National Republican., 1876-10-10
TIE AVENUE PAVEMENT.
The "Imprisonsd DstrituS' Reduced .
Rotten Stone Reasons for Its Decay.

The Imprisoned Detritus' Reduced 10
Rotten stone-Reasons for It's Decay.
To the Editor of the National Republican:
SIR: notice in q recent issue of the Eper-
ing Star an answer from q, correspondent to
some editorial remarks commenting on the
character of the Grahamite pavement recently
taken up at the intersection of Fennsyivania
avenue and Tenth street. This correspondent
states that 1.-THE hydraulic concrete on which
this pavement was laid was not put down by
this company, but had ben liza by other
parties one year before.n If 50 it certainly had
the benefit of thorough dryness, which is
much more than can be. ef the hydraulic
base they are now laying as foundation for
their forthcoming Pavement. If they could
not lay good psve'nen on such foundation
as they had In this case wesannot expect much
of the future. Their defender says "the sur
face could not be reduced to uniform grade,
owing 10 the want of time given to the COM
pany to perform this work." Judging from
the length Of time already occupied BY the
company since they have been. awarded the
contract for paving the Avenue they evidently
will nos finish Ii within the limit prescribed
by law
The Stars correspondent writes learnedly
shout the "detsiituso which covered the sur
it was aimprisoned" by ga thin layer Of coarse
asphalt," &c, &c; but, Mr.. Editor, that sort
'of sophistry Is all very well in the abstract,
but It won't do in the concrete. You can ex-
anime pieces Of this pavement and see where
1t has rotted from the bottom up, and where
there has been q crack in the top surface,
'(and thercwere q good many of them, the
water hasgone through and rotted the pave
ment latsrally along the line of the crack
,, from topic bottom, the imprisoned detitus"
included.
1t is an very well for the correspondent of
| the Star to talk about what the Grahamite
| Company propose to do in the future, and the
"ten years. experience" of some of S'the
scientific and skilled gentlemen" connected
| with this company, but in their ten years ex-
4 perience they have not laid 5,e0e square yards
| oftheir pavement In this or any other country.
1t is also very well to talk of the high char
| acter Of the gentlemen OF the commission
who selected this pavement for the Avenue,
| Zone Of whom was the late president OF the
| Grahamite Company &C., &c, but, Mr..
Editor, this same pavement was laid recently
on South street, in Baltimore, and proved
/ utterly worthless and had 10 be taken up.
| That laid as q sample In New York has been
repaired, and is swept continuously; no water
is allowed to remain on it. the best care has been
taken OF 1t, and it has been carefully patched In
several places; that laid at the battery in New
York was 8 failure. In fact, It is purely an
experimental pavement
This District seems to be the victim of ex-
| periments In the way Of payeHents, and now,
having at last succeeded, as the result of these
experiments, in reaching concrete pavement
of undoub,ed merit and economy, It looks as
| If all our experience were to be thrown away,
and we were to begin de novo with another
| failure. r-- .... ID. C.
OCTOBER 7, 1876.
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From to II years Of age.
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