New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-09-10
THE Prescrvntion Of wood.

| in the City to another. To this end, several |
| kinds of street pavement are in vogue. In |
this city we have mainly the costly square
block, diagonally laid, durable, it is true.
but very Objectionable in many respects, as |
| il is vofullv destructive to mules knees, |
dangerous to drivers, and a complete anti |
dote against sleep to those who happen to
| live where butcher carts, milk wagons and !
floats pass along early and late by special |
selection. Then we have the cobblestone,
an actual blessing to wheelwrights and car
riage repairers, but positive infiction |
upon human lungs and nerves, distress
inely noisy when used through necessity by |
our Jehus, shockingly uncouth in appear
ance, and filthy in their retention of all
sorts Of matter.
To our mind, all things considered no
better pavement than the Nicolson or the
Stowe unless it be the miller's improved,
now becoming quite tayorite in the Vest,
could be adopted for our city, if only it's
durability could be secured in this climate
and on this alluvial soil, at once resisting
the double forces of the insinuatng damp
ness and percolating rains from above, and
the action of our immense gassy deposit of
decayed vegetable matter beneath
The rationale of the pavement is sound,
and the pavement itself a success even
here, if only the permanency Of its exist
ence can be secured. For pine, cypress.
oak or other wood must inevitably undergo
spontaneous combustion if the sap be lett
in the pores Of tree cut down. or if the
pores with the sap driven out be left open
for other decomposing elements to enter.
No matter how thoroughly seasoned the
wood may be, there remains another requi-
, site for the preservation OF wood as we
) have shown in our first article. There
must be some material infused, driven into
the wood. to prevent all destroying agencies
from entering, ascending CT descending
alongside the Acknowledgements matter.
= True. wood in good condition is sometimes
found buried at great depths below the sur
face of the earth, as there are numerous
instances of cypress: also, of the complete
silifcation of the young leaves of palm
trees when just about to shoot forth. and III
that state which, in the West Indies, is
called the cabbage of the palm. But"
saws Lyell, sit may be questioned whether
in these cases there may not have been
some antiseptic quality IN the water isimi-
lar to the effect Of rosin oil in the wood
. (which retarded putrefaCtion, so that the
soft part Of the buried substance may have
remained for long time without disintegra-
e ton, like the flesh of bodies im5edded in
/ peat"
The merits of this wooden pavement are
its smooth, regular appearance, pleasant IL
/ it's riding easy TO the draft animal, and
) without the noise and devouring din from
Z the stone All these and more are 100 well
known to be presented here; and practical
tests have long since pronounced upon it,
Il in defiance of the trumpet-tongued objec-
/ tions of otherwise interested spectators.
: The only reasonable objections possible to
be urged against its universal use, in New
/ Orleans more particularly, is its short life
+ Double its durability, and you quadruple
Is its desirability. Under the Thomas patent
= you have the life preserver in the material
Is employed, and the health invigOratOr of the
D. employees. The error of the legislation
which exacts the use OF seasoned timber
/ for this city paving might be, and it is to be
! hoped will be, repaired by the wisdom of
an ordinance now permitting and hence
forth requiring preserved lumber
The decay of one block in this pavement
is the harbinger of the certain subsequent
E. decay Of its contiguous neighbor, as the par
p asites that destroy one tooth pass to the ad
n joining ones, and the sudden depression o.
D, portions of the pavement are the first indl-
l, cations of the Wholesale decomposition
= which is going on unseen below. tits to TIT
81 shame of our city, and to the disgrace of 1t;
v Administrators, that the streets of its pTln
NJ cipal business and resident portions at leas
lie are permitted to remain in such wretchet
Id condition.
10 Beautiful squares and grounds, and hand
1r some municipal buildings and offices, are
ie Injuries and sources of constant outlay
while streets and wharyes, etc, are TIN
necessities which are the sources OF and be
1t get the revenues which may eventually war
L. rant those luxuries. Because of its topog
ie raphy and its commerce, New Orleans, 0
III all cities in the Union, most needs goo'
u streets, and of all cities in the Union, New
~ Orleans has perhaps the worst.
~ Our carts and drays and other vehicles OF
u commerce are daily clogged and stalled il
. the mud for hours, to the great suffering o
L. the dumb animals that are made to strait
40 every nerve to extricate their loads; to th'
'o serious loss of time to the drivers and own
- ers; to the Inconvenience of shippers, anc
" the hindrance of commerce generally.
- We have for years witnessed our lumbe
merchants, for instance, the stanchest mei
chants, as class, of which this city cal
~ boast, modestly engaged in one OF the mos
, important and, after cotton, perhaps tn
largest of the legitimate interests OF thI
80 city, Quietly submitting to and prompt,
" paying extortionate taxation, obliged t
~ use for heavy and dangerous hauling one
10 the most important and yet one OF the mos
:" Doggy, rutty, worst cared-for streets within
. the limits of the corporation.
Our avenues are in a wotul plight, AM
our driyes-'where, oh, where are they I.
% Seek, and We shall find ask, and 1t shall
y be opened unto you" is a passage the con
y script fathers never meant to apply t
: drives through the streets OF our Amos
" second Pompeii.
:. A large portion of one OF the VIDE am
otherwise most beautiful avenues we nave
I ~,,r1 Of =