The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1869-08-31
Present Condition Of the Pavement In
Different Parts Of the City.
Our Special Commissioners Re-
port Of a Days Travel.
HOW REPAIRS ARE CONDUCTED.

may be termed the cutcular membrane Of the me-
tropolls; and as supplementary in It's nature
taking up OF the latter topic al length cannot but
prove interesting to the general reader and espe.
cially interesting to the taxpayer There are really
but five dnerent kinds OF pavement in use in the
city. These are the stone block, including the Bel
gan and Russ the Nicolson. OF which about
100000 square yards have been put down; the Fisk
concrete, which Is being tested at several points and
along several thoroughfsres including Fifth avenues
the Stafford, OF wncn few hundred square yards
have been laid merely TO test It's capacity, and the
cobbe stone, by which more than one-half the &C.
tual paved surface OF the city Is now covered.
Roughly estimated, or rather estimated in round
numbers, the statistics at date stand thus:--
Square yards.
Stone block. 1000 900
Nltoson ana otners.. .......s...,......... 100000
CopDle stone.. Observation-Disclosures. 100000
Observation-Disclosures. e,25o0oo
This estimate includes this years. contracts now liz
process OF fulfment, and Is necessary to proper
understanding OF the details OF present condition.
Tie Nicoson and Fisk concrete have not been In
use long enough TO need repairs, and is not there
fore, necessary to study them IN this respect The
former having been made the subject OF great
deal of controversy, is diligently cared for by the
proprietors OF the royalty as also Is the with the
latter which cannot be said to have been subjected 10
btTious wear us YET Botn so lar as surface Is
cerned, make excellent roads, anu are open to no
criticism from sanitary point OF view; and both
must be considered as merely experimental opinion
upon which must be held IN allegiance. The condl-
tons Of perfect pavement are easy traction,
light grade and good footing for horses Above
all, to answer sanitary conditions, q pavement
should be SO constructed that waterin cities always
holding more or less refuse In soluton-cannot per-
colate through 1t. The only pavement in general
In this city that fu6s these conditions Is the Russ
which consists OF cubcal blocks OF primitive rocks
upon concrete bed. The cobolestone, which had up
TO 1860 been extensively put down. Is mere make
shit and ought to have been tolerated at ALL
The ordinary stone block upon bed OF sand which
constitutes surface Of 100000 square yards Is
little better than Its predecessor; and, generally
1t may be stated that while New York has Tor ten
years disbursed from three-quarters OF n million
to round million year for construction and re-
pairs-a larger sum, by the way than Is dis
bursed both by London and Paris taken together
New York has not, with the exception of Broadway
and the few sections OF wooden and concrete pave.
men'. 5o,o 600 square yards of unexceptonabe road
way. This Is hard unpalatable fact but facts are
laCtS 10 use CradgriDulsm. Any one else who viii
taAe the trouble to inspect himself may satisfy his
judgment that the allegation Is not whit too sweep
ing Inere nave oeen A., several operative causes IN
FIRST place. the construction dc moro Is exceedingly
slovenly, being performed Or BY contract; In The
upon roadbed oil sand Is device OF false
economy; and, in the third place, repairs arecon-
Quoted in manner as sl0venly original cOnstruc.
n0n
Pavements most economical in the beginning are
generally found TO be most expensive ia the end;
and the truth OF this maxim has been amply de-
monstrated in the history OF surface improvements
structed that water can perco.ate through it into
the rOadbed beneath, there action OF frost must IN
evitaDy ensue and upneava and irregularity OF the
rf0n nina nr ~ md
hillOcks created. Into The former settles water
holding refuse materials in solution, and this, nav.
ing exhaed n0xiOu3 gases for days, at last dlsap-
pears by percOlation, tanning the soil beneath with
founess and becoming fruitful source OF atmos.
pheric humidity and epidemic disease. Thus fall
OF rain instead OF cleansing the pavement is turned
into generator OF noxlous gases and becomes
really spring head Of mlasmatc fevers anu in
this metamorpnosis OF q blessing into q curse Is
described the general condition OF the surface the
city. In many cases whole sections OF pavement
are utterly
WANTING IN CONvExITY OF SURFACE,
and consequently pools and puddles Of mud and
vexy consistent with full nux and shed OF water Is
OF course best and most convenient for venicuar
travel, vehicles being less disposed to keep 10 the
centre Of the roadway and circulating more freely
IN ali parts, VITA the result OF producing q more
equal wear with less waste and Tess repair. On the
was In use long before MaCadam knew anything
about II, the cOnvexy ran as high one twentieth.
subsequently II was reduced TO one-fltieth and at
present from Oneseventieth 10 one one -hundredth is
considered quite ample for purposes OF watershed.
certain convexy, not less than the last specified
IL one of the essential conditions Of health ana yet
III than nfty streets, numerically counted, II
t.ere he any inclination OF the surface ut all nc Is
IN the direction OF the middle. The reader who VIII
take the trouble TO Investigate may mud ample proof
OF this allegation. Let him take an East Broadway
car, ellght far up as Grand street, ana make
. tour OF examination among the cramped, filthy,
tenement haurted streets That lie towards the
East river. Here is parallelogram, bounded on
kns and East Streets Oh the south by Grand street.
and on the west by tho Bowery. Traversed in an
hrr Main DtxgtA
and stanton streets, It Is traversed In the other
d ectiOn by twenyone streets OF cobble stone pave.
meat, cutting 1t into over loo luares. In four
teen OF the twentyone OF these TRAVERSE streets
the rule Is an utJer want OF convexity Of sarlace
IN the pavement; and from square to, square
standing pools OF water, blisLelng In the sun
Shine, may be counted by dozens, while In some
Instances 1t IS noxt to Impossible to effect
ing without wadlng through intervening pucdies OF
noisome nth held IN solution. Ehe very atmosphere
IL oppressive with al odor OF mildew and humidity
ana rot, the whole constituting sort OF Pekiness
stiukpot on colossal scale. In this whole
, Mn,on ~ were Tree ss, from R pools OF mn from
Ing from naf square yard 10 q Couple
OF square yards OF surface, Notwithstanding the fact
for nearly or quite week; aud, In most cases. the gut
ters were fully as elevated az the middle OF the
street thus preciqdlng the possibility OF the fIth
ers. Again. In the majority OF tho cutters were
too imperfectly constructed 10 admit OF the Gux OF
the water into the sewers had The middle surface
been in good cOndit0n--the jOinting between the
pave and gutter stones being imperfect and the gut
ters SHINY with standing wafer exhaling dsQustlnl
odors; and when II IL taken into account that this is
one OF the most densey populated districts IN the
CITY the result from sanitary point OF view may be
imaained--may be caught IN fact from the generally
scky, cadaver0na spectral faces OF It's tens of thou.
sands OF denizens and hobtueS. The main fault IL
found In the want OF convexity, evenJuating in
want OF watershed, above designated; and yet while
money by the ten thousand Ii being expended TO
pave repave thoroughfares like Fifth avenue where
no real need OF requirement. exists, these wan
ana wasted spectres OF humanity left TO swelter
amld pools OF fifth for want OF q decent pavement.
rake second district, OF equally dense population
bounced BY DIVISION, Grand, Water ana Roosevelt
rnu yin8 parity In the seventh and partly In tho
rouItn ward, and the same phenomenal facts are
supssantiay repeated with the result OF about the
sn cnnd M1er OF squares OF cobbe stone pavement
~ ~ vvnuiuon rather worse on the average than
That OF the former district The-rst district ia IN