to be not
as good es the boulders for business streets,
where heavy loads pass over them.