Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-12-01
What Street Com mn issi Oner Stevens Has
10 Saw on the Subject-A Meagrc and
Exhausted Appropriation - A Good
mittee---t condition OF the Streets.

Within the last few weeks there has
been much said and not Il little printed
about cleaning the streets some persons
cOndemning severely the powers that be,
while others, with equal earncstness, de-
Tended the Street Commissioner, the Com
mittce on Streets and Alleys and the Coun-
Gil.
Ii is undoubtedly true that for some time
the public has waded through streets coy
cred with mud, to the great damage OF raj
ment and discomfort OF mind. Vehicles Of
all kinds have been covered with n sticky
substance which lies in Il layer on the
streets and paVemcntS, ready to be resolved
into mud OF the most determined and VII
famous character when the slightest rain
occurs In order to ascertain the facts i'll
regard to the matter, a chat was had with
Street Commissioner Stevens, last evening
| who said
Il have the work done myself 1t is not
let out to contractors. There has been q
good deal said and printed i'll cOndcmna-
/ tiCn of my conduct rs Street Commissioned,
! but claim that the streets are kept in bet
! ter coalition than they ever were before
I in r1pOrtiOn to the amount OF money eS:
/ pended. The people wanted water works
! and the money this year had to be put
| there. Tue street fund this year only
| amounted to $4,000, not enough to do the
| cleaning, even if there were no repairs.
| But claim there have been more perman-
| ent and substantial repairs this year than
| there were last year, when there was an
! appropriation amounting to $4,000.
! / think injustice was done me by the
/ publication OF Monumental Sights in
| Wheeling" The correspondent, Knee
! Deep" Is not even property holder. He
! said in his article that on Seventeenth
| street, was building pyramid that would
| tl, II ha mill fob loo
| at the place referred to he will not he able
| to find better piece Of street in Wheeling.
/ For four years before | came into office
! the work OF street cleaning was done by
| contractors Many of the best and most
| substantial citizens of Wheeling told me
that took more dirt Off the streets last
| spring at one cleaning than had been taken
| OIL during the whole four years preceding.
No attention had ever been paid TO the
| throwing of filth and dirt into the streets
and alleys. but since L have been in office
this has all been stopped, and the streets OF
the city - q general thing are in good con-
| dition. The, city j. muddy, Of course but
| that q sIlot be avoided because there Is no
| proper SYStcYna ui sewerage and gutser1ss
aroui d the hills 10 prevent the wash from
! coming down on the streets. Then too, the
streets will be muddy until they are sill
| paved The mud is tracked from the I'M
4 paved 10 TIC paNcu sbACSts, anu SOhsS-
\ Quently there is mud on all of them.
The IRE engines are the best testers OF
| the condition of the streets. On account
of their great weight whenever they pass
! over defective portion of the street ii be-
| comes known. Some OF the engine drivers
! tell me that the streets are in q better con-
! ditiou now than they have been for years
| / believe the streets have been better kept
since have been in Office fhan they ever
| were, taking into consideration the amount
of money that has been expended.
Then again. this has been an extraordi-
narily hard Fall on the streets We have
had no frost to protect us; IL has been rain
| after rain, and as consequence We have
had mud. II this weather continues, how
ever, We will get the streets cleaned up,
and they will be in good condition in the
spring. a. ~.
The great trouble with the streets this
year was the smallncSs OF the appropria-
lion for them We only got what was left
after the other appropriations were made
The. committee asked for So 900. but didn't
ret t. We have splendid Committee on
Streetsand Alleys, ana tdelieye that Coun-
Gil has done the best it could under the cir
cumstances. The money had to be put in
other improvements.