, 1875-08-29

| There IS no doubt Q0out I1e Aact lA1at +A1o
present lamentable condition Of Chicago
streets is doing the city much damage a.
home and abroad. We think that the differ
ence of opinion as to the relative merits OF
| the vnrious styles Of paving does much to
| keep property owners in various parts OF the
city from acting in the matter. They are
| disinclined to pay the cost OF laying the pine
! wood pavement in the old style on account
| Of its perishable nature, which has been
abundantly demonstrated. The experience
of other cities is warning against the adop-
ton of asphalt, and our soft limestone will
not furnish such pavement as we have de-
scribed being laid in Rochester, consisting of
tagging as foundation and layers Of differ
ent-sized broken rocks, with tar and cement.
The hard pavements have been found
altogether too Objectionable to warrant
their adoption at this time. Some
months ago comparative tests were
made in London Of the asphalt, granite, and
wood pavements, to ascertain the extent Of
accidents. These experim ents extended over
fifty days. It was found that the wooden
pavement was much more travelled than the
others, and had very much smaller proper
ton of accidents It was also found that tha
accidents on the wood pavements were much
less severe than on the others. The number
Of horses that fell during the fifty days on
the streets noted were 1897, and the total
distance traversed was 478, ,533 miles; Of these
only 542 falls, or considerably less than one
third, were on the wood pavement These
observations confirm the experience of Chi
cago and other cities where wood pavements
have been extensively laid, viz: that they
are the safest and best for the horses, the
least wearing on the vehicles and the most
agreeable to the people who walk OF ride, so
long as they are in good repair:
The only valid objection to the wood pave
ment, therefore, is its costliness on account
of rapid decay. If this can be overcome it
will be the most desirable pavement that can
be found for metropolitan life. It is in this
direction, then, that all future experiments
should be directed, and the first step is to
abandon pine for cedar. The estimates
based upon actual observation Of the differ
ence between the two woods are that the
cedar pavement, laid in the round posts, will
last twice as long as the pine blocks We
have seen samples Of the Detroit cedar pave
ment, which has been laid there to large
extent and with great satisfaction 1t is put
down in the simplest manner. The cedar
posts are split into halves, each forming
semi-circu1ar block These blocks are laid
with wooden strips between them, and the
space filed with gravel and tar. But q pre-
caution is taken in Detroit which is alto
gether rejected in Chicago. The practice
here has been to fill up the streets with
loose dirt, and the blocks are laid Immediate
1y upon it. In Detroit and other cities
steam-rolle1, weighing twenty tons is used
to compress the foundation, and this unques-
tionably insures frmer and more uniform
resistance to the pressure. Such roller is
the first thing that should be provided for
Chicago streets where the wood pavement is
to be laid. We have also seen a model Of
the cedar posts, which are set into the ground
in the same size and shape as they COME
some larger and some smaller. The smaller
posts are cut longer, and all are set upon the
ground after it has been rolled. A pile
driver is then used to drive the longer posts
down to level with the shorter but larger
posts. This process serves to still fur
ther compress the earthen foundation and
insure an even pressure. This, We be-
lieve. is the Kind Of pavement that should be
next tried in Chicago, and If it proves twice
will be the best and cheapest in the world