The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1874-04-03

which had been laid nearly fve yssrs,
which showed no visible signs Of decay.
The City Engineer explained this ty
saying that when there wss NO street
sprinkling done, the Nicholson seemed
to hold ont very we'll The streeu on
which the heaviest traffic is done, are
mostly paved with what is known -
the Medina stone. This 10 .
very hard, brownish.colored sand
9 one, found in the State
Of New York. The stones are from two
aud one half to three inches tnick, and
from eight to twelve inches long, and
from eight to ten inches deep. the sur.
face side OF the same being sligbtly
dressed. Toe manner OF laying this
paving is about as follows: The street
10 graded about fifteen inches below the
grade line and . bed made OF clean,
coarse gravel or broken stone. and over
that another layer Of gravel ard sand.
The stones are then, firmly set in this
10 rows as near even, ~ ssIble, after
which the paving is thoroughly ram
med When flushed it 10 as even ss
the Nicholson pavement, and for .
roadway for heavy traffic is preferable
TO any paving your Committee have
vet seen. We were shown some OF
this paving that had been laid
over fifteen years and is yet in
good condition. This paving costs
33 TO 35 cents per square loot, including
ballast, and exclusive OF grading. Our
attention was next called to q street
paved with the Nicholson pavement,
the blocks of which had been treated
with q process known as the "Thil-
many process" which consists OF sui
phate of copper aud the chloride OF
barytes. A block was taken out that
had been down over three yeara, and
showed no signs of decay. aud prob
ably not more than one. eighth OF an
inch shorter than the one taken along
10 replace the one taken out. This
method OF treating wood not only pre-.
vents decay but makes it much barrier
than it 10 naturally. Our attention
was also called TO some railroad ties
that had been treated with this process,
which are said to be laid somsuhere
about FIVE years on the c Il P. Rail
road. which appear as sound as they
did the day they were placed there.
In the old part of the city Of Pitts
burgh the streeIs were improved at an
early day by Boulder paving. In this
part OF the city there is very heavy
traffic On the street. and notwiths'snd-
ing the roisy clstter, aud extra wear
and tear OF vehicles, their cruelty to
animals, and the discomfort on the
pleasure driving travellers, they are yet
regarded indispensable. On Peun ave-
nue we we're shown Miller Paving"
This paving is made OF wedge shaped
pine block. treated to some kind Of pro-
cess for preserving the wood. The
surface presents an appearance similar
10 the Nicholson. This paving mas
been down something over q year,
looks to be in per ect condition, making
q beauliiul drive OF abou. five miles.
As the result OF their observation the
committee conclude that the locust
tlock pavement on the Phillips patent
is better adapted for use on the level
portion ofstreets 10 Steubenville than
auy other they have seen, and they &C.
co,dipgly recommend that the priuci-
pal part of Marke, street be paved in
that way. They recommend small
boullers tor the lower part OF the street
and macadam Eng tor the portion
above the P. C. & St. L railroad track.
In relation to the came subject the
Pittsburgh Dispatch said laat Wednes-
day:
Every year the paving question is
re>iatroduced to the notice OF our conn
munity. This time the ds;ussion
seems TO be d rected in favor OF what is
known as the Macadam pavement, and
apparently an earnest ell IT is being
made 10 give it q footing in Pittsburgh.
While it 10 an undenisble fact that
some OF the wooden pavements laid
here have. within few years,
fallen into a pretty rough state, II
ia nevertheless doubtful whether the
Macadam would prove auy better
Heavy travel would be likely to 90
bard with it. while the objection o.
dust alwsys lies sgaiustit. 10 be sure,
the arcu ent ia made that few thou-
sand dollars per annum would suffice
TO keep the streets spriukled and swept,
but when councils have Hitherto de
cllued TO 60 90 lar even as to invest in
q watering cart, there is small ikeli'
hood that they would undertake to be
geuero u. on q wholesale system. Our
impressrou is thst it will be years yeI
before Pittsburgh arrives at sstisisc>
Tory and wholly reliable solution OF the
pavement question.
LRrTER PROM CHARLESTON.