Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-02-07

Estimated to complete
work in progress 49,. 1886. 942 81
Total cost of work
=, done IN lS78....... $9S, 1923 20
The cost Of this office for 1878, including
inspectors and exclusive of City Engineer 8
salary is S1,o16.ll. divided as follows
Surveying for private persons, COL
lected and paid to City Treasurer. sI66 so
Surveying for private persons, not
collected. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. II 50
Charged for surveys for and superin-
tendence OF public Improvements,
and included in assessments there
:, for. ..................... 5,453 10
Surveys and plans for street openings
and included in assessments there
Aor Observation-Disclosures, 215 70
miscellaneous work charged to ward
lnnds.. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 1860 81
=, $7,S76 IL
The charges for experimenting contract
work amount to an average of Clio per cent.
OF the cost OF the work. The average in 1871
was per cent.
The amount Of work charged towards funds
IS much less than in 1877 (when it amounted to
~, lob.6O) This is owing to the time being
struction. It includes surveys and levellinps
OF streets, and making plans and profiles there
o. surveys to locate section corners, making
copies OF street profles for record and for CITY
CLERKS Office, examining sewers and superin-
tendlng sewer connections, experimenting
work done at cost of city, work for city attor-
ney ana attendance at court. There have been
made this year, mostly in the Fourth ward,
and still awaiting the action of the CITY Coun-
Gil for their adoption.
The cost to city of engineering for the
year IL, for miscellaneous work. .$1, 969 81
For city Engineer salary ........... 1890 90
Total. .$4, 269 81
The official report of the proceedings of the
last meeting Of the City Council contains a
statement of the health officer that there is a
necessity Tor AN officer whose duty it should
be to examine the sewers and make regular re-
ports on the sanitary condition of the same"
Tho sewers are IN charge Of the City Engineer
an and have always been sufficiently inspected.
Those made wi; hin the last six years are CEN
orally clean. But the older ones in the sand
rock are IN the worst possible condition, as has
been continually reported by my predecessor
ana myself. This statement includes the Frank
lin street sewer and it's branches, the Ramsey
street sewer, the old St. Peter street sewer, and
the old Wabashaw street sewer. Nearly all of
the old st. Peter street sewer is now replaced
by a new one, and the part of the Wabashaw
street sewer above Seventh street is now being
reconstructed. The larger part of all these old
sewers are mere cesspools, retaining the filth
that are thrown into them. Complaints are
constantly made of offensive smells at the
street corners, wherever there are lnlets to them
Physicians generally agree that such diseases as
typhoid fever and diphtheria originate in. and
that their spreading is encouraged by emma
tions from such collections of sewerage filth
which may poison the air of dwellings without
being perceptible to the inmates. 1t is well
known that six cases of typhoid fever, one of
them fatal, occurred lately in a house in this
NunI Oh
ably No WORSE than the greater portion OF the
above named sewers.
The remedy is to make new sewers. Their
cost, judging from the cost Of the St. Peter
street and Wabashaw street sewers, will slightly
exceed the usual cost of new sewers IN the
sand-roclz. There is no other public improve
ment SO necessary and important to the public
health.
detailed statement of the contracts for
work which has been carried on in charge of
this Office during the year, is appended hereto
Very respectfully,
J. s. SEwALL,
City Engineer.
Du1In0 1878;