Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-01-12
BLUFF STREET GRADE.
HoU Oar Incompetent City Engineer De
strOys Property.

HO,C Our Incompetent city Engineer De-
stroys Property.
To the Editor of the Globe
Knowing that your valuable and wide.
ly circulated journal is always open tc
communications touching upon mat
tiers of public Importance and interest,
venture to address these few lines to you
upon matter which the citizens of St
Paul generally, and those particularly
who own or occupy property on or neal
Bluff street, are interested.
This street begins at st. Peter street
and runs along the foot of the Wabasha
street hill, on the southerly side, thence
through the old Ames property, in front
of, and about twenty feet from the dwell
ing on the same, and continuing in q
northeasterly direction until it reaches
Robert street, where it terminates
The street was some months age
ordered opened and graded by the proper
city authorities. The city engineer ac-
cordingly prepared profile of said street
and grade, which is now on file in his
office The profile referred to and by
which the city council were guided in fix
ing the grade, showed at the deepest fill
a filling of ten feet. The object of this
filling of ten feet was to make a gradual
approach to the old Ames' hill, which
stands in the line of the street. This fill
ing of course decreases in depth as the
distance from the hill increases.
The property owners along said street,
and the city council, being guided by this
profile, were deceived, and find the fill to be
thirty feet, according to the stakes of the
assistant engineer, instead of ten feet as
shown by the profile.
The city engineer has, instead of cut
ting into the hill as he should have done
to make the grade contemplated by the
city council, has graded up to the top of
the hill and even made the street higher
than the hill originally was.
Now, while grade of ten feet is rea-
sonable enough, and would not be OBJ
jected to, a grade of thirty feet is simply
preposterous, as must appear to all famil-
lar with the situation of the street.
For instance, Wabashaw street, the
twenty-five feet higher than Robert street,
point when the grade commences, is
the point where said grade terminates
and the distance between Wabashaw and
Robert streets is only about 1000 feet
Why then are we compelled to travel ur
steep grade in order to get from
Wabashaw street, when the grade should
rather be on slight decline the whole
way?
The city engineer seems to have beer
deeply impressed with the idea that it i:
necessary to have this hill fol-
us to climb up in order to climl
climb down again. His sagaelty i.
| as deep as that of a certain noble duke
whose military maneuvers, as we are
told in the song, consisted in marching
his men up the hill and then marching
them down again.
Why the city engineer has thus seen Fl
to spoil what might have been sight,
street and to almost ruin the property OF
the southside thereof, is query to The
property owners and jewellers in tina
vicinity.
We write this for the purpose of call
ing the attention of the city council ant
the people generally to this matter, ant
we trust that this unsightly mound
which has been thus wantonly placed il
our way, may be removed before it be
comes too late. One OF THE VICTIMS.
| ST. PAUL, January 18th, 1850.
Il