The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-04-05
GRANITE, AsPHAIT Or WOOD.
The Respective I!crits Of Materials lot
Paveme nts-Acxidents to Borses-inseE-
estiug Statistics.

Commission or sewers who VAS recently and at |
much length reported TO that commission on s'ices
paving in sne city las briefly mentioned IN tue
Pines Of Friday las, states IN mat report 'ha' s"c
observations taken wcre-hrst OF the tra"ic-'N
numoer OF horses ard vehicles which passed
throucs tbe selected streets; ana secondly, oftne
accidents which occurred to the horses. The herse
traSyac daily between eight A. N. and eight r. NJ,
On the working days in March and April last dur
ing which tire observations we're taken was rs
,oltows:- acknowledgements east OF MIX street,
Sl2 $50 Dorses and Poultry, by Grocers' Hal court.
eoo Granite King William street by aochurcn
lane s5j5, and Cannon street, bs Bush lene $780,
wood-Kag William street North by Artsur street,
2l,l62, and Grace Church street, by Talbot court,
Ii. lS4. The venicular trafic was thus DIVIDED
Asphalt--Cheapside. e,4ls. and Poultry, s.le7.
Granite-Kiug William street. s,57i and Cannon
street, 47o5. wood-King william street. 1853,
ana Grace Church street, $3.50. Tue proportions
or the whole were-veehicles drawn by one horse,
7l.A2 per cent; by two horses, eos per cent. and
by three or more horses, 1893 per cent. Ia Cheap
side for instance, cabs formed IS per cent OF the
total trafic; omnbuses o. railway vans, IL;
tradesnens carts, 8, and other vehicles. l5 The
number of horses that tell during the whole period
OF fifty days the streets under observation was
1891 oil which 1,OC6 rel on the asphalt pavement,
sI9 on the granite and $40 on the wood. The
mean number OF fails daily were, on the asphalt.
2l.aa; on granite 1913, and on the wood, 1854.
No opinion OF vane as the relative safety 81 the
different classes OF pavement could, however, be
formed by simply comparing the numpcr Oh
horses when fell IN any one thoroughfare with the
number which passed through il, or by comparing
the rails with those which happened III another
thoroughfare, inasmuch as the risk OF failing
which horse incurred on pavement necessa-
riiy depends on the length Of The pavement
itn VII
irving at a correct conclusion, the various streams
OF tra.fic as well as the distances travelled were
taken separately. and thus the exact distance
which was passed over before an accident &C.
CURED was ascertained Upon the asphalt
2os sos miles were traversed by the horses within
the fifty days. and l-C8j accidents occurred, on
granite, 1861 miles, and 719 acciden's, and on
wood, 1871 5l miles, and 542 accidents. me aggre-
gate DIS ance Travelled nY te nclses ass 5
miles. The general result " as mat horse might
during that time have been EXPECTED 70 travSi
along the three .pavements, ~ the proper.
tons due. to their iengths astaice
OF POS miles before an accident nap
pened. The distances however. offered ma
loridliy the various pavemenIs, examination
showing that the order OF spperiness during the
fifty days was with granite lo2 10 les before an nc.
cident occurred with asphalt lol mics and WOOD
$50 miles. Those ngures were correct az lar as
they went; but 10 adopt them as determining the
relative spperiness OF the various pavenients
without considerable limitation and CORRECTION
would be unsafe. To arrive at correct opinion ~
was necessary to make further Investigation in
order to see whether any portion or the accidents
was due to condiuons IN whlca one pavement was
more iayoraply clrcumstanced than others, apart
IRON the difference resulting rom the material OF
which the pavement was composed. Aoove all, 1t
was necessary to ascertain whether the general
results would have been changed II the Opserva-
tons had been EXTENDED over much longer
period OF ne including other seasons OF the year
ana every description OF weather. With that Oh
jecs the accidents were now investigated ana con-
sldered under the following sectiOnS:-Naturc OF
the accidents to horses; effect OF harhessins:
effect OF ate Of travel; effect OF gradient; elect
cleanliness and eject OF weather on the surface.
AS TO the nature OF the accidents to horses 5237
per cent the total represented latts on knees,
i3ls alls on launches and o444 compete falls.
Alter separating the accidents a. tiey occurred on
Aspnat s2oi per cent Of falls On Knees, 244s ias
nauncnes and AZ. rs complete falls granite 4d.3J,
aud 1895 res pectiveIy OF ialls ON knees the wood
had by Tar the greatest proportion ana the as
pat tn tne o. d the o soaes asd ~ co
plete fails, granite the largest and wood the small
est. II appeared generally that horses travelling
| on the wood pavement were Oh the whole sub
| jected TO falls Oh a character less Inconvenent to
the general trac OF the street. and also less likely
! to be injurious TO the horses than those travel
! Ing on the other two pavements. and that
III rms respect the hngo-mneral pave
| menL 1t noticed also that, whatever was
the nature OF tue accident the horses recovered
their ieet more easily on wood than they did
either on asphalt or granite As to the enect Of
Harvesting, the falls TO horses In One-horse vehi
cles were 5496 per cent OF the whole; those in
two-horse vehicles 1884 and those IN three or
| more horse vehicles go. Turning, however, to a
p rss se in sversg @
! 0ne two and three or more horses respectively IL
appeared that all three classes OF pavement toe
greatest risk accident was 60 horses IN vehicles
drawn by three or more horses; that on asphalt
there was more risk OF a horse falling IN a ONE
horse than twohoi sc vehicle; but That On granite
ana wood the risk was nearly the same, whether
| the venlcle was drawn by one or two horses. 1t
might also be observed that In the tnree-horse
| vehicles the horses were nearly always In single
file, and that lii he tw o-n0rse vehicles the AMI
| mails were almost invariably abreast the eXcep.
tons being princip any brewers drays and market
! gardeners carts aud wagons. Fast travelling
| much traric, inasmnch as 1t frequently involved
]. either sudden reduction Of speed or actual stop
page OF the horse, wncn was more or less dinicuit
! according TO the degree Of 10othOd which the
l pavement anorded. IL was more difficult TO stop
1 horse on asphalt than on granite or on wood. As
regards the gradients the asphalt pavement was
l more favored than the others; the next IN order
was The granite, while the wood pavement was on
II the whole, the least favored. The state Of repair
or the surface OF pavement afrected its safety.
For instance, more horses might be expected 10 fall
+ on granite pavement winch had many sunken
places and the general surface or which was worn
smooth, which was the condition Oi nearly all
Tnan on one which had an even surface ana
somewhat rough to The loot, which was the con-
= lition of new granite pavement the surfaces Of
oLn the asphalt and God pavements ut the times OF
q oservatlon were in excellent condition. and those
O, the granite were not Had the wood pavements
be en- in indifferent C0ndiLlOn Of surface repair
INA re accidents would probably have happened on
the m than actually occurred during the fifty days.
som ewnat diffe rent Asphalt was not likely at
any time SO to vary In condition as 10 increase
mat. rally the number OF accidents occurring on
it, ~ holes showed themselves OF any size
depth in that material and they were not speedily
repaired, they were quickly enlarged ~ the traic
and I've destruction OF tine pavement at those spots
soon talIowed. 1t would be absolutely necessary
70 Keep 1T all times the sUrace OF the asphalt
comparatively smooth, and therefore the numper
OF acchtents on IL was not likely to be increased
by condition OF surface repair. In compa ing the
Yeelts u the observations tor general application,
II must he borne In alipd tnat In respect
wovd were more advantaRe0usly placed than
tue granite. The thorOpghiares OF the
ctky were now, speaking generally,
pe,-iaps az clean AZ streets OF so much trafic
conld tie kept. except by washing them daily.
CIe,,nNuess had very important influence on the
slim erlness OF all papements Its effect, how
ever. DIFFERED material3y-in some cases being ia
voraf,le in other cases uuiav0raDk to Tooth Old,