The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1869-07-21
New York Correspondence.

IFRoM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT.
Lent aud the Forty 7hiepes- Changes in Nel
York City-The R1pements-P lundering Con
trdcts-7Re Brodd,oay Surface Railroad BIZ
A T. Ste,carf'S Ceeck-m0renieHt
NEW YORK CITY, 1869.
Lol the winter is past, ''the rain is over
and gone" Lent, with its forty days of alb
stinence, has done its work of preparation
upon the bodies and souls of men, and its
days are numbered. But the Forty Pretty
Thieves still reign at Niblo's Garden, in spite
of that sharp, old skin-fint, who, after wit
Messing the dramatic performance of Lydia
Thompson and troupe, demanded the return
of his admission fee, on the plea that be had
been able TO count only thirty-nine thieves
on the stage. This play brings in about for
ty thousand dollars per month, to the lucky
manager.
The promenader on Broadway, this pleas
ant April afternoon, when he has proceeded
as far as Great Jones' Street, suddenly finds
himself crowded to the inner part of the
side. walk, with but half the usual allowance
of roadway, and struggling, in the midst of a
confused procession of Painters and hoop
skirts. The outer half of the sidewalk is
occupied by huge piles of granite paving
stones, the arrangement of which, suggests
riots and revolutionary barricades.
The stream of carriages and vehicles is
turned aside and finds its way through side
streets, until it energies again below the OBJ
struction in the great thoroughfare. Where
few hours since, the continual procession
flowed like river, now gang of workmen
are tearing up the strong pavement and ex-
posing the soil, where malaria and disease
have been covered over for sixteen years.
Many parts of New York are built on swamps,
and over the beds of what were once sluggish
streams Of water, the imprisoned moisture
sieians can trace the course of these conceal
ed streams by the cases Of intermittent fever
that occur along their track, and many of the
laborers who expose themselves, in their
work, TO the influence of these emanations,
are seized by malarious fevers.
Why is this old roadway so unceremonious-
ly disturbed? The operations we see, mean
that contract has been made for putting
down q new pavement on Broadway. To
every one who lives in the city, the subject
of pavements is one of great interest. The
two desiderata in pavement are, thatit shall
offer firm footing to horses, and that it shall
be cheap. In Paris, Louis Napoleon con-
eeives it to be an additional desideratum that
it shall be such, as not to furnish the Sans
CtlotteS with the materials for barrieades in
their next revolutionary frenzy He has &C.
cordingly removed large part of the paving
stones, and the streets of Paris are macada-
mixed.
The principal varieties of street pavement
in New York, are FIVE:
First-The well-known "Cobble-Stone
pavement This is made of rounded, water
washed stones of various sizes, that form
road that is by no means even, over which
wheels lurch and jolt and rattle, as noisily,
and almost as uncomfortably, as over Vir-
ginia " corduroy" Its only merits are cheap
ness and ease of repair. Numerous streets
of this city boast nothing better than this
primitive paving.
Second-The pavement next in frequency
of use is the Belgian" This pavement is
composed of granite blocks, each about six
inches square on its base, seven deep, and
slightly pyramidal in form. The larger ends,
or the bases of the pyramids, are turned up,
and form firm, even floor, that is a great |
improvement on the bossy knobs of the cob |
ble-stones.
Third-The "Russ pavement This is a
heavier pavement than the Belgian, and diff |
fers from it, simply in being made of stones
about eight or ten times as large. 1t has the |
advantage over the former, that the weight /
Of each stone makes it difficult of displace-
ment, for which reason it is used on Broad
way and on other streets, where the wear
and travel are the heaviest. But this advan-
tage is Offset by the equally great disadvan-
tage, that the smooth, uninterrupted surface
Of stone is so great as to make footing on it
very precarious. To obviate this difficulty,
each stone is deeply groved; but still, the
number of accidents that weekly occur on it,
IS considerable. This kind Of pavement has
been used on the principal part of Broadway
'inee 1853.
During slippery weather, it is almost an
hourly occurrence to see some horse stretch
d upon his side, vainly struggling u9der the
timulus of oaths and kicks to regain his
ooting-a sight that must appeal painfully
o the sympathies of that worthy and indie
atigable gentleman, Mr.. Bergh, whose exer-
ions, as President Of the "society for the