New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-02-16

capital stock, and began business anew WIN
the following Ring men" in the Company
President, John L. Brown, known ior
his mastery inactivity in cleaning oui
streets Directors, William M, Tweed, Jr'
Alexander Frear Cornelius Cors0n, o snaiei
in the plumber of the New-York prlnt'ng Uom,
pany; William L. King, nephew OF William
NJ. Tweed. and confidential clerk in the street
Department: John Z. Green, then Clcrk vi
the BOARD of Councilmen; and one or Two
others. Before such influential directors IL Is
no wonder that court injunctions and depart
ment distractions melted away IKE STU" NC
fore tbe MONDAY sun. Nor should it be mat
ter of surprise that contracts oifering INC nhoS'
liberal terms Immediately poured III upon
them. About this time the officers oil tho lis'
Division of the National Guard petitioned the
Legislature to have Tompkins square, then
used M their parade ground, paved with wood.
The Legislature promptly passed bill COM
nlvinp with their request, but substituting the
VOID "concreter for wood" TO the Tax
law tbev tackled tho sum of S3O,OOO to
bepn the work, and the following year
voted 100000 to complete 1t. oupposihe
this to be the whole amount expended
it ia plain that the Company received over
81 so per square yard for their work, the area
of Tompkins- square being 50,760 square yards.
lin TO that time they had been satisfied with
less than So per yard, and must have
cleared about 100000 by the operation. Soon
ofterward they induced the Legislature to in
sert in the Tax Levy an appropriation OF S25o,-
900. with the valuable words added, or so
"much as may be required'-to pave fIith-ave';
and before even the Common Council was
aware of the march they had stolen upon thein'
proceeded to poultice our pet avenue with thcir
nasty compound. In such haste were they 10
pocket their ll-gotten gain that they ala
not even prepare the stone pavement already
there so as to make their plaster stick, but
smeared it over the smooth stones from wa
verley-place to Forty -fifth-st.. never caring
whether it held or not, so long as IL gave
them n pretense for gathering III the spoil.
AS might have been expected, the avenue was
no sooner thrown open to travel than the area
poultice Clipped off its smooth bed under the
carriage wheels and was stamped by the
horses hoofs into a fine powder, which pene-
trated every dwelling in the vicinity, sulio-
eating its inmates and destroying their paint
ings and furniture. What damage it might
icctured, for, the Grand jury having indicted
it as a nuisance, the Board of Health has
ordered the vile stuff to be removed.
We learn upon trustworthy authority that, so
far as completed. the pavement cost the tax
payers 100000. The Company laid just 3S,422
square yards, and have consequently been paid
about s. so per yard. Eight dollars and eighty
cents per yard for poutice of pitch and gravel,
two or three inches thick. over a pavement
already laid, when the same Company, with
different men at its head, offered to do similar
work and furnish their own foundation for less
than So 1t is safe to say that they made at
least S225,OO0. What amount the Ring will
make by removing the nuisance may he guessed
at when they begin to draw upon THO City
Treasury certainly not less than $4,000
How much longer is the city to be burdened
with such costly and abortive experiments